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I thought this was very interesting. Possibly this will clear up a number of issues on how you go about getting reviews for your book. Writers what do you think? Readers is it fair?
Q & A on Amazon‘s Customer Review Policies
Lately there has been some confusion around the guidelines Amazon uses to evaluate Customer Reviews. Customer Reviews are meant to give customers genuine product feedback from fellow shoppers. Our goal is to capture all the energy and enthusiasm (both favorable and critical) that customers have about a product while avoiding use of reviews designed to advertise, promote, or mislead customers. For more detailed information please visit the Customer Review Guidelines.
Q. Are authors allowed to review another author’s book?
A. Yes. We very much welcome Customer Reviews from authors. However, if the author reviewing the book has a personal relationship with the author of the book they are reviewing, or was involved in the book’s creation process (i.e. as a co-author, editor, illustrator, etc.), that author is not eligible to write a Customer Review for that book.
Q. Can I write a Customer Review of my own book?
A. No. You are not eligible to review your own book, but there are other ways to communicate with your readers on Amazon such as Author Central.
Q. Can I post a Customer Review on behalf of someone else?
A. No. Customer Reviews are meant to provide customers with feedback from fellow shoppers. For this reason, you should use the Editorial Reviews section of your book’s detail page to share content that is posted on other sites or from individuals who do not have an Amazon account. You can update the Editorial Reviews section of your book’s detail page through your Author Central account.
Q. Can I ask my family to write a Customer Review for my book?
A. We do not allow individuals who share a household with the author or close friends to write Customer Reviews for that author’s book. Customer Reviews are meant to provide unbiased product feedback from fellow shoppers.
Q. Can I pay for someone to write a Customer Review for my book?
A. No. We do not allow any form of compensation for a Customer Review other than a free copy of the book provided upfront. If you offer a free copy of the book in advance, it must be clear that you welcome all feedback, both positive and negative.
Q. A Customer Review is missing from my book’s detail page. What happened?
A. Reviews are removed from Amazon for one of three reasons:
- The review did not meet our posted Customer Review Guidelines.
- The customer who wrote the review removed it.
- We discovered that multiple items were linked together on our website incorrectly. Reviews that were posted on those pages were removed when the items were separated on the site.
We can only discuss specific Customer Review removals with the person who originally posted the review.
Getting Customer Reviews for your book can be a keycomponent to your success. Take the time to understand Amazon’s customer review guidelines and author tools to assure you are maximizing the opportunity. You can find the full FAQ on Customer Reviews Guidelines here.