How to leave a book review on Amazon (anonymously or not)

When a tech-savvy friend confessed that she loved my book yet had no idea how to leave a review on Amazon, I decided to write this for her and anyone else who may not know. Books depend on word-of-mouth and mouse. It’s part of my job description now to ask readers to leave book reviews the way politicians ask for votes: constantly.

I have not gone this far. So far.

I don’t know about you, but I’m bombarded with requests for reviews, from things I buy to businesses and doctors I’ve used. It’s easy to say “NO!” I bought your doodad. Isn’t that enough? Or we’re more inclined to write a review about something/someone we hate, not love.

 

So here we go.

Find the book’s page on Amazon by typing the title in the Amazon search bar. Or type in the author’s name and go to their Amazon Author Page. You can find it on any book page if you click on their name in blue under a title, to the left of “(Author)”.

The Amazon Author Page looks like this and gives you an overview of the author with features like their bio, videos, events, discussions, and a “FOLLOW” button under their main photo. Click on the book cover image of the book you want to review. Following is nice, too, if you’re a fan.

Once on the page, scroll down to where you see “Write a customer review” and click on it.

If you don’t want to use your real name, once you click on the “Write a customer review” button, look in the upper right corner to change your reviewer name.

Click “CHANGE” that is in tiny blue letters under the words “YOUR PUBLIC NAME”. A blank box appears that you then write your chosen reviewer name for that review. Click DONE. You can change it on any review. I have changed mine below to demonstrate. It’s not the name I use.

Your review does not appear instantly. It must be checked first. Amazon may not post a review where the reviewer says they know the author or there are more than one from the same household for the same product. However, telling friends, bookstores and libraries that you know the author can be a win-win for everyone.

The more reviews you leave on various sites the better, but if you only leave one, make it on Amazon, the leader in online book sales. As of this writing, it is not required that you purchase a book through them to review it there. You only need to have bought something on Amazon and have an account.

[UPDATE MARCH 5, 2018. You now have to have bought at least $50 of any kind of merchandise on Amazon with a valid credit or debit card and you cannot write a review for a free e-book if you were given the book specifically to write the review (except if you are in the Vine Program). For complete details on Amazon’s latest rules click here.]

I encourage the “3 out of 10 Rule.” If three out of ten books you read are bought at a brick-and-mortar bookstore, those stores will survive. Bookstores are important cultural meccas for every community and need all the support they can get — especially with Amazon as their competition. Number two in importance of reviews is Goodreads.com (which is owned by Amazon). Good old word-of-mouth is just as important as that Amazon review. Ya gotta show the love when you feel it. It’s like Paying it Forward.

Online book reviews do three things.

1) Though everything is subjective, reviews let potential readers know if they should consider investing their time and money in a book.

2) The more reviews, the more the book is lifted in search engine algorithms. Even if a book has lots of reviews, if the reviews slow down, so does the search engine. All books need to be fed. Be generous with your morsels. Even one sentence is better than nothing.

3) It makes you feel good to rejoice in a book you love!

What if you have negative feelings about a book? Does it feel good to vent them? Not for me. I know how hard it is to write a book and have it published. And, see #1. It’s subjective. Why hurt the feelings and ratings of someone whose book just isn’t my cup of tea? There have been many a bestseller I found unreadable. You are welcome to adopt this philosophy with my tomes. No like-ee. No tell-ee.

Thank you for spreading the word about your favorite books!

Jo Maeder’s Amazon Author Page