Most authors know that reviews help sell books. But, getting reviews is sometimes difficult. There are many options for getting book reviews but in this post, I am going to focus on how to find and contact Amazon book reviewers. I have done this manually in the past and have had some success. Not every reviewer will e-mail you back or post a review about your book, but this is an option you can try. But, whatever you do, please do not spam these reviewers or add them to an e-mail list without their permission.
#1: Search Amazon Top Reviewers
Go to: http://www.amazon.com/review/top-reviewers
You can then search the top reviewers on Amazon. You will then need to check their profile and see if they review books similar to yours. This process takes time and is tedious but can yield results for you.
#2: Check Similar Books to Find Amazon Book Reviewers
Another option is to find a popular book with a lot of reviews that is similar to yours. Then manually check the profiles for that left reviews for this book to see if they have an e-mail address or a website link listed in their public profile on Amazon. To find their public profile, simply click on their name listed for the review. See an example of my public profile below.
If they do have a website URL, you can often find a contact form on their site in order to get in touch with them.
This process is also time consuming and something you might consider outsourcing to a VA or someone on Fiverr.com.
#3: Use the Review Grabber Tool from Author Marketing Club
I had a free membership with Author Marketing Club (AMC) for over a year and recently decided to try their premium membership. My favorite tool in their premium membership is the Review Grabber Tool. You enter a keyword and then it brings up books on Amazon. You can then click a few buttons and it will bring back the reviewers that have either an e-mail address or a website in their profile.
I love this tool!
It is such a time saver and allows me to contact Amazon reviewers without investing much of my time. Time, I could spend on writing more books! 😉 They even give you a copy and paste sample e-mail template that you can then use and customize with your information.
You can see this tool in action in the video below as well as a tour of all of the premium membership benefits.
[leadplayer_vid id=”528544AD4F7D0″]
What Methods Have You Used to Get Reviews?
Have you used this method of contacting Amazon reviewers? If so, share your results below. Or share other methods that have worked for you so we can learn from each other.
You can learn even more about how to get book reviews in our book, “How to Get Honest Reviews.
Find out more here: https://www.trainingauthors.com/books/honest-reviews/
This is a great article. I love the part about ‘Not every reviewer will e-mail you back or post a review about your book, but this is an option you can try. But, whatever you do, please do not spam these reviewers or add them to an e-mail list without their permission.’
I had someone do just that–spam, bug, or stalk, whatever you want to call it. It was for her first book and she wanted me to write a review since her book was JUST like someone’s book that I’d reviewed (which it wasn’t). I told her no in a very nice way (something like ‘I’ll think about it, but I don’t have a lot of time), but she kept bugging me. She finally decided she’d email me to tell me she was sending me her book. I told her NO, and she wouldn’t back off. I finally had to contact her publisher who apologized and promised she’d stop harassing me. Only then did she stop bugging me.
Turns out, the review that I posted for the book ‘just like hers’ was with an author who BOUGHT some of his reviews. It looked like I was paid for a review, when I wasn’t. So she probably thinks I was just out for the money, but I wasn’t.
Andie,
WOW! The author who contacted you definitely does not know how to win friends and influence reviewers. 🙂 That is an example of what NOT to do. Thank you for sharing as I do think it is so important to approach reviewers in the correct way.
Wow, Andie – That’s horrible. I’ve had a few authors contact me about reviewing books, saying I had reviewed something similar, when I hadn’t. Their books were actually very irrelevant for me and slightly offensive. So that’s another thing to watch out for.
All in all though, when done correctly, contacting reviewers can really pay off. Just make sure you wouldn’t say something to someone else that you wouldn’t want them to say to you or repeat to others.
Yuck! I’ve also recently been approached to write a review for a book that was supposedly similar to another I reviewed… but I totally didn’t recognize the title this author was suggesting, and in fact it’s in a subgenre that I loathe. So, needless to say, I wasn’t impressed by this person’s lack of research regarding my reviewer preferences. Plus, she couldn’t even take the time to address me by name — her greeting was “Dear [Name of My Website]”!
Really solid tips for authors, Shelley. As a professional Author/writer Mentor and Coach, I’d like to add:
I’d strongly advise against fake reviews, reviews from friends who have not read the book, one-line reviews, and paid reviews. Worthless and transparent as heck. But, as a reviewer, I’ll say hearing from an author who is excited about their own book is a compelling reason to consider reviewing the book.
I’d also advise ALL authors to work on their blogs and websites to be sure they offer readers outstanding content and solid author/publisher authority so the book can be found and appreciated.
—mkp
http://www.ontext.com
Maryan,
I totally agree with you on avoiding fake reviews, etc. Good points!
Excellent advice and article 🙂
Thank you! So glad you found it helpful!
Readersfavorite.com will do a free book review. I also do reviews and can be contacted via my website marydekokblowers.wordpress.com. I prefer nonfiction health related or Christian books.
I use and recommend Reader’s Favorite as well! Thanks for sharing!
Well said and excellent points. I just have a little something to add. I am an author and a top rated reviewer at Amazon so I have a request (consider it a plea) to anyone considering contacting reviewers directly. Most reviewers have genre preferences so you’re more likely to peak their interest if you do your homework to see the kinds of books they review before contacting them. Also, please a-s-k rather than tell. I regularly receive requests to review books through my blogs and I can tell you that when someone says to me “I’d like you to review my book” like it’s my job – there’s a 100% chance I will decline. The worst request I ever received was from a writer who said because he knew how busy I was he took the liberty of writing a (5*) review of his book for me – so I could just post it under my name. This one didn’t even get a response.
Yes! I agree 🙂 Although this seems like basic information, it is so important to approach reviewers in the correct way. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for the wonderful review of our program. We are glad to have you as a member and hope you continue to enjoy it. We work hard to make a real value for our members. We’ll be adding new tools and training all the time. Again, thanks for the great review!
You’re welcome, Jim! I’ve been a free member for over a year (I think!) but had no idea all the value you have in your premium membership until I tried it for myself! Thank you for offering an affordable way for authors to market their books.
Hi Shelley and Heather,
A month ago I started contacting Amazon reviewers by using the Review Grabber Tool from Author Marketing Club and I strongly recommend it.
I live in Greece and I was impressed to find out that in USA people review just because of their love for books and not only because it is their ‘job’.
I was very pleased by the dialogue that started about my book through their e-mails.
Reviewers respond even to say no for various reasons. In two cases that they wanted to read the book but could not review it for important reasons, I replied because I felt grateful for the time they spent to send me an e-mail. Also I attached the book to thank them in my way (underlying of course to forget about reviewing it).
The article synopsize how to find and contact Amazon book reviewers and it really helped me.
That’s so great to hear Elina! You’re doing it right. If you’re nice, and not pushy, with reviewers you can have a very pleasant experience and get great results! Glad to see you having success with it!
Elina,
This is great to know that you’ve had success using this process and AMC’s tools. Awesome! Keep up the great work 🙂
I totally understand the need to be polite and respectful and to do your research prior to approaching a reviewer.
Yet, at the same time, I often find myself annoyed by this culture that seems to function under the notion that the reviewer/blogger is doing an author a huge favor by reviewing their book.
In modern internet culture, where content is king, the most difficult thing writers and bloggers need to do is come up with fresh new content.
By drawing an reviewer or blogger’s attention to your book, you are, in fact, doing them a favor by providing them content for their blog that they don’t have to go out and seek themselves.
I guess my point is just that it is a reciprocal relationship in which the reviewer and the author both benefit, so I find it frustrating when it is the author who is consistently expect to beg and grovel to get their work read.
Kevin,
I understand your frustration. However, what I have found is that reviewers tend to get bombarded with requests. And so it is important how we approach them. I don’t consider it begging and groveling but simply asking nicely and personalizing my requests when I can. 🙂
Kevin; I am sure you do understand the importance of being polite with reviewers, but I seriously question your attitude. You are not doing a reviewer a favor by requesting a review. To provide an honest review they have to read the book – could take 10 to 30 hours or more and then they have to write and post a review to all the requested sites. You are asking for a good chunk of time, they could use doing other things. As for supplying fresh content for their writing – most writers have lots of inspiration and bloggers who do reviews have more book offers than they could ever use in a lifetime. You need to appreciate these people – they are doing you the favor.
Please accept this in the spirit intended, as a resource for writers struggling to get reviews.
We’re launching a review network that should help solve this problem for a lot of writers. It’s called Kindred Readers, and we’re currently accepting names for our early invite list.
Kindred Readers works very much like an academic peer review process. Books are assigned to readers based on their interest profiles, and all reviews are posted using a confidential code that is unique to the reviewer. This means all reviews are objective and reviewers can give their honest opinion without fear of reprisal. Our community guidelines ensure that reviews adhere to professional standards.
There’s much, much more … please join our list and we’ll fill you in as we head toward launch. http://www.kindredreaders.com
Thanks for sharing! I have a couple questions…
Will there be a cost for your service when it’s up and running?
Also, will the reviews be placed only on your site and not on places like Amazon?
Great questions! The purpose of the site is to help writers, so although there will be a small subscription fee, it’ll be just enough to pay for the admin of the site – certainly less than the cost of a weekly trip to Starbucks.
RE: Cross-posting reviews. We offer members meaningful incentives to cross-post their reviews *anonymously* to book vendor websites. If the reviewer gives the book a 1 or 2-star overall rating, the reviewer can request they receive the incentive without cross-posting (so they don’t have to choose between publicizing a negative review and losing their chance at the incentive.
At Kindred Readers, we’re trying to achieve a balance. We strongly support writers still developing their skills, but we acknowledge that not all self-published writers have fully mastered those skills at a professional level. We want to support writers by helping them become better, more successful authors.
Two key aspects of our site point reflect this philosophy:
1. Our reviews are structured to provide succinct yet detailed feedback. Books are rated on Character Development, Plot and Pacing, Style and Technical Elements as well as the overall gestalt score (i.e., the typical 1-5 stars). The commentary portion is brief (50-250 words), heavily focused on the readers’ experience of the book — no summaries. We want our reviews to tell the author what works – and doesn’t work – in their writing while still offering guidance to potential readers.
2. First, let us be clear. We LOVE indie writers. We ARE indie writers. But a constellation of skill sets goes into a publishing a book, and sometimes an indie writer needs a little help.
Our site will have a service provider directory (editors, proofreaders, cover designers, publicists, videographers, etc) that provides information on the services provided, areas of specialty, fees, process and delivery timeframes, etc. It will also offer two things that are exceptionally hard to find:
a. Reviews – KR members will provide feedback on their experience of working with that service provider.
b. A discount on the services offered.
Service providers do not pay to be listed in our directory. Instead, they have to agree to these things:
1. provide a discount exclusively available to our members – 20% minimum
2. keep their listing up to date
3. agree to allow our members to review their experience of working with them.
This directory and the services rendered by the providers listed in it are COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT of Kindred Readers. We do not charge the service provider a fee to be listed and we receive no fees if our members engage them. This is a feature we want to offer our members because as authors, it is time consuming to find and vet service providers, and even so, you’re tossing the dice. We want to decrease the angst, cost and risk involved in seeking support when its needed.
Pardon the long response – I said there was lots more! 😉 Thanks for your patience, and for asking. Happy to answer any other questions in this forum or via email (info [at] kindredreaders.com) or on twitter, @kindredreaders.
Should have proofed better! My response had a couple of errors. My apologies.
Shelley, great stuff! I cover information on how to get professional reviews by going through the back door in my Frugal Book Promoter (http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) . One thing I’ve been curious about is how to contact Amazon to partiipate in their Vine review process (and the cost for doing so). I haven’t had time to do the research. Do you know?
Hugs,
Carolyn
Thanks, I need more reviews for my new tennis book and will try this.
Haven’t gotten my first book published yet, so this will be something to file for later, except…
I love reviewing books in my genre and had no idea I could add my website to my Amazon profile. That’s fixed now!
Maybe I’ll get a free book through this, Thanks. 🙂
Hi there
There is a gig on Fiverr.com where for only $5 you get 50 reviewers emails/website contact details for any book niche you ask for. She has really good reviews. The link is: http://www.fiverr.com/sophybear/give-you-a-minimum-of-30-email-andor-website-addresses-of-book-reviewers-in-your-niche
Bernice,
Thanks! Although I never recommend paying for reviews, paying someone to do the research for you to get top Amazon reviewers info would be acceptable. I still prefer to use the AMC review grabber tool. 🙂
the blog is so amazing ; you are givin many usufull and good infoes here , thanks a lot and i wish you succed in the soon time .
wITHE LOVE and RESPECTE Yusuf <3
I had their website saved as a bookmark and planned on reading/going through it latter, but you just summed it up for me. I’m so excited and can’t wait to use their program, thank you so much, this is a great post and as always keep up the great work.
You’re welcome, James! Glad you found it helpful 🙂
Very Informative article, thank you. It reminds us to be conscientious about posting a review ourselves, when we purchase a book, something I’m sure we all forget to do.
Many authors are also reviewers. I have looked for books that I like on Amazon. Then, I use Kindle Unlimited to see if the book is worthy of a good, positive review. I contact the author to see if the book is coming up for a promo in the near future because I’m interesting in writing a verified review. They usually have one planned and let me know when. Sometimes, they say “no” but would still appreciate an unverified review. If so, I do one for them. It isn’t hard to quickly write a review on a book that is in a topic you are studying or that interests you. I can knock one out, check with for grammar and spelling, and post within ten to fifteen minutes. I keep a listing of authors and books that I’ve reviewed.
Later, when I have a book needing reviews, I use Facebook to contact these authors and ask if they would consider reading and doing a review of my book. Sometimes, I send them a review copy in advance of posting on Amazon. Often, these same authors will actually buy my book while it is in the introductory promo period. That gives me a verified review! At other times, they simply say that they do not do solicited reviews. Oh, well, I just scratch them off my list. I have accumulated quite a few authors who write excellent reviews that are very helpful to readers. That’s the ones I want, not just the ones who give a five-star review but say little about the book’s value. This may seem like the lazy way to get reviews, but I almost feel like I’ve earned their reviews by my willingness to help them. My own reviews are honest because I very seldom finish reading a book that isn’t worth a good 4 or 5-star review. Why bother? BTW, this is another reason why authors should consider KDP Select. It lets people like me see whether the book is any good before I offer to do a review!
I hate when people do that to me. At first I was nice and accepted the book but after the fourth or fifth time I just started to ignore them. I’m sure like most Amazon reviewers I already have enough books on my pile to read that offering me a free book I didn’t ask for isn’t much of a prize.
Hi: I have been following you for a while now and with all your marketing advice I would really like to know how some one like JK Rowling and EL James got the publicity that made them so big. Who was the contact that made these books notable tot he world?
Great article and i really enjoyed reading through all the commenter’s opinions! 🙂
Ok as part of my research I read the remarks. This was helpful. As an author I read over and over how other authors have been pushy, entitled and outright relentless. This doesn’t bode well for us who are trying to dip our toe into the pool.
So, here is my policy as a new author. I will not ask anyone on this site for a review based upon them being on this site. Now if I find them another way, then and only then will I respectfully ask for a review.
Next I only ask once. Once should be enough. If I don’t get an answer then that is my answer.
If I do get a review I will keep my feelings for or against the honor of being reviewed to myself.
I will accept the review as what it is, the personal opinion of someone whose opinion I requested. That is always welcome and I will never try to change it.
I will send emails, one on one, never mass.
No reviewer will ever be put on any list I have.
Let me apologize now, I will not send a follow up message or a thank you. I do thank you, but I am sure you don’t need to hear from me again. Remember, once is enough.
I try to research the likes and dislikes of the reviewers. I will try harder. I am always open for suggestions as I am still and always will be learning.
I will not contact a reviewer who has no interest in the topic of my book.
I will try to keep my website up to date and my blog current.
If I forgot anything, let me know. I still won’t ask for my book to be reviewed from this site. My reason, reviewers get inundated enough with requests. When you provide insight as you have here you deserve the “space.”
Thank You for the information.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found it helpful.
hello Shelley,
Thanks for the wonderful pieces of information you have shared with us. I have written two books on amazon.com; lulu.com and the kindle store. The books are accessible on Lulubookstore: at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/fabdallah2016.
It makes me sad that i have not made a single sale and require a review to know what i am doing wrong.
Kindly assist please. I also have three upcoming books which i intend to publish.
I can send you copies of my e-books if okay by you.
I offer coaching in my private forums of AuthorAudienceAcademy.com if you’re interested. Book marketing takes time so don’t give up!
STOP! Don’t go emailing reviewers anymore!!!
I have gotten slammed by so many email requests for reviews (two a day at least) that I’m starting to give bad reviews now some of these requests.
Why?
BECAUSE MOST OF YOU SUCK!
Really! Spamming the hell of out reviewers with crappy books has become the NORM now. AND I get so many of them that I really can’t be bothered anymore.
So DO NOT do this! Do not email reviewers en masse because you think you’ll get enough reviews to get a best seller, even though you can be bothered to hire an editor and you couldn’t be bothered to listen to all those people who say you can’t write worth a damn.
This is no longer a worthwhile practice as scammers and bad writers are spamming the hell out of it.