How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Just wondering if there is any way to get buyers to leave legitimate reviews for Kindle?

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

It's actually very difficult to get buyers to leave a review for Kindle books. Amazon often prompts buyers of your ebook to leave a review via email, but the purchase to review ratio is often very low (usually, less than 5% of all people who buy a Kindle book leave a review, based on my personal observation).

However, there are some Kindle book clubs where authors can get reviews from each other. One such example is the WarriorForum's own Warrior Book Club. You can join it here: http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...ior-style.html

Handing out advance review copies is a great way to get a jump-start on your book's reviews.

Additionally, you can approach people who have reviewed other Kindle books and offer them a free copy of your book in exchange for a review.

Hope that helps.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Amazon maintains a list of their top reviewers, you MAY be able to find someone there who will review your book.

Amazon's Top Customer Reviewers

Keep in mind that some of these people have been inundated with review requests or may only review books in specific genres.

Bill

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Make sure to ASK for reviews. Many authors skip that step because it's so simple but it definitely helps.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Tough to get reviews indeed. There's a certain book that's been purchased thousands of times since December 2012, and I've only managed to receive about 10 reviews or so. Granted, all these are definitely appreciated, but the purchase-to-review ratio is still outrageous, lol.

1. Ask for feedback somewhere within the book, such as the end/back.
2. Make it easy on the reader and provide a hyperlink to the book's sales page.
3. If you can, build an author blog and offer several free books as a nice incentive. This also gives you the chance to build a loyal mailing list.
4. Don't be afraid to contact readers and give them a free copy. For example, look into Amazon's Top Reviewers list and reach a few of them. Instead of contacting the very top reviewers, contact the ones at the very bottom -- those are the ones hungry to reach the top and may accept your plea/request more easily.
5. Join some author/reader communities and start building good old relationships.

The first 3 tips above have helped me veeeeeery very slowly, but surely. So be patient and you will see those legit reviews over time.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

I always link back to the sales thread inside of the book, and I specifically ask the reader to leave a review if they enjoyed the book.

Most people don't bother leaving a review, unless you make it easy for them to get back to your sales page to do so.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

I remember reading that even the Harry Potter books were only getting about 0.02% of buyers to leave reviews. This for a series that has both millions of copies sold and a devoted fan base.

I had a flashback to an insurance sales job I had many years ago. My sales manager handed me my book of "leads", aka the phone book. He laughed and told me that when I was through with those, he had more.

In one day, I found out that starting from the top (AAA A/C, anyone) or the bottom (Zyrsky Plumbing) was a bad idea, as nearly every newbie started at either the front or the back. The middle of the book was virtually virgin territory. People starting at the beginning or end either developed enough business that they could move on to more efficient ways to get leads, or they gave up.

This is a little different, so starting at the end of the list and working up make sense...

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

quick correction, the warrior book club does not endorse or recommend *exchanging reviews.* its true you can get many fellow members to review your book by asking them.

but exchanging is a bit gamey. it also looks bad to amazon. we check out books we like and post honest reviews. and other members do the same. not always for the same member who reviews yours. as a community it works out for everybody. :)

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Right, that's what I meant to say. Couldn't think of the right terminology at the time though. Thanks for pointing that out.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

You can get more exposure for your Kindle books by listing your free days at this Warrior forum thread http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...giveaways.html and hopefully that will bring you more reviews from fellow Warriors.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Have a call to action at the end of your book to leave an honest review to help you out. After consuming your content the person will most likely feel like they owe it to you to post a positive review, especially if you ask them.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Nope, this is exactly what does not happen, as pointed out in other posts in this thread.

If someone asks within the book itself to post a review, this has little or no impact. There are some people who enjoy posting reviews of most of what they buy, but most others will only post a review if they either love it or hate it.

Ask outside of the Amazon system, where you have some sort of relationship with readers (i.e. they know you in some way) has a much bigger impact in getting reader reviews.

For instance, if you let people on your own list know about a new Kindle ebook and ask them to leave a review if they like it, you'll get a much higher percentage of reviews than with other methods.

Make sure you do not offer any incentive for reviews or for positive reviews. A disgruntled customer or a competitor can report you to Amazon and you can lose all your reviews or even your account over this.

Marcia Yudkin

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Marcia brings up a GREAT point. Asking outside of Amazon is a great strategy and in my opinion, it's yet another reason why authors should be building an "author brand" and blog etc.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

This can be a bit of a gray area. It really depends on how you present the incentive and how you word things.

Example 1: If an author simply says, "If you leave me a positive review, I will give you this and that!" then that seems a bit fishy for sure.

Example 2: On the other hand, if you say something among the lines of, "Feedback is always welcome. Please leave a short review, I'd highly appreciate it. As a token of appreciation, hop onto my blog and receive a free book..." etc. In this case, you are leaving it up to the user to do what he wants. Yes, you're being encouraging, but you're not forcing the reader or trying to buy his soul. Moreover, you're merely asking them to review a book they had legitimately read. Could be a positive or a negative review.

In MY case, personally, this is what I do:

- I have a headline at the end of my book that advertises the ability to obtain free ebooks. For example, "Get a FREE Book! Here's How!"

- Below that headline, I ask the reader to leave a quick/short review, reminding them that it only takes a minute.

- Then on the following line I invite them to my blog to get some freebies. This is my token of appreciation to them, for taking the time to review the book they had already (and legitimately) bought & read.

So in a way, you could argue that I do a mixture of the 2 examples I gave above. But I never EVER ask strictly for a positive review -- rather, I simply ask for a quick review, leaving it up to the reader whether he wants to praise the book they just read, or burn it to the ground.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Actually Amazon doesn't allow you to offer an incentive for leaving a review, whether it's positive or negative. If you're giving out a freebie only to those who have posted a review, that is against Amazon's rules.

From Amazon:

From what you wrote, I'm not sure whether or not you are complying with this. I'm directing this more to other people reading this thread.

Marcia Yudkin

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Yeah in the end, users can still visit my blog and grab those free books without leaving a review for the one they just purchased (and thats what most of them do). But i can see where you're coming from...hence the whole "gray area" thing. I MAY have to ask Amazon directly about my tactic, and hopefully i won't get some generic, copy/paste answer from their FAQ.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Normally I'll leave a review link in the book the first time I published it,
it is a simple redirect, since I don’t have initially the actual link to
the book when I first published.

Once the book is live and I have the link to it, just put it up through the
redirect on my site.

Just to make it easier for them to leave the review.

But here’s an idea, I never tried it, it’s an idea I picked up from some
online reputation management course.

Leave 2 review buttons, in your book:

1. Did you like the book, leave a review here:
Link to amazon page for review

2. You didn’t like it? Please tell me why, I promised I will do my best to improve it.
Link to your website where you have a nice form with a review.

Again, I haven’t tried it, still not sure if it’s a good idea.

But if you are serious about your published books and really want to
improve them using feedback from your readers it should work!

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

buy them at fiverr :D, ... just kidding,

It might a good idea to go to this section, ask for review on your kindle book :

Warriors For Hire

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

If you have a list, make sure to let them know when you book is available for free download and ask them to kindly leave you a review.

Steve Scott http://www.stevescottsite.com/ has been doing this and his kindle books have really high numbers of comments.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

No, you cannot hire someone to leave you a review on Amazon.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Do not pay for reviews. Do not offer gifts for reviews.

But you do have to seek out reviews for yourself, at first. Ask people on your list, approach people who like to review books, people with book blogs, top reviewers, etc.

Takes a little leg work but it can be done.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

There is a new product on offer in the Warrior Forum that is supposed to help you get reviews.

Here's the link:
http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...automated.html

It seems to be getting really good reviews.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Do a search for reviewers. There are thousands of people out there that actually like to review books. Then sit down and write to them asking if they'd consider reviewing your work.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Give them some return with those who purchase with you and request for some review.
Mostly they are happy to give you a simple or short review and receive some giveaway from you that related to the product you sell.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

Based on your subject, put up a like book for sale on eBay.
Example: marketing ebook, put up 4 Hour Work Week

As a bonus in the description tell them they'll get a digital copy of your book.
Ex. Winner will also get a copy of Work Less, Play More: A guide to enjoying life by avoiding work at all cost

Alert all viewers to PM you on how to get a free copy of your book.

Once they PM you, allow them to read the first few pages/chapters for free and leave their honest thoughts on your Kindle page in order to get the full book. Note that you're not asking for glowing testimonials. You're only asking for honest feedback based on what they've read thus far.

Once testimonials are left, make good on your word and email them the full book.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

In the wrong hands, this could be dangerous. From what I see, it's a tool for finding reviewers with contact info. Beats the manual grunt work if it's effective.

The danger lies in the temptation to take this list of reviewers and spam them into oblivion begging for reviews. There will be people who will ruin any chance they ever had in the Kindle marketplace. I guarantee it.

If the tool is effective, and used judiciously, it will also put some users over the top.

It's like one of those Dremel carving tools. Some will get art from using it. Some will get a pile of sawdust, and some will get a trip to the ER...;)

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

You can offer a contest. In other words, anyone who leaves a review will have a chance to win a prize.

Re: How to Get More Reviews on Kindle?
 

You'd have to be very careful to make sure it does not sound like an inducement or payment, though.