🚫 The No-Nos
An author is not allowed to compensate someone for a review.
That means no gifts, prizes, or other incentives.
Pretty common sense. I wouldn't trust reviews if I knew the person writing it was compensated in some way.
An author CAN give away free or discounted review copies.
However, any reviews must be optional (don't require someone to write a review) and honest (don't ask them to only say something positive).
Reviewers should also disclose if they received a review copy.
There are legit paid review services such as Kirkus.
These reviews may be posted in the editorial reviews section.
😐 The Grey Area
Amazon *does* allow an author to review another author's book.
So some authors decide to do "review swaps." It's technically possible to do them while remaining compliant.
Still, here's why I do NOT recommend review swaps.
First, for *authentic* reviews, an author still needs to find another author who's a real fan of a book's genre.
Second, if it's a "swap," it has to be structured in such a way so it's not considered an incentive.
Regardless of how it's set up, I believe this is still likely to lead to a biased review.
Finally, it's time-consuming.
An author has to read a book for every review they receive. I'm an avid reader, but this is a lot of work just to get some questionable reviews.
This is why I've never recommended review swaps.
Another grey area is reviews from family and friends.
An author technically CAN use family/friend reviews, however, these reviews should be posted in the editorial reviews section.
Note: While Amazon prohibits regular reviews from close family and friends, their terms explicitly say it IS okay to have reviews from family/friends in the editorial section.
👍 What's Recommended
If an author can't compensate someone to leave a review...
And don't want to twist the arms of family, friends, and fellow authors...
What's left to do?
Well, most authors just sit back and *hope* reviews come in.
This usually leads to little to no reviews for sometimes months on end as typically less than 1% of readers leave a review.
That's a problem when reviews are so key to getting the most out of book marketing efforts.
Some book promotion sites even require a minimum number of reviews.
Fortunately, there ARE legit strategies to proactively get more genuine reviews from real fans without violating any terms of service.
In particular, you can do something I call The Bridge Method.