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How to get book reviews comes down to one move made in many ways: put a free copy in front of the right reader, ask for an honest opinion, and make it easy to post. Amazon allows free and discounted review copies for books. It does not allow payment, review swaps, or reviews from people close to you. Everything below is a version of that one move, done within those rules.
This guide is for self-published and small-press authors who want their first 10, 20 or 50 honest reviews without risking a listing. On 3 November 2026 we read the rules on the rule-makers’ own pages: Amazon’s KDP help pages and Community Guidelines, the US Federal Trade Commission’s consumer review rule, and the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s fake reviews guidance. We also read every price quoted here on the seller’s own page that day. Where a seller shows no clear price, we say so and leave it out.
Why reviews matter more in 2026
Reviews used to be a row of stars and a few paragraphs. On Amazon they now feed an AI summary as well. Amazon’s “review highlights” are short summaries of customer sentiment built only from customer reviews, and they sit directly above the reviews on a product page. Amazon says they get hundreds of millions of impressions a week, and that the number of customers engaging with them doubled year on year (About Amazon, read 3 November 2026).
Amazon's figures are self-reported. Penalties are maximums, not typical fines.
The same page confirms that Amazon’s shopping assistant, Rufus, was renamed Alexa for Shopping on 13 May 2026. Shoppers can ask it what customers say about a product. Amazon reported that more than 300 million customers used the assistant in 2025 (Amazon Q4 2025 results, February 2026). These are Amazon’s own figures, not audited ones.
So what reviews say now matters, not just how many there are. “The twist in chapter 30 floored me” gives the summary something to work with; “great read” does not. You can’t write reviews for readers, but you can choose readers who suit the book. Our guide to writing memorable book reviews is a good link to send them.
The rules: what Amazon, the FTC and the UK allow
Three sets of rules apply to most English-language authors. Amazon’s rules decide whether a review stays up. The US and UK rules are law, and they apply to businesses, which includes authors selling books.
Give a free copy, ask for an honest review, and ask the reader to say it was free. Never pay, never ask for stars, never swap reviews, never ask family. (Amazon KDP Help: Customer Reviews; Amazon Community Guidelines; FTC 16 CFR Part 465; UK CMA fake reviews guidance. Read 3 Nov 2026.)
Amazon. KDP’s Customer Reviews help page says you may give free or discounted copies to readers, as long as you “do not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review”. Offering anything beyond the book, including gift cards, invalidates the review and Amazon removes it. Amazon’s Community Guidelines add that reviewers can’t review products they have a financial interest in, or products from authors they have a personal connection with. Relatives, friends, employers and business associates promoting your book all fall foul of it. The same page allows readers to review free advance reader copies from authors or publishers, on the same condition: no required review and no steering. To post any review on Amazon.com, a customer must have spent $50 on Amazon.com with a credit or debit card in the past 12 months. Promotional discounts don’t count towards it.
US Federal Trade Commission. The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews (16 CFR Part 465) was announced on 14 August 2024. It bans fake reviews, including AI-generated ones and reviews from people with no real experience of the product. It bans incentives that depend on the reviewer saying something positive (or negative). And it also bans undisclosed insider reviews, suppressing negative reviews through threats, and buying fake followers or views. On 22 December 2025 FTC staff sent warning letters under the rule to 10 companies, noting civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. Separately, the FTC’s Endorsement Guides treat a free product as a connection that should be disclosed.
UK Competition and Markets Authority. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, fake reviews joined the list of banned practices, and the CMA’s new powers were in force by 7 April 2025. The CMA can fine a company up to 10% of its global turnover. Its fake reviews guidance also bans “concealed incentivised reviews”: reviews where the reviewer got money or a freebie and that isn’t made clear. A free review copy is a freebie. On 27 March 2026 the CMA opened investigations into five businesses, including one over discounts given for 5-star reviews and one over staff being asked to write reviews.
| Practice | Amazon | US (FTC) | UK (CMA) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free review copy, no strings | Allowed | Allowed; the connection should be disclosed | Allowed if the incentive is made clear |
| Asking for a positive review | Not allowed | Banned if the incentive depends on it | Incentives for 5-star reviews are under CMA investigation |
| Gift card or payment for a review | Not allowed; review removed | Banned if tied to sentiment | Banned if concealed |
| Family and friends reviewing | Not allowed | Insider reviews need disclosure | Misleading if concealed |
| AI-written or fake reviews | Not allowed | Banned | Banned |
In practice that gives you one safe line. Give the copy free, ask for an honest review, and ask the reader to say they got it free. A disclosure readers can copy: “I received a free advance copy from the author. This review is my honest opinion.” Never pay, never ask for stars, never swap reviews with another author, and never ask family.
How to get book reviews: 8 honest routes
These routes run from free to paid. Most authors use three or four. Start with whatever reaches readers of your subgenre soonest.
BookSirens
- Price
- $10 per accepted book + $2 per reader download, or $100/year (Author plan)
- Who brings the readers
- Its own reader community, plus readers you invite
- Review follow-up
- Tracks reviews and sends reminders
- Best for
- Genre fiction with no list yet
BookFunnel
- Price
- Secure ARC delivery from the Mid-List plan: $200/year or $20/month
- Who brings the readers
- You do: it delivers files to your readers
- Review follow-up
- Secure ARC delivery (Mid-List plan and up); check its site for follow-up tools
- Best for
- Authors with a newsletter ARC team
StoryOrigin
- Price
- Standard plan: $10/month or $100/year
- Who brings the readers
- You do, with reviewer history checks
- Review follow-up
- Automated reviewer follow-up
- Best for
- Authors who want vetting and cross-promos
NetGalley
- Price
- $575 for a 6-month pay-per-title listing
- Who brings the readers
- Its members: reviewers, librarians, booksellers, educators, media
- Review follow-up
- Members send feedback through NetGalley
- Best for
- Books aimed at libraries and the trade
Which fits you No list yet? BookSirens. A newsletter team? BookFunnel or StoryOrigin. Library or trade hopes? NetGalley. Booksprout and Goodreads Giveaways: check the current price.
Ask in your back matter
The cheapest review request is the page after “The End”. Readers who reach it liked the book enough to finish. Keep it short and honest: “If this book stayed with you, a few words on its Amazon page help other readers find it.” Link to the book’s review page in the ebook, not to a store front page. Don’t mention stars and don’t offer anything in return.
Build an ARC team from your own readers
An ARC (advance reader copy) team is a group of readers who get the book a few weeks early and agree to read it, not to praise it. Recruit them from your newsletter, your website or your social posts. Send a short form that asks what they read and where they post reviews. Give them four weeks and one reminder. Some won’t finish, and that’s normal. Our week-by-week launch plan shows where the ARC window sits in a launch.
List on an ARC platform
If you have no readers yet, ARC platforms are the quickest answer to how to get book reviews from strangers. They deliver review copies and, in some cases, bring their own readers. These are the prices on each seller’s own page on 3 November 2026:
- BookSirens: $10 per accepted book plus $2 per reader download, or $100 a year on the Author plan. It promotes your book to its own reader community and tracks who reviews.
- BookFunnel: delivers files to readers you bring. Secure ARC delivery starts on the Mid-List Author plan, $200 a year or $20 a month. The $30-a-year First-Time Author plan doesn’t include it.
- StoryOrigin: the Standard plan is $10 a month or $100 a year, and it lets you check a reviewer’s history and automate follow-ups. The free Basic plan has no review-copy tools.
- NetGalley: a 6-month pay-per-title listing is $575. Its members include reviewers, librarians, booksellers, educators and media, which suits books aimed at libraries and the trade.
- Booksprout: it sells several plans, billed monthly or yearly, so check the current price on its pricing page.
Run a Goodreads Giveaway
Goodreads Giveaways come in two forms. A Kindle Book Giveaway sends up to 100 ebook copies straight to winners, and it is open to publishers and to self-published authors who use KDP. A Print Book Giveaway is open to everyone, but you post the copies yourself within two weeks, and targeting covers the US and Canada. A Goodreads review doesn’t appear on Amazon, but many readers post in both places. Goodreads’ setup page shows no fee, so check the current price before you plan around it. More on Goodreads as a reader community is in our post on social reading platforms.
Pitch book bloggers and reviewers
Book bloggers still review indie books, but most get more requests than they can read. Read their review policy and pitch only those who cover your subgenre and format. A good pitch fits on a phone screen: their name, why you chose them, the book in two lines, the format you can send, and one clear ask. Follow up once, after two weeks, then let it go. Declaring our interest: The Bookish Elf sells book marketing services to authors, including reviews and features on this site.
Get an editorial review
An editorial review is a professional review from a publication or review service, not a customer review. Some are free and selective, some are paid. They don’t count towards your Amazon star rating. You can add quotes from them to your book page through Amazon Author Central, which KDP describes as a US-only feature for editorial reviews. Don’t put them in your book description: KDP’s metadata guidelines ban reviews, quotes and review requests there. For current editorial review prices, see how much book marketing costs; we don’t repeat them here.
Reach BookTok and Bookstagram creators
Creators review books in video and photo posts, and their audiences often post reviews of their own afterwards. Treat them as reviewers: send a free copy, ask for nothing fixed, and expect them to label it as gifted. Under the FTC Endorsement Guides and the CMA’s guidance, they should make that connection clear. “Gifted” on its own may not be enough for the FTC, so a short line such as “free copy from the author” is safer.
Turn first reviews into more
Once the first reviews land, add a welcome email for new newsletter readers that mentions reviews once, kindly. Thank your ARC team and tell them when the book is live, because many wait for the store page. Readers who borrow the book through Kindle+ (Kindle Unlimited’s new name, which KDP’s help pages now use) can review it too, provided they meet Amazon’s spend rule. Reviews are half of a strong Amazon page. The other half is metadata: see our guide to KDP categories and keywords.
What gets reviews removed
Knowing how to get book reviews is half the job; keeping them is the other half. Most removed reviews break one of a few rules. KDP lists the common reasons as a clash with the Community Guidelines (which covers reviews posted in exchange for compensation), a reviewer deleting their own review, or a review linked to the wrong product. Amazon won’t tell you the outcome of an investigation. The usual causes for authors are:
The ask
Who
Your listing
- Reviews from family, close friends, colleagues or anyone with a stake in the book.
- Review swaps with other authors, or “review exchange” groups.
- Gift cards, refunds, prize draws or anything other than the book itself.
- Review copies sent on condition of a review, or with a request for five stars.
- AI-written reviews, or reviews from people who haven’t read the book.
- Review quotes or review requests placed in the book description.
Amazon has no official review count that switches on its algorithm. You’ll see numbers such as 50 quoted on blogs, but Amazon publishes no such threshold on any page we read. Aim for honest reviews from the right readers instead.
A worked example: eight weeks to a first batch of reviews
Here is how to get book reviews on a small budget, as an illustrative plan for a debut psychological thriller with a small newsletter. The book is made up; the prices are the ones read on 3 November 2026.
- Eight weeks out: write the ARC sign-up form and the reviewer disclosure line. Pick one ARC platform: with no list, BookSirens at $10 for the book plus $2 per download.
- Seven weeks out: email the newsletter and invite readers to the ARC team. List the book on the platform.
- Six weeks out: pitch eight bloggers who review thrillers, using their own policies.
- Four weeks out: one friendly reminder to ARC readers. Launch a Kindle Book Giveaway on Goodreads if the book is on KDP.
- Launch week: tell ARC readers the page is live, with a direct link.
- Two weeks after: thank everyone. Add the back-matter request to the next update of the ebook if it isn’t there yet.
If 40 readers download through BookSirens, the platform costs $90 ($10 plus 40 × $2). The rest costs time.
What changes in 2027
How to get book reviews won’t change much in 2027. Enforcement, and the way reviews are shown, will. Speculation is labelled below.
Now (2026)
Amazon summarises customer reviews above the reviews themselves.
About Amazon, read Nov 2026Rufus was renamed on 13 May 2026; shoppers can ask what customers say.
About AmazonFTC rule from Oct 2024; UK ban on fake and concealed incentivised reviews from Apr 2025.
US FTC; UK CMANext (2027)
Speculation: the FTC's first formal cases under its review rule, after 10 warning letters in Dec 2025.
US FTC, Dec 2025Our inference: specific reviews give AI summaries more to say than one-liners.
Our analysisWatch
Five CMA review investigations opened in Mar 2026, with no findings yet.
UK CMA, Mar 2026Kindle Unlimited became Kindle+ in Oct 2026; no Amazon data yet on review effects.
KDP Help; press, Oct 2026- AI summaries will shape more first impressions. Amazon’s review highlights already sit above reviews and are growing fast by Amazon’s account. Our inference, not Amazon’s statement: detailed, specific reviews will probably give those summaries more to say about your book than one-line ones.
- US enforcement may move from letters to cases. The FTC’s warning letters to 10 companies went out in December 2025. Speculation: the first formal cases under the review rule could follow in 2027.
- The UK’s first review decisions. The CMA’s five investigations opened in March 2026 had no findings when we checked. Watch for the first fines under the new law.
- Kindle+ and audio. Kindle Unlimited became Kindle+ in October 2026 (press reports date the switch to 22 October), and coverage reported more AI-narrated audiobooks alongside it. Watch item: more readers finding books through subscriptions and audio means more prompts to review from Amazon itself. Amazon has published no data on this yet.
- AI-written reviews are fake reviews. The FTC rule names AI-generated reviews from people without real experience. Expect platforms to keep tightening detection.
FAQ about getting book reviews
How many reviews does a book need?
Amazon publishes no official number, and no page we read gives one. Figures like 50 come from blog advice, not Amazon. Aim for a steady flow of honest reviews from readers of your subgenre.
Can my friends and family review my book on Amazon?
No. Amazon’s Community Guidelines bar reviews from people with a personal connection to the author, and from anyone with a financial interest. Amazon removes such reviews when it finds them.
Can I give away free copies in exchange for reviews?
You can give away free or discounted copies, but you can’t require a review or influence what it says. Ask for an honest review and ask the reader to mention the free copy. Offering anything beyond the book, such as a gift card, voids the review.
Do ARC readers have to say they got a free copy?
The US FTC treats a free product as a connection that should be disclosed, and the UK CMA bans concealed incentivised reviews. The safe habit is to ask every ARC reader to add a short line saying they got a free copy from the author.
Is it worth paying for an editorial review?
An editorial review is a professional quote you can show on your book page through Author Central, but it doesn’t count as a customer review. It helps most when the source is one your readers recognise. Compare prices on our book marketing costs page before you decide.
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