Authors: Things to do when Amazon rejects your book reviews.

The ultimate struggle for indie authors is selling books. A crucial piece to the book selling puzzle is collecting book reviews, especially on websites that control the bulk of online book sales, like Amazon. Amazon has a very specific review policy for those who want to write a review for a book on their site. Once you have submitted your review to Amazon, they process it to make sure that it doesn’t violate any of their policies, and then they either add your review to their website, or mark it as unacceptable. Most people would assume that all you have to do is follow Amazon’s review policies and everything will be fine, right? Sadly, it doesn’t always work that way. Reviews have been removed that clearly don’t violate any of their policies, but something triggers Amazon to take action. I am not here to debate this growing issue. It’s frustrating as an author and book promoter, but who can fight a giant like Amazon?

Instead, my goal is for you to make the most out of every review, so that even if it is unable to make its way onto Amazon, you can still use it to market your book:

1. Encourage readers to not only submit their book reviews to Amazon, but also to Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, and any other site where your book is available to purchase. Don’t put all of your eggs into one basket. Distribute those reviews everywhere!
2. Some readers do not post on Amazon, but their reviews are still important. Use their reviews in your media kit, as pull-quotes on future book covers, and on print promo materials.
3. Reviews make perfect content to share on your social media accounts, on your website or blog, and as promotional memes.​​

Yes, it’s incredibly discouraging when a great review doesn’t make it onto Amazon. But I hope that the suggestions above helps you find some ways to use each review you receive to your advantage on your marketing  journey. Losing reviews on Amazon is a bummer, but doesn’t have to be the end of the world.

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