Why Book Reviews Matter on Amazon

If you bought a book on Amazon, the author probably asked you to post a review of the book. While you might not think much about demand, the author is focused on getting great reviews.

There are various reasons why book reviews are important on Amazon, but here are the eight most important from an author’s perspective.

1. A book review helps other readers determine whether or not the book is for them. Nothing is worse than someone who already knows a lot about a subject buys a book and then finds out it’s for beginners. Or vice versa.

While authors usually try to explain who the book is for, a good review can reinforce this point more effectively.

2. A well-written review indicates what to look for in the book. Since you often highlight your favorite parts of the book in your review, it’s easy for other readers to look forward to this section. It also helps highlight content that is most relevant to readers – and provides valuable feedback for the author for their next book.

3. One criticism encourages the next. Not everyone wants to be first on the list, so you’re doing a great service by being the first person to write a book review. Once you get the ball rolling, one review leads to another, with readers often building on comments, responding to comments from others.

Also note that you don’t have to write a review to comment on a review. You can join the conversation about a book at any time.

4. The more positive reviews a book receives, the higher its ranking. The better it ranks, the more people see it. The more they see it, the more likely they are to buy it. So, by posting a positive book review, you are helping the book move up the ladder for more exposure.

And a note on the star rating – anything below 4 stars is considered “not recommended”, so it helps to be generous with your stars.

5. Simply ‘liking’ a review helps move that review up the list of reviews. As a result, book reviews appear first in the order of most helpful. So whether or not you write a review, take the time to read and rate reviews that have already been posted.

6. Once a book has 10 reviews, it can be included in the “also bought” list, as well as in the “you might like” recommendations. These listings, in turn, add up to the number of sales the book is likely to receive.

7. After an indefinite number of positive reviews, a book may be included in “Recommended for You” emails sent to individual Amazon readers. As with all other stages of the review process, this greatly increases the number of sales a book can receive.

8. Many book review sites will not consider a book a review unless they have a number of reviews on the Amazon book page.

With these eight things in mind, you’ll understand why book reviews are important and why an Amazon author asks you to write a review on the books you buy.