How to give readers a direct Amazon review link
Not getting enough reader reviews on Amazon?
Make it easier for readers by giving them a direct Amazon review link they can use to write an honest reader review.
I’ve created a short video that shows how to send them directly to the review form for your book on Amazon.
Finding your direct Amazon review link
All it takes is a few clicks. Here’s how to do it:
Abbreviated transcript/instructions:
- On your book’s sales page, go to the review stars at the top under the book title. (No reviews yet? I cover that later in the video.)
- Hover your mouse over the stars. Click on “see all customer reviews.” That takes me down the page to my reviews.
- Underneath the summary of reviews, you’ll see the option to “review this product.” Click on “write a customer review.” It takes your readers to the review template. This is where readers review your book.
- To share that specific link, go to top of your screen and copy the URL. Use a URL shortener (I use bit.ly but there are others) to make a shorter version.
- When you don’t have reviews already, from your sales page, scroll down to customer reviews. (You’ll still have the customer review section.) You’ll see the “write a customer review” link. Click on that.
- Copy that URL and shorten it.
- Share the link with readers. In particular, include it when you give them the Build Book Buzz Reader Book Review Form.
- Add it to the end of your book so readers can click on it in the e-version or type it into a browser for the print version.
Why this is important
Like it or not, reader reviews are the “social proof” readers look for when making a decision about buying a book.
Most authors struggle to get reviews, so the easier you make it for readers to write a short, honest, and meaningful review, the more likely they will be to support you with a review.
The easier you make it for readers to write a short, honest, and meaningful review, the more likely they will be to support you with a review.Click to tweetFor help finding readers who write reviews, be sure to read “9 places to look for readers to write reviews” on this site.
What’s your best tip for getting reader reviews? Please tell us in a comment!Â
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Thanks so much for this helpful tip, Sandra!
You’re welcome, Jarm! Thanks for stopping by.
Sandy
An excellent tip! You always share valuable info — thank you.
I’m going to share with my authors and St. Louis Publishers Assoc. community 🙂
I’m so glad it was helpful, Peggy, and thanks for sharing it with the SLPA. You and I met when Bobbi Linkemer recruited me for an in-person workshop for the group! You have so many fantastic members.
Sandy
Is there a way to include a link that will connect to the reader’s specific Amazon marketplace? As a Canadian, nothing ticks me off more than to be constantly punted over to the US site.
Start with your book’s listing on the country-specific Amazon marketplace. If your book is available in Canada, that’s the review link you’ll want to share.
Sandy
What I am looking for is a universal link that will direct the reader to whete to leave a review in the Amazon marketplace in their own country. My books are sold all over the world. I can direct readers to book pages in their countries but not the review link. It is frustrating.
I don’t think you’ll find a universal link because there’s no universal sales page.
Sandy
Thank you so much for sharing this video and instructions, Sandra. I continue to appreciate you and your great blog posts!
You’re welcome, Phoebe! Thank you for such a lovely comment.
Sandy
Thanks for this easy and important tip! Supplying direct URL links to specific pages on sites is a great idea for this and any other time you want to direct someone’s attention with fewer distractions. It makes it so much easier on the readers. THX again!
So true! Thanks for that important and helpful reminder. It applies to so much more than your book’s review form on Amazon!
Sandy
It may have been well-intentioned but it does not work. See All Customer Reviews does take you to / Write a Customer Review – but once you click on that, it takes you to YOUR OWN log-in page to Amazon, and once you log-in, it will tell you that you don’t have enough purchases to review this book and there is NO LINKK that you can provide to your readers. I’ve no idea what these readers above thanked you for – but this ‘helpful suggestion’ does not work.
Edita, did you try logging in first?
Sandy
Also, Edita, you have to have spent at least $50 on Amazon in the past 12 months to review any product, so that’s part of your problem.
Sandy
Thanks for the post. I do know how to do this, and I include a direct link in my back matter and in my newsletters and anywhere else I can think of. My problem is that most of my readers do not spend $50 with Amazon within the time frame and therefore can’t post a customer review even if they wanted to. Goodreads is an option but I’ve also had readers who don’t want to sign up to GR just to leave a review for me as they’ve had issues with GRs.
How interesting, Vicky. They’ve told you that about their Amazon spending? Pretty hard to get around that one.
Sandy
These suggestions are very clear and I’m eager to follow them to create a link, but when I click on write a review, Amazon takes me to my sign-in page, and when I sign in, and am back at the write a review page, the only URL at the top of the page is amazon.com. The longer URL which would pertain to the particular book, does not appear. What might be the problem here?
Tom, have you tried logging in to your account before you go to your book’s page?
Sandy
QUESTION: Since I have to be signed in to access the review page the link is through my account. Presumably, if they try to use that link it will look like I’m writing the review of my book. Plus, can they continue on in Amazon through my account? I’m probably missing a vital step here LOL
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Debbi
Debbi, the review link you can copy when you follow the instructions is not linked to your account. It’s the same link everyone sees when they’re on your book’s “page” on Amazon.
Sandy
Thank you so much for this valuable info! I am getting ready to publish my first book through KDP. Once I have this link… how do I get it into my ebook if the book is already published? Are we able to easily edit a book after the Publish button is hit? Thank you!
Yes, you can update the file and upload it again. And congratulations on your book!
Sandy
My book is on pre-order and I am trying to add a link into the final manuscript before it goes off for formatting.
When I click on the ‘Write A Customer Review’ button it says ‘This item is not eligable for review’
Is this because I am the author, or because the book is not yet released?
I would like to pu the link in the manuscript ready to go for formatting. Can you advise?
Jackie, I suspect it’s because it’s not available for purchase — nobody can review it until it is. But I also can’t find a book by you that’s available for pre-order so I can give it a try, too. Could you post a link here?
If you’re self-publishing and it’s print-on-demand for print books, you can easily update the e-book and print files as soon as it goes live.
Sandy
Thank you, Sandy.
It’s not so easy for me to update the files myself as I have them professionally formatted by a third party.
This is a universal link to my book It Never Rains But It Paws – A Road Trip Through Politics And A Pandemic; mybook.to/NeverRains
Your formatter will be able to update the files for you. And it’s definitely because the book isn’t published yet.
Sandy
hI Sandra – Most helpful (and clever) idea. Can I create and share this link with my reviewers befor the ‘go live on Amazon’ date?
That’s a great question, Michael. No, you can’t. Because readers can’t post a review until it’s live, you also can’t generate a link to share with them. But if you’ve got a review team/street team/launch team/whatever team lined up, I’d grab that link as soon as it publishes and send it out to them.
Sandy
I’m unable to leave reviews myself, as I haven’t spent the required amount. When I try to access the “leave review” page I get an error message. If I were to give that link to a reader they would get the same message. How to overcome this?
Thomas, you can ask a friend to follow the instructions and get the link for you.
Sandy
Hello – do your review forms (whether for fiction or NF) address distinctions in language between American and British English? Would be nice if neither set of forms had to address the matter!
Many thanks – John
They don’t, John. Why do you ask — what’s the issue with reviews?
Sandy
It relates to the audience to whom I’m reaching out. Assume that a given would-be reviewer would prefer to read the review form written in a specific language, and might not otherwise complete the form. This is a thing – albeit not confirmed in this particular instance.
However your form, which presumably is written in American English, may map perfectly to British English. In which case my purchase of such would not give rise to any British English language concerns. Might I bother you to confirm that there are no mapping issues; alternatively, would you be interested in a proofreading of your form for the sake of your international audience?
It is written in American English. It won’t confuse people who speak and read British English. The form contains instructions that anyone who can read English can follow. Readers using the form to review books can write reviews in the language of their choice.
Sandy
That doesn’t properly answer my question, but thank you for your bother.
It’s the best I can do.
Sandy
The issue is more around whether I could use the same form for either type of audience, without potentially giving rise to some manner of English language usage offence (or *offense* if you will).
As we know, readers can be a picky AND prickly bunch…
It is not giving me a link without the person signing into Amazon.
It just gives an amazon link to sign in??
Janis
Janis, the issue here might be that anyone writing a review has to have spent at least $50 on Amazon, so logging in to your account is how you verify that. Are you logged in when you’re getting your review link?
Sandy
So, if I understand correctly, I go into an already published book to create the link, then shorten it and add it to the book. Correct? But if the book is already published, does that mean I have to unpublish it, add the link to the manuscript/inside the book, and then republish it?
Joanne, it’s a simple edit to the book, and yes, that’s one option. Not a big deal. You can also simply provide the link with review copies, include it in emails, share it on social media, and so on.
Sandy
Oh dear, not so easy for me. I created the link and shortened it. I tried to edit my book PDF and had to purchase Adobe Pro. So I copied the shortened link, but now how do I get it to link? Sorry, I’m a 70-year-old, and all this technology is new to me, and my head is about to explode trying to get this to work.
Joanne, I don’t provide tech support, but I hope you can get someone to help you.
Sandy