Ask for reader reviews responsibly
Follow platform rules for review requests and incentives
Read the current review policies of each retailer and reader platform before any review outreach, and treat paid reviews, incentives, and review swaps as off limits where the rules say so.
Why it matters
The penalties for breaking review rules fall on the author and the book, not on the service that sold the reviews: reviews removed, a review-locked listing, a suspended author account, and in serious cases the book removed from sale. None of that is worth a handful of reviews. Knowing the rules also lets you decline confidently when someone offers a shortcut.
Your part
- What you do
- Verify. Someone else may do it. Inspect the result yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Author
- When
- Before any review outreach or advance copy campaign begins (Ask for reader reviews responsibly: from launch week onward, inside each platform's rules)Checked September 14, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
How to do it
The full walkthrough
Every retailer and reader platform publishes rules about reviews, and they are stricter than most authors expect. The common ground across the major platforms: reviews must come from the reviewer's own experience; the reviewer must not be paid or compensated for the review itself; free products such as advance copies are generally allowed if disclosed and unconditional; family, close friends, and business associates generally may not review; authors may not review competing books; and review swaps between authors are treated as compensation.
Rules change, and the details differ between platforms, so this item is about reading the current policy on each platform where the book is sold before any review campaign starts. That includes the terms of any review service you are considering. Editorial reviews from a trade publication or a paid editorial review service are a different category from reader reviews and are usually displayed separately; the platform rules still govern where and how they can appear.
Traditionally published authors are less likely to run review campaigns themselves but should still know the rules before asking readers, and before their newsletter offers anything. Hybrid and self-published authors are the main audience for services that promise reader reviews for a fee, and the rules are the reason to decline the ones that do.
When in doubt, ask whether the platform would object if it could see exactly what you did. If the answer is yes, do not do it.
The FTC page linked above is the baseline for every platform. Each retailer and reader platform (Amazon, Goodreads, and the rest) also posts its own review guidelines, and those are the ones a listing can be removed under, so read the rules of each platform you ask on.
Common mistakes
- Assuming a paid service must be within the rules because it is openly advertised.
- Running a giveaway where entry requires a review.
- Swapping reviews with other authors in a group.
- Asking a friend to post a review "as a favor".
Identifiers for Follow platform rules for review requests and incentives
Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All book identifiers.
| My status | Identifier | Why this matters | Yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Author Central The free Amazon page where you claim your author name, attach every edition of your books, and write your biography. | Unclaimed, the author page a reader sees is whatever Amazon assembled, and any edition listed under a different spelling of your name sits apart from the rest of your work. Only you can fix that: a publisher cannot claim your author page for you, and the platform account a self-publisher publishes through is a separate login, so the job is identical on all three routes. Amazon's help says author pages are not removed once created, so use exactly the name that appears on your books rather than creating a second page you would rather not have. You're done when one author page carries the right name and every edition and format is attached to it. | Add your Amazon author page link | |
| Goodreads Author Program The free way to claim the Goodreads profile that is created automatically once a book under your name enters its database. | The profile exists whether or not you claim it, so leaving it alone means the picture, biography, and book list readers see are whatever the database assembled, and a book by a different writer with your name can end up attached to you. Reader reviews and ratings sit outside your control by design, and claiming the profile does not change that. All three routes do the same thing here; what differs is how the book record arrives in the first place, normally through the publisher's data for a traditionally published book, and through your platform or a volunteer Goodreads Librarian for a self-published one. You're done when the profile is claimed and every edition is grouped under the right work and author. | Add your Goodreads author page link | |
| NetGalley The main platform for giving reviewers, librarians, and booksellers a secured digital review copy before publication. | This decides who can read your book before it is out and how early, and feedback posted through it frequently reappears as reviews on Goodreads and retailers around publication. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask whether the book will be listed, when the listing goes live, how long it stays up, and who approves requests, and a hybrid author should confirm who is paying. If you publish the book yourself, this is a real expense you choose, and it needs an approval plan, a plan for reading the feedback, and enough lead time, typically three to six months before publication, to be worth anything. Record the listing dates and check that the description and review file match the book you intend people to read. | Add your NetGalley listing link |
A template for this
Review-copy shipment slipA half-page slip to tuck inside every physical review copy, so the book's details and your contact information stay with the book after the envelope is gone.
When to use it: Use this when you mail any advance or finished copy to a reviewer, outlet, librarian, or award program. Print one per copy and tuck it inside the book. Do not use this when you are sending a digital copy only. Put the same details in the covering email instead.
What done looks like
- The current review and community guidelines of each platform where the book sells read and saved, with the date.
- Any review service checked against those rules before engagement, and declined if it involves payment for reviews or a guarantee of positive ones.
- Advance copies distributed unconditionally, with disclosure expected from reviewers.
- No giveaways, contests, or gifts tied to reviewing.
- Reader review requests written in neutral language.
Sources and last checked
- Official source
- Official source (opens in a new tab)
- Last checked
- September 14, 2026
- How confident we are
- Verified
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 14, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.