Track and use review results
Confirm review quotation rights
Before reproducing more than a brief excerpt of a review in marketing copy, on a website, or in print, check the outlet's reprint policy and get permission where it is required.
Authors often hire help with this: legal or contract.
Why it matters
Using long review text without permission can bring a takedown request or a bill at the worst possible moment, and it damages the relationship with the outlet you most want to review your next book. Checking first costs minutes. Reprinting first costs more.
Your part
- What you do
- Verify. Someone else may do it. Inspect the result yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Author and Publisher. Publisher handles cover and catalog quotes on the traditional path; author handles own materials on every path
- When
- Before publication of any marketing copy that uses more than a brief excerpt (Track and use review results: from the first submission onward, and whenever a review appears)Checked September 14, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
A short quotation from a review, accurately attributed, is standard practice and outlets expect it. Reproducing a full review, a long passage, or the outlet's logo is different: the review is the outlet's copyrighted work, and many outlets publish explicit rules about how much may be quoted, how it must be attributed, and when a license or fee applies. Trade outlets in particular sell reprint and licensing rights, and some paid review services set out exactly what the purchaser may do with the text.
The task is simple. Before you use anything longer than a sentence or two, find the outlet's reprint or permissions page, read it, and follow it. If it requires a request, send one and keep the reply. If it sets a word limit for free quotation, stay under it. If it requires a specific attribution format, use it. Do this before the marketing copy is written, not after the cover has gone to print.
On the traditional path, the publisher normally handles cover and catalog quotes and knows the outlets' rules; ask before you reproduce anything at length on your own site or in your own materials. On the hybrid path, confirm who is responsible. On the self-published path, you are responsible for every use, including the back cover and the retailer description.
Reader reviews on retail and community platforms have their own terms of service. Quoting them is common but check the platform's rules before reproducing them at length or with the reviewer's name.
Common mistakes
- Reproducing an entire review on your website because it was flattering.
- Adding an outlet's logo or star graphic without checking whether that is allowed.
- Assuming a paid review comes with unlimited reprint rights; read the terms.
- Quoting reader reviews with full names without checking the platform's terms.
- Discovering the policy after the print run.
What done looks like
- The reprint or permissions policy for each outlet you plan to quote at length located and read.
- Written permission obtained and saved where the policy requires it.
- Quotes kept within any stated free-use limit and attributed in the required form.
- Logos used only where the outlet allows it.
- The check done before marketing copy is finalized, and the publisher consulted on the traditional path.
Evidence. Done means someone says the work happened. Verified means you checked the confirmation, link, or public record yourself.
Ask your publisher
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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.