Amazon Reviewers LOVE posting reviews!

There are thousands of Amazon reviewers who regularly post reviews! These are people who not only buy and read books, they are the readers who actually spend the time to REVIEW the books they’ve read. These Amazon Reviewers absolutely LOVE posting reviews. Some of them post dozens of reviews, some post hundreds and others into the thousands.

If YOU want reviews, who better to approach?

Amazon has lists of their top 1000 reviewers, top 500 reviewers, top 50 reviewers, top 10 reviewers and VINE voice reviewers.  You can see the reviewer “status” listed beside their user name.

Good reviews from any of the Amazon TOP reviewers range from slightly prestigious to significantly prestigious.  A good review from a Top 100 reviewer will give you a fabulous boost . . . not only to your ego but to your sales.

“Amazon invites customers to become Vine Voices based on their reviewer rank, which is a reflection of the quality and helpfulness of their reviews as judged by other Amazon customers. Amazon provides Vine members with free products that have been submitted to the program by participating vendors.”

Both Vine Voice reviewers and many of the TOP list reviewers get loads of free goodies sent from Amazon and directly from manufacturers.. They get so many requests for reviews that approaching them with your unknown and not yet reviewed Kindle book is pretty daunting and will likely result in much discouragement.

There IS a better way . . .

Find books that are similar to your book and approach the readers who reviewed those books. These people are not on the TOP reviewer lists and though some of them get requests, the volume won’t even begin to approach that of the TOP reviewers.  This is a two step process:

1. Create your list of reviewers.
2. Approach the reviewers and ASK them to review your book.

Let’s say you are just about to publish your book “Silly Cat Tricks,” and you are looking for potential Amazon reviewers.   Here’s how to do it:

  1. Create Your List Of Reviewers.

Start by looking for books similar to “Silly Cat Tricks,” which is about training cats.

One of the books you find is Cat Training in 10 Minutes.  In spite of its high price it has over 80 reviews ranging from 1 to 5 stars.

Using the review search panel, filter the list for most recent as well as 5-star (or 4-star) reviews

Also make a note of the “Customer Also Viewed” panel at the side … which lists even more cat training books for you to check out. The book with 260 reviews would be a good bet!

Now comes the hard and boring part.  You have to go through each review, click on the reviewer name

and see if there is an email address available.

Record the email address.  In fact you should create a list (or database) that includes the user name, the reviewers real name IF available, the name of the book reviewed, a tidbit about what the reviewer liked or didn’t like, and their email address.

UPDATE:  Amazon is no longer listing reviewer emails … so the process has become a bit more time consuming.  You now have to find reviewers who list their websites … then you have to go to their websites and find their email addresses OR a contact panel.    See below for an easier alternative.

If you start getting discouraged at this time consuming process there are two alternatives:

1.  Give this job to your Virtual Assistant.   If you don’t have a regular VA, this is the type of job that can be outsourced to a Fiverr who offers one or more hours of VA services for $5.   You MUST give your VA detailed instructions on what to do, as well as one or two examples of the final product you are expecting.You should also have an idea of the level of productivity expected.  For example, if it takes you an hour to add four names to your list, don’t expect your VA to magically produce eight, names. Since they have to learn what to do first, and will probably be hesitant and uncertain if they are doing it right, expect one or two names for the first few hours and then maybe two or more per hour after that.
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   Depending on what you are paying your VA and their ability to create a solid list of reviewers, it might be cheaper to consider the following service:  (which also includes VA training).
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The BOOK REVIEW TARGETER

The Book Review Targeter package will save you a huge amount of time and a lot of frustration.  YES, you or your VA will still have to do some work, but the hardest part “finding the reviewers,” is done for you.

There are two package levels.  I’m going to suggest you get the PRO package simply because the ADD ONs are incredibly valuable and will boost your success through the roof!

Here are a few of the things you will get:

BASIC PLAN:  $20 per month

• 500 Reviewers Per Week
• Results Sorting
• Reviewer Templates
• Facebook Group Access
• Advanced Book Review Training
• 3 Extra Goodies
• Bonus #1 Review Sneaky Secrets
• Bonus #2  Best Review Strategy To Grow Your List
• Bonus #3 The Review Swap Method

PRO PLAN: $37 per month

• EVERYTHING in the Basic Plan
• 500 EXTRA Reviewer Searches Per Week
• BRT Web Crawler
• Book Description Generator Tool
• Done for you Virtual Assistant Training
• BookConnect Software
• Vidmonial Software
• Search Wizard
• Template Wizard
• Bonus #1 Review Sneaky Secrets
• Bonus #2  Best Review Strategy To Grow Your List
• Bonus #3 The Review Swap Method

To put the price in perspective.  If you were to purchase reviews … it would cost you (on average) $70 PER review!

Watch the video,  read the details and buy the package.
You will be VERY happy you did.

Once your list is ready to go . . .

2. Approach the reviewers
and ASK them to review your book.

Once you have your list of potential reviewers, you have to contact them individually.  You will get MUCH better results if you create custom emails, vs sending out a generic email.

Here’s an example:

Dear Jonathan (use the reviewers user name OR real name),

I found the review you wrote on Amazon for Cat Training in 10 Minutes to be very entertaining! In your review you mentioned  (blah, blah, blah)

I have just published “Silly Cat Tricks,”  a book about cat training that specifically addresses the missing pieces you talked about.

(Add two or three sentences additional sentences about your book here. JUST the essence, the reviewer can read your book  description if they want more info.  This can be reusable information that you can copy and paste to save time.)

I would appreciate it if you would read and review my book.  It is 56 pages long and takes 60 – 90 minutes to read. Your cat will love learning the new tricks.

I can send you a free PDF or  an e-pub copy. Additionally, the book will be available for a free download on Mar 3, 20xx.   Please let me know if you are interested and what format you would prefer.

John Silva
johnsilva@gomail.com
link directly to your Amazon page (if available)

SILLY CAT TRICKS:  Train your cat to sit, beg, come when she’s called, play fetch, never scratch your furniture and more.  SillyCatTricks.com

When you get a reply, send your PDF, e-pub or paper copy as soon as possible.  Send all your pertinent information along with it, including:  Book name, Amazon link, number of pages, YOUR name,  email address and phone number.

What if  you don’t get a reply?  A few writers I work with send the same email again after 30 days. If they still don’t get a reply, they just make a note of it and let it go.  Note: Don’t remove the reviewer from your database, so you don’t keep adding them back. You need to have a record of who you contacted,  when you contacted them, and the results.

What if they ask for a free copy and don’t review it?  Follow up in 30 – 45 days.  Just remind them about your book, ask them if they need another PDF copy sent.  Don’t say anything that even approximates, “You said …”   The bottom line is they could be too busy, their mother could have ended up in the hospital, they changed their mind, or they hated your book and were kind enough NOT to give it a 1-star review.     Again … just make a note in your database and move on.

This way of approaching reviewers WORKS … but only if you DO the work. You MUST create a database to track your activity and you MUST meticulously keep it up-to-date.

Asking Amazon reviewers is an excellent way to get your first five or more reviews and it is a great way to revive a book when sales are slowing down. While you may want to go for some marathon asking sessions when your book is first published, feel free to slow down after you get your first 10 reviews.  After that, set up some regular “marketing” hours on your schedule and just keep on asking.  Even if you ask 5 people a week that adds up to 250 in a year … unless your book is a piece of trash you WILL get some reviews!

The process I outlined above DOES work. This is NOT a sprint … it should be for the “life” of your book(s).  Just hunker down and go through the process EVERY day.  Some days you might luck out and find a reviewer in the first 5 minutes. Other days you might work for an hour and get nothing. Stop after 30 minutes and do it again tomorrow.

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Book Reviews are critical to your book’s success.
Be sure to read the entire How To Get More Book Reviews series:

How To Get More Book  Reviews: Your Website
How To Get More Book Reviews: Social Media
How To Get More Book Reviews: Author Groups
How To Get More Book Reviews: Facebook Groups
How To Get More Book Reviews: Reviewer Blogs
How To Get More Book Reviews: Amazon Reviewers
How To Get More Book Reviews: Purchase Reviews (this method is legit)

Another GREAT Article: Asking for Book Reviews

Check out my list of recommended Books on Getting Book Reviews

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