Amazon Reviews & Friends: What’s Actually Allowed (and What Gets You Flagged)

Getting reviews for your book is as important as it can be a challenge, and the threat of having Amazon remove your reviews can be scary. So when you find out Amazon says no friends and family, of course that can create some concern and questions like this one from Frodo Baggins 543. So I thought we should break it down and understand the rule and figure out what is okay and what is a potential problem. So if you're an author looking for more book reviews and you want ones you can get Amazon to be more likely to keep, well, this video is for you. Hey there, I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers, creator of fantastic book marketing software Author Launch Kit, and your host here at BookLaunchers.tv. Book reviews are a hot topic always over here, and you will find plenty of videos on BookLaunchers.tv discussing how to get them, great services to help you get them, and so much more. But one thing we haven't really dug into is this specific clause that Amazon has in their policy. Customer reviews should give customers genuine product feedback from fellow shoppers. Amazon says on their policy, we have a zero tolerance policy for any review designed to mislead or manipulate customers. We don't allow anyone to write reviews as a form of promotion. And the following are types of reviews that we don't allow and will remove. First one is a review by someone who has a direct or indirect financial interest in the product. The second one is a review by someone perceived to have a close personal relationship with the product's owner, author, or artist. Of course, they also include a review by the product manufacturer posing as an unbiased shopper, multiple negative reviews for the same product from one customer, a review in exchange for monetary reward, or a review of a game in exchange for bonus in-game credits, or a negative review from a seller on a competitor's product. Also, they will remove a positive review from an artist on a peer's album in exchange for receiving a positive review from them. So no review exchanges. Now it's their second bullet we want to focus on in today's video, which is a review by someone perceived to have a close personal relationship. How close is this relationship, and how does Amazon even judge this? Well, in Frodo Baggins 543's question, I think the anxiety about this is common, where this person asks, will it be a problem for me to utilize my network, as long as we don't share a last name or IP address, to find ARC readers since I don't trust strangers with my unpublished manuscript? I keep seeing mixed things about this and I wanted to clarify because it seems reasonable to utilize your network to get started. How close does someone have to be to not leave a review? Is it just very close people who live together? I mean, your instinct to use your network smartly is right on, but close is the key word. And frankly, the word perceived in the policy is something you have to be aware of. It's about perception more than strict blood ties or shared Wi-Fi. You won't ruin your book's chances forever for a few honest reviews from acquaintances, but let's minimize The risks. Amazon's community guidelines are clear on reviews. They must come from unbiased customers to keep things trustworthy for shoppers. Specifically for books, so anyone sharing a household with you, they don't want close personal friends or anyone with financial ties, like your publisher or co-authors. These get flagged and removed because they're seen as inherently biased. What this means is if you live with someone, definitely do not have them review the book. If someone has financially benefited from the book, don't have them write a review. That's why we at Book Launchers do not post reviews on any of the books we have worked on. We love our authors and would love to write reviews to support them, but we never want to be the reason a book gets reviews flagged. Now, it would be tough for Amazon to figure that out, but why risk it? So, I know, this is tricky. Reviews from people who get a free copy or discounted ARC, an advanced reader copy, are okay, as long as there's no close relationship or incentive beyond the book itself. Amazon explicitly okays this for Early Buzz. I do recommend that you encourage your readers to put a line in that review that they got the book free through X program or from the author in exchange for an honest review. Amazon obviously knows if they sold the book to the reviewer or not. But how else does Amazon figure out there's a relationship? Well, Amazon's algorithm is a big beast, and it is trained to spot patterns like shared IP addresses, last names, billing info, or even social media links. But it's not foolproof or the only trigger. They also rely on reports from other users and manual reviews. A review from a friend won't auto-delete just because you're connected on Facebook. It has to look promotional or overly glowing without substance, or just part of a coordinated push. But how close is too close? It's not spelled out in a checklist, but here's the obvious. Of course, the people who live with you, but think about it as somebody who knows the unpublished drafts, right? The stuff that didn't make it into the book. Those should not be writing reviews. In the case of Bilbo, Specific question: the community theater buddies you see a few times a year, your distant coworkers, or your Instagram followers where you've liked each other's posts but probably haven't even DM'd each other— if they read your ARC and give a genuine take, even a critical take on your book, it's not likely to raise flags. Now, that said, I can tell you that when I launched Self-Promote and Succeed, some of my fabulous YouTube besties tried to post reviews and they were blocked. Before they could even post. And I had about a dozen reviews get removed, including some of my regular viewers' reviews. Even though I hadn't met these people in real life, the algorithm was able to identify something about them that they deemed close to me, even if that meant they'd been a part of my community commenting for a long time. All that said, don't live in fear that the looser connections are going to be tied back to you. To get reviews, you have to ask people you are connected with to post a review. So keep doing it. Ultimately though, strangers via your network or that buy your book without ever knowing you, that's your safest. Folks you met once at an event or connected with through a mutual group, they blur into real reader territory. Now, there are mixed messages because sometimes you get away with it. Sometimes a spouse or a relative posts a review and it works and there's no repercussions. Forums like Reddit, even KDP forums, are full of stories where one author's safe review got yanked while another's review that violates the policy didn't. Amazon's enforcement tightened, post-2020, but they didn't nuke author accounts for isolated slip-ups. It's more about a pattern of manipulation. I think Amazon's rule is well-intentioned but overly broad, which hits new authors hardest. Building an audience from scratch should involve your network. It's how word of mouth starts. And frankly, I did find it frustrating when a dozen reviews got pulled down and some of my YouTube besties here couldn't post at all. Isn't it the point of building an audience to be able to call on that audience when you need them? Penalizing that feels like telling a bank and they can't have their friends show up to their first gig. But on the flip side, unchecked friends and family reviews do flood categories with fluff and erode trust. And the one thing I am absolutely united with Amazon on is that customer experience has to be job one. For the buyers to continue to buy from them and from us, they have to trust the reviews. Utilizing your network isn't cheating, it's bootstrapping, as long as reviews feel organic with a mix of stars, detailed thoughts, different devices, different IP addresses, no quid pro quo vibes. Like, you did not write a review for this author in exchange for them writing a review for you. The odd 3-star and 1-star reviews also to be celebrated because it helps mix this up. Now, here's a few extra pieces of advice for ARCs. Layer your network wisely. Start with connections that are several steps removed. Just let people know Hey, I'm seeking honest ARC reviewers for my debut. DM me if you're interested. Cast a wide net. Use tools like BookSprout, BookFunnel, StoryOrigin to distribute ARCs anonymously. They handle tracking and encourage unbiased reviews and also give you a layer of security since you're nervous about sharing your ARC. When your book is out, I also recommend you use services like Get Authentic Book Reviews or Get Books Reviewed to get some reviewers you don't know. I've done videos on both, but we've found them to be great sources of unbiased reviews. Number 2, prep your readers. When sharing, gently remind that you would love an honest review. It helps me, but also helps other readers find the book. When guiding people to post reviews, ask them to include one specific thing that was useful or impactful, because this helps get your review to stick versus somebody just saying how great the book was and how awesome the author is. Number 3, what if a review vanishes? Well, don't panic. It's common, even for legit ones. You can appeal via Amazon's contact form if it feels unfair, but usually my recommendation is to not waste energy on that and just go get some new reviews. I've never appealed to Amazon about my reviews. I never, I just never really want them to look closer because they might find others they decide to remove. My approach might be your best approach, and that's to write a killer book. And market beyond reviews through newsletters, ads, collaborations. Get early honest feedback from your network and then refine your book if it needs it, and then let strangers propel it. Most hits start small and snowball organically. You're not alone in this though. If you want support, join our free community over at school, booklaunchers.com/school. See you there.