How to Get Book Reviews from Consumers and Critics

Book reviews are crucial for awareness, trust and sales. When prospective readers see a foundation of genuine reviews and ratings attached to a title they’re curious about, they think:

• Great, I’m not the first person to read this. I don’t have to take such a risk.
• These reviews look real. I’m glad the author isn’t the kind of person who would fluff up their book’s reputation with fake reviews.
• Maybe I’ll be able to write something interesting and unique if I decide to leave a review.

They feel relief…and then excitement!

Now that we agree on the value, let’s walk through the most effective strategies on how to get book reviews.

Factors to Consider: Publishing Type, Money and More

Everyone involved in a book wants it to get lots of reviews, but not everyone should pursue these reviews the same way. Seeking book reviews is a limitless rabbit hole. Time and money, however, do have limits.

First think about these factors:

• Whether the book is self published or traditionally published
• Is the book your first?
• Budget
• Free time
• How fast you want the reviews
• Professional background and skills
• Existing social media following, network, website and email list

Self-Published vs Traditionally Published

If you’re a traditionally published author, deprioritize spending your own time on the acquisition of critic reviews (mentioned below). Competent traditional publishers and agents know how to get their authors a solid base of critic reviews from legacy media publications such as Publishers Weekly and Kirkus. These reviews are usually organic (no one is paying for them) and positive. Your book has to be controversial or downright bad for traditional critics to give a negative review.

Traditionally published authors, especially debut authors, should prioritize the acquisition of consumer reviews from the platforms we mention below.

Debut Books vs Subsequent Titles

Is this book your first? If so, reviews are paramount. For second books and so on, authors can often ride on positive reviews from previous titles.

Budget

This factor is particularly important for self-published authors. It’s all on you! No one is going to pay for PR, paid critic reviews, etc. Take a moment to think about income and how much you’re willing to sacrifice. Start with small amounts of spend to see what works. Then scale up.

Free Time

For those with oceans of free time, it’s worth requesting organic reviews. Busy folks should go for the sure thing by setting aside money for paid reviews.

Review Speed

Again, it comes down to money. Paying for reviews guarantees results. Platforms often have an option where you can pay more to get the reviews faster. If you don’t have a lot of time or patience, organic requests will feel too slow.

Professional Background and Skills

If you have a professional background in marketing, communications or publishing, utilize that advantage! Any affinity for social media is valuable, too.

Network, Community and Digital Assets

The more people you know and the more engaged followers you have, the faster you’ll get book reviews. Do you have any of the following?

• A website, Stubstack, Medium or blog with more than 1K visitors a month
• More than 1K followers on any social platform
• An email list with more than 100 people
• A book club membership
• Membership in a large professional network
• Frequent conference attendance
• Business cards
• Notoriety in a community with book readers

How to Get Consumer Reviews

Critic reviews aren’t enough, and consumer reviews should be a priority for new books. Authors need reviews on book purchasing platforms, namely Amazon and Goodreads. Readers will forgive an absence of reviews on other consumer sites, and many readers don’t care about critic reviews. Blank Amazon and Goodreads pages, however, are red flags.

Before the Book Launches

There are platforms and services that help authors queue up consumer reviews before the book even launches. Here are some reputable options:

• BookSirens
• NetGalley
• The Rauch Review (My publication sometimes provides a limited version of this service for books that have Amazon product pages live already, even if they aren’t yet available for purchase.)

These are the main options so far that seem legitimate, but please let me know if I’m missing something.

The Friends, Family and Colleagues Phase

In the beginning of a book’s lifecycle, I think it’s OK for authors to solicit honest reviews from people they know. Think of people in your life who love reading and are brutally honest. I tried this strategy for both my novels, and I received a healthy mixture of five-star and four-star reviews.

Exclude family members who have the same last name as you. It’s not a good look to be so obvious about getting help from family.

Ask people to be thoughtful. Don’t ask them to leave a certain number of stars. Even if you don’t have any moral qualms about asking only for five stars, abstain! Readers are suspicious of a product page with only five-star reviews. If you end up starting with only five-stars reviews anyway, find someone who never gives five stars. It really is better to have a mixture.

On Amazon, expect their algorithm to block or eventually remove some of these reviews from acquaintances. Goodreads, on the other hand, seems fine with reviews from people in the author’s network.

Moving on to Reviews From Strangers

Once this soft launch phase is complete, venture out and seek reviews from total strangers. Instead of asking, use these indirect methods:

• Goodreads giveaways usually motivate a percentage of participants to eventually review the book.
• Promote the book on Instagram, and there’s a good chance you’ll receive many requests from reviewers who do reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Filter out the suspicious-looking reviewers and anyone who asks you to pay them specifically for five stars. Go with the people who have a history of producing thoughtful reviews with a range of star ratings. These reviewers may also offer to do a giveaway for the book.
• Try the same strategy on other platforms such as TikTok, X, Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and LinkedIn.
• Find authors willing to do a review swap: you review their book, and they review yours.
• See if you can become a BookBub partner and get them to offer a deal on your book.

Paid Critic-Style Book Review Service Options

As much as I’d love for people to think The Rauch Review is the only place that provides this service, there are others I recommend considering. As an author myself, I have tried a few of these. Usually the paid services on these platforms are more relevant for self-published authors, but traditionally published authors sometimes pay as well. More reviews can only help.

Here’s a quick list with price comparison:

• Foreward/Clarion: $579 for 400 words
• Independent Book Review: 400 words, fee depends on length and deadline
• Kirkus Reviews: $450 for 250 words or $599 for about 500 words
• Reedsy Discovery: $50 to submit the book for review, but no guarantee it will be reviewed
• The Rauch Review: $300 to $500 for thousands of words (You read that right), social media and email promo, links to your website and more

Also, make sure you’re comfortable with the ethics of whatever payment process you engage in. Not all paid book reviews are the same. There are nuances to consider.

Organic critic reviews are a possibility, too, but they are difficult for authors to control. If you’re traditionally published, ask your agent and/or publisher for help. Otherwise just put in work from other strategies and hope that the ripple effects cause organic critics to notice the book. You can try to ask organic critics, but they’ll usually say no or put you on a very long waitlist.

What Ends Up Working for You?

These are my tried and true methods, but there are dozens of ways to get book reviews. If you find something that works and feels good, go for it! Please let me and my team know about your success so we can learn together.