✨ If BookBounty-Like Services Are Toast, How To Collect Reviews?

Igor O

Dec '25 (edited) • 🧰 Tools

This is by no means an idle question for the year 2026.

If you want the answer right away, there is a detailed plan published today in the Classroom.

Briefly, we need to use the most underutilized method: our contacts.

Sure thing, you must comply with Amazon rules.

Amazon “Customer Reviews / Community Guidelines” page guided who may not review your book:

“We don’t allow a review by someone who has a direct or indirect financial interest in the product. We don’t allow a review by someone perceived to have a close personal relationship with the product’s owner, author or artist.”

Another passage from Amazon’s self-publishing guidance:

“You may provide free or discounted copies of your books to readers, as long as you do not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review.”

Here is the simple rule: anyone who benefits from your success should not review your book. Anyone who has no stake in your sales can review it.

People you CAN ask for a review:

• Readers you know casually who did not work on the book.

• Members of your email list who subscribed willingly.

• Colleagues who have no financial or personal stake in the book.

• Followers from your social media audience.

• Beta readers who did not get paid and did not contribute editorial work.

People you should avoid from asking for a review:

• Close family. Amazon often blocks these reviews automatically.

• Close friends when Amazon can see a strong connection.

• Anyone you paid. This includes editors, designers, ghostwriters, formatters, and marketers.

• Business partners or employees.• Anyone you trade reviews with. Amazon treats that as manipulation.

• People who received compensation of any kind beyond a free copy.

A safe pattern is this. Give people an easy path to read your book. Ask for a review only if they want to leave one, and never guide what they say. Amazon looks for bias, and bias usually shows up in relationships or incentives.

21 comments