Book Reviews: Why They Matter and How to Get Them for Your Book

Your book has started reaching readers. You can see copies selling, people have mentioned it after events, and perhaps someone has sent a lovely message about a chapter. How do you turn that interest into honest book reviews that help the next reader decide?

It helps to think about the steps involved. Someone needs to discover your book, read it, receive an invitation to review and find a convenient way to respond. You can make each step easier while leaving their opinion entirely theirs.

For business owners, consultants and speakers, that process should fit around the way you already reach people. Here is how to build it into your marketing.

Why do book reviews matter for a business book?

Book reviews help prospective readers assess your book’s relevance, approach and usefulness. Amazon describes customer reviews as a way for shoppers to learn about a product and decide whether it suits them.

Imagine a founder considering your leadership book. A review explaining how its delegation questions helped another reader prepare for a team discussion gives that founder something specific to consider. They can recognise the situation and explore whether your approach might suit them.

Keep your commercial purpose in view, too. You may want book sales, speaking opportunities, consulting enquiries or a combination. Track reviews alongside those outcomes, so you can assess whether your book is reaching relevant people and opening the conversations you want.

Can you contact people who bought your book on Amazon?

KDP sales reports do not give you buyers’ names and email addresses to use for follow-up. They show information such as units ordered, format and marketplace, including Amazon.co.uk, rather than a contact list.

The reports also have processing delays. eBook orders generally appear within 24 hours of purchase once payment is confirmed; print orders appear after the book ships. A rise in sales therefore tells you about activity, rather than identifying someone you can email. Amazon’s Orders Report guidance explains the fields and timings.

To invite reviews directly, you need a separate connection with the reader. That might be an existing newsletter subscription, an advance reader who agreed to hear from you, or someone who contacts you about the book.

For example, a subscriber might reply to your newsletter saying they have finished reading. You can thank them and ask whether they would consider sharing their honest opinion publicly. You cannot make that same personal approach to an unidentified buyer appearing in your KDP totals.

Where can you find suitable readers before launch?

Start with people who have an interest in your subject and a reason to read your book. Your existing email audience, relevant professional communities and specialist reviewers are practical places to look.

In your newsletter, explain who the book is for and invite interested readers to respond:

“My new book explores delegation for founders building their first management team. I’m inviting a small group to read an advance copy. If that sounds relevant, reply and I’ll send you the details. There’s no obligation to review.”

For a professional community, approach the organiser first. You could explain that your book addresses a question members regularly discuss and ask whether you may share an invitation to read it.

Check relationships before requesting Amazon reviews. Amazon’s UK guidance excludes reviews involving financial interests or close personal relationships, as well as reciprocal positive-review arrangements. Family members and people involved in producing your book should not be treated as your first review team.

How should you organise advance reader copies?

Send a polished copy, explain how to access it and agree how the reader would like to hear from you. Keep a simple spreadsheet recording their name, contact details, preferred format, date sent and any agreed follow-up.

Your accompanying email could say:

“Thank you for your interest. Here is the advance copy, with instructions for opening it. Publication is planned for [date]. May I send you one reminder after publication, with details of where you can leave an honest review if you choose?”

Give readers a format they can comfortably use. Ask whether they prefer an EPUB or PDF, for example, rather than assuming everyone wants to read a manuscript on a laptop.

Amazon permits free or discounted book copies provided you do not require a review or try to influence it. Make the absence of obligation clear when offering the copy, rather than introducing it only afterwards.

How can you find out who has read your book?

Ask people about their reading progress within the conversations and communications you already have. A short reader-status question can help you distinguish someone ready to review from someone who would benefit from an introduction to the book.

For example:

“Where are you with [Book Title]?”

• “I’ve read it.”
• “I’m reading it.”
• “I have a copy but haven’t started.”
• “It’s new to me.”

Each answer suggests a different next step. Someone who has read it can receive a voluntary invitation to review. Someone still reading could explore a relevant question from the book. Someone discovering it for the first time could see an extract and decide whether it interests them.

Choose one or two places where this question would feel natural. You can add more once you know what people respond to.

How could you include the question in an email or questionnaire?

Include the reader-status question in an email to existing subscribers, or add it to a relevant questionnaire you already use. Explain why you are asking and make answering optional.

For example, a newsletter exploring delegation could include:

“Several of these questions also appear in [Book Title]. Have you had a chance to read it?”

Give readers the four response options above. Depending on your email system, the answers could open different pages or record a preference for future messages. A reply-based version works too: “Reply and let me know where you’ve got to.”

You could also add the question to a webinar registration form or an annual audience survey when the book relates to the subject. On a website enquiry form, include it only where the answer would help you understand the enquiry. Keep the form focused on helping someone contact you, with the book question optional.

A response saying “I’ve read it” gives you useful context. It does not automatically subscribe someone to further marketing emails or mean they owe you a review.

Could you use a LinkedIn poll?

A LinkedIn poll could work if you already have an engaged audience and the book is part of an active conversation. Give people a reason to participate beyond helping you promote it.

For example, after a post discussing a question from your book, you might explain:

“I’m planning a follow-up discussion on this. It would help to know how familiar you are with the book.”

Then offer the reader-status options. You could also ask the question within an existing reader discussion, rather than making it an isolated promotional post.

For an audience that rarely responds to your posts, start by discussing a useful idea from the book and inviting opinions. A poll about whether people have read it is unlikely to create an engaged community by itself.

Use responses to shape the next conversation. Avoid treating every vote as an invitation to send a private sales or review request.

Where else can you position a natural review invitation?

Place the invitation where readers already encounter your ideas: your email signature, relevant blog articles, reader resources and community discussions. Match the wording to what someone is doing at that moment.

The question is: where would a reader naturally think about the book, and how could you make responding convenient?

Could your email signature help?

A simple linked line in your email signature can give readers a quiet opportunity to respond without receiving a separate review email.

For example:

“Read [Book Title]? Share your honest review. Discovering it? Read an extract.”

Those two links lead to different destinations: the review route and an introduction to the book. The reader chooses what is relevant.

For more options, link to a short page asking, “Where are you with the book?” That page can present the four reader-status answers and a suitable next step for each. Ordinary signature links are enough; the interaction happens on the destination page.

Use this in correspondence where the book is relevant. In an ongoing service conversation, keep the recipient’s immediate needs first.

How could a blog article include the question?

Add a small reader check-in within a relevant article, where it connects with the subject being discussed. It could appear in a launch article or in a useful piece you publish years later.

For example, halfway through an article about difficult team conversations:

“This is one of the situations explored in [Book Title]. Where are you with the book?”

The answer buttons could take people to different sections further down that same article:

• “I’ve read it” leads to an honest-review invitation.
• “I’m reading it” leads to a reflection question.
• “It’s new to me” leads to an extract and details of who the book is for.

A developer can build this using linked sections or a small interactive element. It does not have to collect personal information.

Keep the article useful in its own right. The check-in should help readers choose a relevant next step without interrupting their reason for visiting.

How could a community or reader session help?

Use an existing discussion to invite reflection, then offer a review link to those who have read the book. This can fit naturally into a Facebook group, reader Q&A or book-club follow-up.

For example, a community post might ask:

“Which question from the book have you found yourself returning to?”

After the discussion, add:

“If you’ve read the book and would like to share your experience with future readers, you can leave an honest review here.”

After a reader session, include a similar invitation in the agreed follow-up email alongside the notes or resources. Readers receive the useful material regardless of whether they review.

How can you ask for reviews without pestering people?

Vary the context of the invitation while keeping it voluntary, neutral and easy to act on. You can invite a review when someone finishes the book, mentions a useful chapter or joins a reader discussion.

For someone who emails you about the book:

“Thank you for taking the time to tell me. Would you consider sharing your honest experience in a review? It could help someone else decide whether the book is for them.”

For an email to subscribers who have said they have read it:

“You mentioned that you’ve read [Book Title]. If you’d like to share your thoughts publicly, here is the review link. A short, honest response is welcome.”

For a social post sharing a reader’s feedback, with permission where needed:

“Have you read it too? Your experience may be different, and I’d welcome your honest review.”

Include a direct, tested route to the correct book and marketplace. For most UK readers, that will be Amazon.co.uk. Amazon explains that customers can use their orders or the review option on the book’s product page to submit feedback.

For a dedicated email sequence, try one invitation and one courteous reminder around two weeks later, allowing sufficient reading time. Then stop the sequence. If someone tells you they have already reviewed, record that so you can avoid further direct reminders.

Public invitations can remain visible in your back matter, relevant articles and signature without repeatedly chasing an individual.

How can the book itself help you stay connected with readers?

Include a short review invitation near the end, where someone finishing the book can act on it. In an eBook, use a clickable link. In print, provide a short web address and, optionally, a QR code, testing both before publication.

The wording can be simple:

“Thank you for reading. If you’d like to share your honest opinion, visit [review address]. Your experience could help someone else decide whether this book is for them.”

You can also offer an optional reader resource that creates a separate opportunity to stay connected. A leadership book might link to a delegation worksheet, with a clear choice to subscribe for further emails.

Make the resource available regardless of whether someone reviews. If they subscribe, you can later ask whether they have finished the book and send an appropriate invitation. Access to the worksheet must never depend on leaving feedback.

Can a competition help you get book reviews?

A competition must not reward someone for leaving an Amazon review. That includes a prize for the most creative review, a draw for reviewers or extra entries for submitting a review screenshot. Amazon prohibits reviews in exchange for competition entry and other benefits.

You can bring creativity into other reader activities. A book-photo competition, for example, might invite people to photograph an imaginative reading location or create an image inspired by the book.

Treat that as a separate visibility and community activity. Entry, judging and prizes must not depend on reviews, and the competition should not be presented as a route to earning one.

For reviews themselves, make participation enjoyable through thoughtful questions and useful conversations. A reader discussion can be engaging without turning feedback into a competition.

What should you ask readers to include in a review?

Offer optional questions that help readers reflect, while leaving the wording, judgement and rating to them. A book review template should make responding easier without supplying an opinion.

For example, ask:

• What were you hoping to understand when you picked up the book?
• Which idea or section stayed with you, and why?
• Who do you think would find it useful?

Explain that they can answer whichever question feels relevant and that a short response is welcome. Avoid suggesting a star rating or providing praise to copy.

For a personal development book, a reader might describe how easy an exercise was to follow or where they wanted more explanation. Both give another reader useful information without promising a particular outcome.

When should you approach publications or review services?

Approach publications when their audience overlaps with the people your book is intended to help. Check their recent coverage and submission instructions, then explain that connection in your pitch.

For example: “Your readers regularly discuss succession planning. My book explores how founders can prepare their management teams for that transition. Do you accept books for editorial consideration?”

Before paying a review service, ask what the fee covers, where the assessment appears, how readers are recruited and whether any review or rating is guaranteed.

A service distributing advance copies and a service selling customer reviews involve different arrangements. Check the actual process against the destination platform’s rules. Promises of guaranteed positive Amazon reviews or rewards for reviewers should rule a provider out. Amazon’s promotional-content guidance explains prohibited incentives.

How can you make book marketing part of everyday business activity?

Give your book a clear role in the work your business already does, then identify where reader feedback belongs within that activity. Reviews are one part of the plan, alongside getting the book into suitable hands and helping people use its ideas.

For example:

• Marketing: Build a newsletter or article around a useful question from the book, with a reader-status check-in where relevant.
• Sales: Share a relevant chapter before a prospect conversation and explain why it connects with the issue they raised.
• Client delivery: Use a framework from the book to support a workshop, discussion or agreed piece of work.
• Renewals: Revisit an idea from the book to help a client consider their next priority.
• Speaking: Refer to the book during a relevant talk and offer an optional way to access an extract or reader resource.
• Team development: Help colleagues understand who the book serves and when sharing it would be useful.

These activities serve different purposes. Sharing a chapter with a prospective client supports a commercial conversation. Inviting an independent reader to review supports public feedback.

Check Amazon’s relationship rules before asking clients, colleagues or business associates for customer reviews. Using your book within your business does not make every person involved an appropriate Amazon reviewer.

Want to explore how your book could work across your business? Book your Clarity Call to discuss your readers, opportunities and next priorities.

What should you include in a monthly book marketing plan?

Choose a small number of repeatable actions, assign responsibility and review what happens. This gives the book a continuing place in your marketing instead of relying on someone remembering it.

A manageable starting plan might be:

• Include one relevant book discussion or reader check-in in the month’s planned content.
• Send a review invitation to subscribers who have identified themselves as having read it.
• Check that your review links and back-matter instructions still work.
• Review reader feedback and note questions worth exploring in future content.

If you have a team, agree who maintains the reader records and sends any planned follow-up. Also decide how colleagues should record useful book-related conversations, such as a prospect discussing a chapter or a client applying a framework.

At your quarterly marketing review, consider whether the book is supporting the work you want to win. You might discover that it is regularly used in delivery but rarely introduced before sales conversations, or that speaking audiences need an easier way to access it.

Choose the next improvement from what you observe.

Which book marketing measures are worth tracking?

Track activity you can control alongside evidence of reader and business response. Review numbers deserve a place, together with the wider measures that reflect your book’s purpose.

Useful measures could include:

• Copies shared with people who fit your intended readership.
• Relevant reader conversations and voluntary subscriptions.
• Review invitations sent and changes in published review numbers.
• Prospects who mention the book in an enquiry.
• Speaking invitations or other opportunities connected with the book.
• Examples of the book being used in client delivery or renewal discussions.

Set targets around your capacity and goals. If your team agrees to introduce the book in suitable prospect conversations, record where it was relevant and what happened next, rather than rewarding mentions regardless of usefulness.

A review-link click does not confirm a published review, and a new review cannot always be attributed to a particular email. Amazon checks submissions before publication, which can take a few days.

Why is ongoing book marketing worth the effort?

A business book can help someone understand your expertise in considerable depth before they ever contact you. One relevant reader could become a significant consulting client, recommend you for a speaking engagement or introduce you to a valuable business opportunity.

Those possibilities give the book a reason to remain in your plans after launch. Results take time, useful content, relevant distribution and consistent attention. There is no single tactic that replaces that work.

Consider the time you already spend creating social content and trying to gain attention. Could a portion of it go towards helping the right people discover, read and use the substantial piece of marketing you have already created?

Reviews contribute to that work by giving prospective readers an independent perspective. Build the invitation into suitable emails, articles, reader conversations and resources, and it becomes easier to maintain month after month.

At WBR, our book marketing support considers both the readers you want to reach and the business goals your book could support. Begin with one existing channel, one natural reader question and one clear next step for each answer.