Building Amazon reviews using Goodreads

[Paul]

Hi there. Just a question about (I guess) Goodreads etiquette. I've got 53 reviews/ratings on Goodreads but only 5 on Amazon. Is it OK to contact readers who've left a review on Goodreads to ask if they might do the same on Amazon, or is that not the done thing? Many thanks, Paul.

[Hákon]

I have been contacted once like that and put up my goodreads review on Amazon as the author requested, but I'm a author so I get the difficulties of reviews. I don't know how readers in general react to a request like that. It probably depends on who it is.

[Frederick]

I suppose it doesn't hurt. If one wants to do it, one will. And if you don't ask, you'll stuck with 5 reviews :) I say go for it

[Pamela]

I don't know. I have come across more people than I would have thought who claimed that they don't purchase anything from Amazon so they don't have accounts. Or they just could've been telling me that. /:(

[Paul]

Thank you everyone!

My book's only available through Amazon (as far as I know) so I am assuming that's where they purchased it from.

That said, it says something about the power of the Goodreads site that readers are (in my experience) 10 times more likely to leave a review here than the place they bought the book.

[Paul]

Ah! I just clicked through to the messaging service to see how it works and read the following advice from Goodreads:

"Note to authors: We don’t recommend contacting users to promote your book or request reviews. Nearly all of our members consider unsolicited messages from authors or their representatives to be spam, and sending such messages may result in your account being flagged."

[G.G.]

Have you checked if reviews might have been left on other Amazon sites? .com often shows on others but others never show on .com. So if they wrote reviews on the U.K. Site, you won't see them on the .com site for example.

[Amie]

Paul wrote: "Ah! I just clicked through to the messaging service to see how it works and read the following advice from Goodreads:

"Note to authors: We don’t recommend contacting users to promote your book or ..."

Nice save! Glad you found that GR warning ahead of time. That would have been painful to lose 50+ Goodreads reviews.

[T.L.]

I think most readers would shun the idea, tbh.
If they haven't left a review on Amazon they have their reasons.
As great as it would be, I think we just need to accept they haven't.

xx

[Christina]

Never a good idea to contact reviewers, as has already been pointed out. Locking this thread now and reminding folks that talking about reviews is discouraged in the rules for a reason. We don't want to see any of our members lose their standing with Goodreads over something that can easily be prevented by following the best practices for authors.