Posting reviews on Amazon

[Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf]

I'm a new book blogger and I've heard lots of folks talking about the importance of cross posting reviews.  Especially if you eventually hope to get review requests from Authors/Publishers.  I've looked at the Amazon website and it appears that you need to buy the book from Amazon to post (unlike Barnes & Noble).  Is this the case?  or am I missing something?  I'd like to be able to post reviews on Amazon (in addition to my blog, Goodreads and B&N) of books I've borrowed, won, been gifted, or been given for review.

 

Thanks for any help,

 

Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

[Grace]

I don't think that you need to buy it from there, but I'm not positive...

One of the issues with cross-posting reviews that I am curious about is copyright.  Is your content still primarily owned by you if you cross-post it?

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Books Without Any Pictures

[Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf]

Everytime I try to post a book review there it tells me that I must sign in with the account that purchased the book...which I obviously can't do as I borrowed from the library....

 

And that is a great question about copyright...hopefully someone with more blogging experience can chime in!

 

Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

[Tome Keeper]

As long as you have an account you do not need to have brought the book to review it. Although the rules say that you do, there is nothing physical to stop you. 

 

However the Amazon review rules state that you cannot publish a review that you have previously published, no matter that you own the copyright (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/community-help/customer-reviews-guidelines  - Reviews that are not your own original work or have been previously published elsewhere). Many people ignore this and cross-post anyway. I err on the side of caution and do a smaller summary review on Amazon and leave the main review on my blog. I received plenty of requests from authors/publishers before posting on Amazon, so it is not a prerequisite, although many will prefer you have a mainstream outlet aside from your blog such as B&N, WH Smith, Amazon. 

[Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf]

Thanks all...I think that I figured it out...If I go through my account to post a review it allows it...(although after 5 minutes it is still not showing up--not sure how long that takes)however if I try to go to the item and post a review from there it tells me that I have to have purchased the item...tricky! lol 

 

And yes...I just post a portion of my blog post...so hopefully that meets Amazon's requirements.

[Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf]

I've read that it can take up to 48 hrs for a review to post...so I'm just crossing my fingers that I've done it correctly!

 

♥ Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf

[Heather Cashman]

I have posted multiple reviews on Amazon without purchasing the book, but you do have to have an Amazon account with a valid email. My reviews went live within three minutes.

Heather

www.heathercashman.com

[Sheila Deeth]

I post on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, Lunch, Gather, Shelfari and on my blog. If I've bought the book from Amazon, they add a comment to the top of the review to say so. But frequently I've bought or borrowed it elsewhere. I just have to log in with a valid Amazon account.

 

One thing to watch out for is you should avoid advertizing where you got the book from. B&N will reject a review if you say you read the book on Kindle. I suspect Amazon will probably reject if you say you read it on Nook, or bought it at Borders, or whatever...

[Coral Russell]

I post reviews on a regular basis. 

 

Amazon - you have to have an account with them but you do not have to buy the book through them. You cannot leave a link to another website in your review, however, I just heard that you can post - I received a complimentary copy of this book to review or you can say I picked this up at my local library. If you buy the book from Amazon, then when you review it, you have a special little thingy that pops up saying so when your review is posted.

 

B&N - post your review in much the same way as Amazon and they will not let you post it if you have a link to another website/blog.

 

Smashwords - you have to buy the book through them in order to post a review. If the author has an eBook, it's easy to get a coupon from them and to get the book and leave a review.

 

LibraryThing, goodreads, and shelfari - you can post reviews and add to your self and you can post a link to your blog/website.

 

As far as I know the review belongs to you (on your blog you should have a copyright/creative commons) but I allow the author to post or use my review anywhere they see fit.

 

I haven't heard of Lunch or Gather, but will be checking those out. Thanks for the tip!

[Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf]

This is the message that I get whenever I try to post a review:

 

Want to write a customer review?

To write a customer review: you must have used this account to complete a purchase* of an item from Amazon.com. There is a 48-hour waiting period after your first order has been shipped before you'll be able to submit your review.

 

If you have another account: and you have already used it to make a purchase, you can sign into that account to write a review.

Other options:

Go back to the item you were just viewing

Visit Your Profile

* A purchase requirement is used to maintain review quality. Learn more about writing customer reviews.

[Christy Janes]

That message seems very odd, and I have never before gotten a message like that before posting a review on Amazon. 

 

The only thing I can come up with is have you ever made a purchase for anything on Amazon?  Book, movie, household item, etc.?  It could be an internal verification system to make sure you're a real person buying a real item so their site isn't full of spam reviews.  Maybe after one purchase, they'd let you review that product plus any other items.  I could be really off-base with that assumption, but it's the only thing I can come up with.  I had purchased several things from Amazon before I ever started reviewing books and products.  Maybe that tip will help you.  Otherwise, I'd try sending an email to their help desk.

[Diayll N. Sales]

I got this same message and I'm guessing its because I did not buy the book from them. I think they only let you review products you purchase from them because I have made purchases from them in the past and reviewed without this problem.

[Indolent Reader]

I think that is Amazon's way of verifying that the account used to post a review is a real Amazon account - i.e. one that has been used to make at least one purchase in the past

One other thing I'd say about reviewing on Amazon is that it's not possible to post a review for a book that is not yet available for purchase, unless it's a book you've received for review as part of the Amazon Vine program. Which of course means you have to BE a part of the Amazon Vine program.... yeah, in my dreams! ;)