The Art of the Ask: How to Get People to Review Your Book on Amazon

It is not possible to just sit back and watch the reviews roll in for your book on Amazon or any of the other book sites. You can't just expect people to take time out of their lives to post their experiences if you don't ask.

How do you ask?

Well, quite simply, you just ask. Asking is not begging. Asking is putting yourself in a position of vulnerability for a moment and detaching from the response.

The good news? If you have put your book out by funding it on Kickstarter, as I did, then you have an entire list of backers you can turn to for the very delicate work of asking. 

I've started my own asking process recently, and it's beginning to pay dividends. A little over a week after being officially published, Tessalation! has 10 reviews on Amazon.com. 

Nearly every one of those reviews resulted from me asking someone who I know has the book. 

Simple language for asking for a review:

HI! Was wondering if you would consider reviewing Tessalation! on Amazon.com for me. I'm trying to give it a life beyond the Kickstarter and would appreciate your voice.

Then -- and this is the important part -- send them the EXACT LINK you need them to go to. DO NOT ever require them to find the book themselves. That is asking too much. Really.

​And then you do it again and again. 

Chances are good that if any of your friends or backers have enjoyed the book they have told you some stories about reading to their children or the moment they opened the package or the joy on their faces when they finally saw the final product. I highly recommend you ask them to regale these stories on Amazon or other sites to lend the critical authenticity to the reviews. 

See. It's as simple as this:

Have you read Tessalation!? Would you consider reviewing it? Click here to review.