Amazon's book review rules, explained for self-published authors (2026)

Most authors have never read Amazon's Community Guidelines and most of what circulates in author groups is folklore. This is a plain-language summary of what the rules say for books, what Amazon has actually enforced, and the line between an advance reader copy and a paid review.

Amazon changes its policies and does not publish its enforcement logic, so read the guidelines yourself before launch. This guide is a map, not legal advice.

What authors may do

• Give away free or discounted copies of your book, including advance reader copies, to anyone, including through a service.
• Ask readers for an honest review. The word honest is not decoration: it is the request Amazon permits.
• Link readers straight to your book's review page.
• Run a campaign where readers are compensated for their reading time, provided the compensation does not depend on the rating or on the review being positive. Readers must remain free to post any opinion, or none.

What authors may not do

• Pay for a positive review, or pay for any review where the money depends on the rating.
• Require a review in exchange for the free copy. A copy can be given with a request; it cannot be a contract.
• Swap reviews with other authors, directly or through a pool. Amazon treats reciprocal reviewing as manipulation.
• Review your own book, or have family, close friends or employees review it.
• Ask for a specific rating, suggest wording, or send readers text to post.
• Offer a refund, gift card or entry into a draw in exchange for a review.

Where ARC services sit

An ARC service is a way of giving copies to readers who want them. The honest services add two things Amazon has no objection to: readers choose books by genre, and the service verifies that a submitted review exists before it counts it. What makes a service unsafe is not that money changes hands between author and service, it is any mechanism that makes the reader's rating matter to their reward, or that pairs authors to review each other.

On ReadRipple a reader's credit is released when their review is verified live on your Amazon page, whatever the star rating. A two-star review is paid exactly like a five-star one, which is the only arrangement that keeps the reader honest and the review safe.

A quick test for any service: if it mentions a star rating anywhere in its promise to you, it is selling paid reviews with extra steps.

What Amazon has actually removed

Enforcement is pattern-based. Amazon removes clusters: groups of accounts that review each other, accounts that only review one author, reviews posted within minutes of each other with similar wording, reviews from accounts with no purchase history across Amazon, and reviews linked to accounts Amazon has flagged for incentives. When a pattern trips, every review in the cluster usually goes, sometimes months after launch.

It also removes reviews from accounts that have not spent a minimum amount on Amazon in the past year, and reviews from a reader who Amazon decides knows the author personally. Neither of these is something you can fix after the fact, which is why the source of your reviewers matters more than the number.

The short version

1. Free copies are fine. Honest reviews are fine. Asking is fine.
2. Money or favours tied to the rating are not. Swaps are not. Friends and family are not.
3. Choose reviewers who have no stake in your success, and let the stars fall where they fall.