So, I emailed them again and received two epic responses. If you are an indie like me, you will love them both!
This is the unedited email I sent back to Amazon Author Central:
Hello,
I am a bit confused with your response to the idea of giving out copies on PDF, mobi, and paperback books in exchange for honest amazon reviews.
Just so you know, I am an admin on a small Facebook Group of 3000 authors and we try to help each other with ideas and discussions of better marketing our books. I have been discussing with many of the authors and now we are even more confused.
In this regard, I would like to ask if it is possible for you to answer the following questions with either YES or NO.
Okay, so as an author publishing with Amazon KDP and I have the following questions:
1. Suppose I attend an event online, can I give out a PDF or mobi file of my book to people I meet there in exchange for an honest review?
2. Suppose I attend a book signing event, can I give out paperback copies of my book to people I meet there in exchange for an honest review?
3. Suppose I attend an event online or in person and meet a lot of people for the first time. Can I give out copies of my book in any format in exchange for an honest review?
4. Suppose I attend an event and meet a lot of potential readers for my book and collect email addresses of people. Can I then email them my PDF or mobi files or post paperback books in exchange for an honest review?
Thank you very much for your time.
And two days later, this is the response I received from them:
Author Central Amazon Your Account Amazon.com
Message From Customer Service
Hello Brian,
The answer to all 4 questions is yes. You can always give away copies of your books, in any format you like, in the hope that the recipient will give you an honest review. Even Amazon.com sends books to readers in the hope that a percentage of them will read and review the book. Smart authors will do this. Some will put a card or book mark in the print book as a reminder to the reader to leave a review.
Some authors will print cards that they can leave at coffee shops or hand out, that will allow a reader to down load a copy of the book. If you think they will read and review the book, it can be worth it.
There are many ways to market a book. It's good to see that you are working together to share them.
You can also join the CreateSpace Community to discuss promotions, distribution, marketing tips and tricks, sales channels and success stories with your fellow authors.
You can read the community posts here: https://www.createspace.com/en/community
I hope this helps. Have a great day!
Best regards,
Sunnie A.
About two hours later, I received another email from them. This is what it said:
Hello Brian,
I hope this email finds you well. This is Kath from the Communities team.
I'm sorry for the inconvenience this might have caused you.
Authors are allowed to provide free copies of their books to readers in exchange to their honest and unbiased reviews.
However, to write a Customer Review, customers must have used their account to purchase an item from Amazon.com. Once their item has shipped, they'll be able to write their customer reviews on the website. (Free digital downloads don't count toward this purchase requirement.)
Customers must have valid purchase on their account to be able to submit review for your book that you have provided for free. Customers are unable to submit any reviews on the website if the customers don't have Amazon account or don't have valid purchase on their account.
I hope this helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Best regards,
Kath A.
Thank you for your inquiry. Did I solve your problem?
[Yes] [ No]
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.
Thank you.
Amazon.com
So now, the famous question remains the same: As an indie author, can I give out free copies of my book(s) in the form of paperback, PDF, mobi or any format in exchange for an HONEST REVIEW?
And the correct answer to that question is a BIG FAT_____
This sure does lead to a big "WTF?" But I think "Kath" is talking about the fact that a reviewer has to have an Amazon account. They do not have to have purchased this particular book with that account. Just have made an Amazon purchase.
ReplyDeleteAlthough that may have changed. They seem to be doing a lot to limit any reviewing these days. I'm kind of giving up on the whole thing. I can't afford BookBub anyway. :-)
May this is why guys like Brendon Burchard and Tony Robbins actually purchase the books from amazon and give them away for free. I've always thought it was a huge loss they were running, but now I realize its just marketing.
ReplyDeleteSo basically we can give free copies, but then the reader must purchase the book in order to leave a verified review. Well, I've purchased books at used book sales, and I've left reviews for them. I've checked on them later, and they were still there. I believe Amazon does whatever Amazon wants. They are not consistent, and never will be. This is so frustrating!
ReplyDeleteOh not exactly, I understand it as saying we can give free copies in exchange for the honest review, but the reader must have an account that has at least purchased something on amazon.
DeleteThere are some people who create an amazon account and download free book only, but never actually purchase anything. When a person with that kind of account tries to post a review, they receive an error saying they should purchase something first
I don't understand, I'm part of an author group that is over 1,000 members strong. A few have had their reviews yanked from Amazon for a vague reason. They clearly have an account with Amazon, but their reviews were taken anyway. Some have stated they received a book for free in exchange for an honest review and some were told by Amazon CS that their reviews were pulled due to personally knowing the author. So, what is the deal?
ReplyDeleteMakes sense to me. You must be an active Amazon customer to post reviews. As they are "customer" reviews what else would you expect?
ReplyDeleteYes Isabel, the reviewer can post an honest review in that case. As Sunnie from Amazon says and I quote: "You can always give away copies of your books, in any format you like, in the hope that the recipient will give you an honest review. Even Amazon.com sends books to readers in the hope that a percentage of them will read and review the book. Smart authors will do this. Some will put a card or book mark in the print book as a reminder to the reader to leave a review."
ReplyDeleteIt looks to me as if they are saying "Sure, you can give away copies for reviews..." but at the same time, "We don't want those reviews posted on Amazon." Sounds simple enough, and thank you for sharing!!!
ReplyDeleteInteresting article and discussion. I think the bottom line is Amazon is a machine and the secret is in their algorithm.
ReplyDeleteThat is very true
Deletewow! Jackie! Now that's an awesome strategy that I think every indie author needs to know about. I just visited your site and it is indeed COOL. I like it. Look out for my email...
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. That's makes a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteBut, there is still the problem of reviews by people of the same last name with valid Amazon accounts being removed. Customer service told me that I could enter them myself as editorial reviews, but they still have a policy of leaving out reviews that they deem to be friends or family.
ReplyDelete