Mar 27, 2025 3 min read

Authors: Stop Chasing Book Reviews (And Start Doing What Actually Works)

I talk to a lot of first-time authors—and I see the same pattern over and over again.

They publish their book… and then start obsessing over reviews. “How do I get more reviews?” “How many reviews do I need to make sales?” “Should I pay someone to review it?”

I get it. Reviews seem like the next step. They’re visible, measurable, and everyone says you need them. But here’s the honest truth:

👉 Book reviews don’t sell books. Not by themselves.

💡 Reviews Are a Reflection, Not a Strategy

You know what does generate reviews?

✅ Sales ✅ Giveaways ✅ Real readers who actually read your book and liked it enough to leave feedback.

But here’s the kicker—those things only happen when you have a system in place to reach people in the first place.

📉 The Problem With “Review-Hunting”

Too many authors spend time and money on review-swap groups, sketchy paid review sites, or chasing family and friends for 5-star praise. But that’s not how Amazon wants it to work.

Amazon’s system is built on trust. They want honest, unbiased, anonymous reviews. Not favors from your cousin or some stranger who got paid $10 to skim your first chapter.

Even well-meaning “review networks” have to walk a legal tightrope—trying to stay anonymous and avoid triggering Amazon’s Terms of Service. If you have to stress about whether your review strategy is breaking the rules, you’re probably on the wrong path.

The truth is: 👉 If your book doesn’t already offer value, more reviews won’t fix it. 👉 If your system isn’t set up to reach real readers, you’ll keep spinning your wheels.

Let me show you what I teach the authors I work with. It’s a simple 2-step process—but most people focus only on Step 2.

Step 2: Go Engage

This is the action part. This is where you feel like you're “doing something.”

You get on social media and join the conversation. You find your readers—on TikTok, Reddit, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram—wherever they hang out. You comment. You answer questions. You share valuable content. You’re not just dropping your book link and running.

You’re being useful. Human. Helpful.

That’s how people notice you. That’s how they start clicking on your profile.

But none of that works unless you’ve done Step 1...

Step 1: Build the Foundation

This is the part most authors skip.

Before you try to "do" marketing, you have to make sure your system is ready to receive attention. That means:

✅ Your website is set up intentionally.

Offer a free digital copy of your book in exchange for an email address.
Don’t just send traffic to Amazon. Build your list. Own your audience.

✅ Your social media bios clearly present you as an author.

Use your link-in-bio to send people to your free offer, not your Amazon link.
Make it easy to say “yes” to learning more about you and your book.

Step 1 doesn’t generate sales or reviews directly—but it sets the stage so that when you engage (Step 2), you actually get something out of it.

No more wasted time. No more attention leaks.

🧠 The Real Reason Authors Struggle with This

Authors are overwhelmed.

They’re trying to navigate the world of publishing and marketing—usually alone. They don’t know what they don’t know. They get bad advice from people selling hype or one-size-fits-all tactics. They think more reviews will fix a broken system. It won’t.

You don’t need more reviews. You need more readers. You need a way to attract attention, capture it, and follow up with it.

That’s what I help authors do.

🚀 Final Thoughts

If you’ve been obsessing over Amazon reviews, relax. Your job isn’t to chase stars—it’s to build a system that consistently brings new readers into your world.

👉 Set up your foundation. 👉 Show up and engage. 👉 Let the reviews come naturally.

It works. I’ve done it. I’ve helped others do it.

If you want help doing it too, shoot me a message or request an Author Audit here: https://www.authorpreneur.com/audit/

You don’t have to figure this out alone.