Becoming a Top Amazon Reviewer

If You Love Reading, Consider Writing Reviews for Amazon

I’ve been an Amazon reviewer for over 10 years now and managed to work my way up to Top 100 Reviewer ranking. As a retired librarian, I have more time to read now and posting reviews on Amazon helps me keep track of what I’ve read and how I felt about it. Even as a child, I kept lists of what I read. I get nostalgic looking back through my notebook to see the titles scrawled in my childish handwriting and remember what I was reading in those days.Yes, I was a bookworm.

Girl Reading – Postcard
See other Book Postcards at zazzle

Now with my reading list online, I have more than just my memory to tell me if I liked a book and what it was about. My feelings and opinion of the book is posted on Amazon for my future reference and for all the world to read.

Writing Book Reviews Helps Libraries and Librarians and Authors

Upon retiring, I wanted to volunteer in a library or school or adult literacy center. Unfortunately, our frequent trips and erratic schedule didn’t match with those volunteer opportunities.

Luckily I stumbled upon another way I could share my experience from 30 years as a librarian. It made use of my love of books, but could be fitted in with our coming and going. I volunteer as a book reviewer for Amazon. The reviews on that online book site benefit librarians selecting books for their collections and help any reader trying to find the right book for their enjoyment or informational needs.

Now I read anything that appeals to me, then share a description and opinion online. It’s particularly satisfying if mine is the first review for that item. Readers rate the reviews as helpful or not and that determines the ranking of the reviewer. When I reached the TOP 500 REVIEWER ranking, I knew my reviews were helping other readers and librarians.

At that point, authors started sending books to me to read and review. It was gratifying to add “authors” to those who benefit from my reviewing efforts. I hadn’t thought about that aspect, but I’m helping get the word out about good books and identifying the appropriate audience.

I’ve expanded my efforts on the website by compiling book lists on varied topics. I have 88 of these lists so far.

Any reader can contribute reviews to Amazon and you can fit it around your own schedule and without even leaving your house.

photo by Virginia Allain

There’s no pay, but it can be addictive to rise through the ranks as a reviewer. Here are ways to achieve Top Reviewer ranking. It took two years for me to reach the TOP 500 Reviewer ranking.

So Many Books So Little Time Card

The third year, I was ecstatic to reach TOP 100 Reviewer ranking. Since then, I’ve slipped a little and fell to below 1000. It requires a lot of reading and posting of reviews to stay at the top. Update: After shifting most of my energy to Squidoo and other online writing, my reviewer ranking dropped quite a bit. The last time I checked, it was around 1,200.

Diligently post reviews on every book you read whether it’s good, bad or indifferent. Others need to know about that book. It helps if you’re already an avid reader. If you only read 2 or 3 books a month, then it will take much longer to reach the top reviewer ranks.

Writing a Critical Book Review

If reviewing a best seller, it helps to get the review posted quickly after the book’s release date. More readers see the early reviews and vote on its helpfulness. The reviews with the highest number of helpful votes get posted near the top and get more viewings as time goes by. If there are already several hundred reviews posted for a book, yours gets pushed to the bottom and gets little attention and few “likes.”

It’s important to post a quality review. Don’t just put a sentence or two. Say why you did or didn’t like the book. For fiction, give enough of the plot for readers to know if it’s their kind of book but don’t spoil the suspense by telling the ending.

I Need More Books Mouse Pad

Free Books!

A bonus of reaching Top 500 Reviewer ranking is authors start offering free books for you to review. These books are yours to keep after your read them and post a review. I didn’t receive hundreds of books, but a nice sampling of titles. One author sends me her Disney World guide every time she puts out a new edition.

You can encourage this by adding onto your Amazon profile that you welcome review books. Now, it is more common for authors to offer an ebook copy to a reviewer. Too bad, as it was nice receiving a copy in the mail. After reviewing it, you could give it away or sell it.

Reviewing Non-Book Items

Think about reviewing household items as well. What about your camera? How about the lamp on your desk? Do you like them? If not, why not? Other people need to know what features work well on a product and what are duds. Amazon carries an amazing range of products and reviews of those products. Electronics and software reviews get a lot of votes.

Reviewing Music, Movies, and Software

Don’t limit yourself. Put reviews online for the music CDs you listen to on the way to work. Put a review on for the movie you watched on TV last night. Review the software that you use on your computer.

If you post a negative review on a popular movie, it will get lots of votes that it was unhelpful. Unfortunately, that brings your ranking down. Sometimes I chicken out and just don’t post a review for a movie that I thought was dumb.

Books I Could Put Down

Often when readers recommend a book, they say, “I couldn’t put it down.” I love it when I find a book like that. That’s what reading is all about, finding a book that you don’t even want to close for meals or sleeping. Staying up past bedtime immersed in a great book is a wonderful experience.

Unfortunately sometimes I bog down in a book. For some reason it doesn’t meet my expectations. I hate to give up on a book once I’ve started it. It lays by my reading chair sometimes for weeks. Somehow it seems reproachful with it’s bookmark permanently stuck at the halfway point. I feel guilty that I’m not enjoying it and postpone reading anything else. I’ll dip into it now and then, hoping it will capture my fancy and get some zip going in its plot. Eventually I’ll pick up another book, but keep the rejected book at hand. Who knows, maybe I’ll be in just the right mood for it another day.

Since I review books for Amazon, I like to be able to say good things about a book. An author worked long and hard to write it and a publishing house thought it worthy of putting into print.  As a librarian, I prided myself on finding good books for my library patrons to read.  Several reviewers saying a book was uninteresting meant my library didn’t buy it. Deep down, I believe that for every book there is a reader, even many readers. A mis-match between the book and the reader results in someone not liking a book. Another reader might find it fits them perfectly.

With that said, I’m not pointing out these books as hopeless. Maybe they would be just right for you. Unfortunately for me these books were ones that I could put down and not pick up again. I feel sad about them, but I’m going to put them all away and start a new book that might engage my interests. HopefullyI’ll read late into the night relishing the story  as each page turns and words flow past creating pictures in my mind.

Books I Could Put Down:

• Waiting for Lila by Billie Green
• Rainbow’s End by Irene Hannon
• Don’t Bend Over in the Garden, Granny, You Know Them Taters Got Eyes by Lewis Grizzard
• Coming Undone by Susan Anderson
• Creature Cozies by various authors
• Without Pity by Ann Rule
• What Am I Doing Here by Bruce Chatwin
• A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle