For nonfiction writers, half your battle is establishing a reputation as a thought leader in your field. One way to build your reputation is by writing reviews of other books in your field. Writing a compelling review of a popular book can enhance your reputation and expose your name to many more readers.
Don't hype your own book or mention its title in your review of other books. This is viewed by many as blatant self-promotion, and can result in your review being deleted by Amazon.
However, many authors add their book titles to their Amazon pen names displayed with reviews, such as John Steinbeck, author of 'The Grapes of Wrath.' To change the way your name is displayed, go to your Amazon Profile at #www.Amazon.com/gp/pdp#. In the left column, in the #About Me# section, click change name.
To write a review, from the book's detail page on Amazon, scroll down to the section labeled #Spotlight Reviews#, then click the link Write an online review.
The maximum length of reviews is 1,000 words, and the recommended length is 75 to 300 words. The title of your review is limited to 60 characters. A good review focuses on the book's content, including whether you liked or disliked a book, and why.
Amazon strongly discourages the following elements in customer reviews:
Spoiling a story's ending or revealing crucial plot elements.
Dates of promotional tours or lectures that become outdated.
Commenting on previous reviews of the book (other reviews might be edited or deleted in the future).
Profanity or cruel remarks.
Single-word reviews.
Contact information such as phone numbers, addresses or URLs.
Discussing the book's price, availability, or shipping information.
Asking people to "vote" for your review.
Check your review for spelling and typos by running the text through a word processor. Break up your text with a blank line between each paragraph to add white space.
Often reviews show up immediately on the book's detail page, but sometimes it takes several days. To ask about the status of a review, write to # community-help@amazon.com#.
The more helpful your review is to Amazon users, the more often it will be voted "helpful" and have an impact. Spotlight Reviews have the most impact since they appear first. Your review has a better chance of becoming a Spotlight if it's submitted soon after the book's publication date, and after a few other reviews have already appeared.
Be honest in your reviews. As a practical matter, though, it's best to avoid skewering competing authors. Enormous feuds result from negative reviews posted on Amazon by competitors, and your time and energy can be better spent improving your own work.