Some FAQs about the video: Where do I send the QR code? www.amazon.com/review/create-review/?asin=*ASIN* Insert your asin and remove the stars. This will take the reader directly to the review page. You can change the .com to any Amazon site you'd like. Are these site sites against Amazon TOS? There is no review swapping going on or paying reviewers, so technically no. However, you should always monitor these sites and do your due diligence to make sure it's something you are comfortable with.
@@andr3s1976 You aren't paying for reviewers. Yes, you are paying for the software, but the reviews itself there is no transaction for the reviews. They are reviewing your book and leaving their honest feedback based on what they thought. If they think its a 3 star book, they'll leave 3 stars.
Thanks Russell I really appreciate this. Thanks for the support and glad you’re getting something out of it! Feel free to ask any questions in the Facebook group if you’re stumped on anything. Happy to help!
I love the idea of the QR code at the back. I'm not so sure about those review sites though honestly, that seems super sketch, and something that Amazon would be likely to shutdown because while you're not paying for reviews directly, like you said, you don't really care to read the whole books. You're just there to skim and leave a review so that you can get reviews. It seems like an attempt to circumvent the organic review system.
Those review sites sound like a great way to get Amazon to block your books. If you give reviews *in exchange* for other reviews, that is against the terms of service and its your own fault when (not if) you get shut down.
I agree to an extent, but there is no review swapping happening. It’s set up so you cannot review someone’s book who has reviewed yours. All Amazon sees if you leaving a review, and you getting reviews at completely seperate times with complete separate people. Of course, don’t use anything you aren’t comfortable with!
@@KenSelfPublishing You cannot incentivise a review. So, if you are reviewing other products to earn coins, which you then exchange for a review, you are breaking the terms of service.
Come to think of it, how likely are you to get an *honest* review? Do you really believe these people are reading your book? Are you reading all of theirs? It's a shame, because my best reviews and my biggest fans are from my ARC readers. They join my newsletter, follow me on social media, tell their friends how great my books are. You're missing out on all of that by trying to game the system.
Oh so you absolutely have to review books to get coins? I was going to be on board with this before that. Because Amazon specifically says to not do that. One. You cannot incentivize. Two. You actually can't leave a review on any competitor's product, and they consider every book your competitor's product.
Great video, thank you! A question : How do you actually make the QR-Code beforehand? To generate the QR-Code you need the ISBN of the book, and that is ( at least for low-content/medium-content books) generated by Amazon after you publish, right ? So how do we put it inside the book?
We simply edit the manuscript to have the review page and the review link inside it, after our book is live. You can update your manuscript as many times as you want. Publish, get the ASIn, make the link and page, add to manuscript, and update manuscript!
Hi Ken, Amazing video!! I appreciate how in-depth your advice is! With low content books, especially activity books, do you know if you can leave the kindle version on Amazon only while you get reviews and then remove that format? I’d just prefer to remove it in case anyone mistakenly buys the ebook form which they wouldn’t be able to really use.
I know of a writer who got his book banned from AMZ because the reviews from Pubby were not accepted. Is Amazon now becoming tough on Pubby? Any comments? Or was that an odd incident?
Glad you enjoyed it! Because a verified purchase Just looks more legit in Amazons eyes, and it shows up on every market place. More value for the review. Non verified reviews only show up in the market place they are left
The problem is... none of those people will actually care about your book, and the reviews will read accordingly generic and soulless. That's the general problem with ARC. I don't mind paying, I only mind having reviews that are obviously fake.
Hi Ken, love this video. When collecting currency from Bookbite and adding them up to use all at once on the book at the book release date (let's say 10 or 15 reviews), wouldn't it look suspicious to have earned so many reviews so quickly a day or two later when the book goes live? I wonder if Bookbite makes more sense after posting my book. Unless, I can control when and how many reviews I can choose to spread out during a period of time. I'm just thinking I want a more realistic review count so quickly after my book goes live. Thanks for your input! :)
Glad you enjoyed it! Valid question. Actually not at all. This is super normal for people with big book brands or audiences. They often will get 50+ reviews in the first few days. It’s not a problem to get a lot reviews once your book goes live and is actually super common to have happen!
@@KenSelfPublishing oh, thank you for the quick reply! I actually forgot to mention that I'm a brand new beginner and don't have a large audience or name brand. That's why I'm kind of nervous lol. Your videos have been very helpful. I will definitely hire your one to one services when the time comes bro!
Hi Ken, Thank you for the video. I'm quite determined to publish ebooks on KDP. I'm quite a beginner here, just learning things about KDP. I'm thinking of booking a call with you, but I haven't started anything yet, will this work? Or shall I first create an ebook and then book a call with you?
I think the best way is to not necessarily create a book, but at least start the process. Start doing some keyword research and get a direction. By this time you’ll have a lot of questions and it would be the best time. Thanks for the support :)
Hey Ken, thanks for the great information. I have 3 questions, hopefully you will answer them. 1. Do i need a amazon account (America) to review books on these platforms? or it is also ok to have amazon account e.g., in The Netherlands. 2. to leave verified reviews for other people needs to buy the book on amazon or on these platforms using currency? 3. if i redeem currency for reviews at once, how long does it take to get those reviews for my book.
When creating an account they have an option where you don’t have to do this. If you’re unsure simply message support and they will change your account if you don’t have a book yet!
It has to neither either your ebook (for a verified review) or you can simply upload a pdf to the platform, but the reviews won’t be verified. Hope this helps!
Amazing video Ken. But I have a question How can I Add a Direct Review Link in my Paperback Book BEFORE It Is Published? It would be great if you can help me out with this. Thanks!
The only way would be to add in your QR code, then update the QR after the book is uploaded once you have the link. However, its perfectly fine to update our book after and its good to learn how to do it.
@@KenSelfPublishing First Thank you for your response. Could you please recommend a great QR generator? Can we update the paperback as well after uploading the book? And if possible is there a video of yours where I can learn that?
Don't you have to go "live" first before you can generate a QR code and/or link? That would mean you have to add them to your interior paged and then republish. Or am I missing something?
Yes, once your live you can get your ASIn to create the review link! However, you don’t need to republish. You can update your manuscript as much as you want. I will just add a page in my manuscript and update my book!
You will Basically add your book to Pubby with a link to it, and they will actually buy the Ebook to leave a review, If you choose a "verified purcahse" review. If you dont want a verified purchase, you will upload a PDF of your book.
Hi Ken, Thanks for this great video. I just wanted to know if it's ok if I add my website URL to the page asking my readers to visit my website in the - Thanks you so much for making it this far! page
Hi Ken, Thanks for another great video. Just a question, with kids activity books how could I utilise book bite to get some reviews prelaunch for my book.
Awesome, thanks for the info. Since its an activity book will I be able get verified reviews or only the un-verified reviews? If you could please explain the steps. Also sent you $10 aud as a small thanks for all your help :) @@KenSelfPublishing
Love your videos thanks for putting me on to bookbite! Whenever I try and upload my children’s book it says it’s too large of a file is there anyway around this?
Thanks so much for the support! I’m not 100% sure actually. Try contacting their support. The owner is very nice and I’m sure they have a great support team! I believe there is a chat option in the corner of the dashboard.
I have an activity book for adults and coloring book for children. With either Pubby or BookBite am I uploading a PDF to their site? Does that really work with coloring books?
Bookbite you’d upload the PDF or ebook. If it’s just a PDF they will simply leave an unverified review ( which is fine) Amazon knows you’ll give copies away in many situations so that’s why they allow people to leave reviews without buying the book! Low content can only be done through Bookbite
Hi Ken, i got a question, can we review others authors book first without put our book in the platform? I mean, collecting the currency first to spend it later when is needed. is this possible?
No, you need a book on the platform. However, if you create and account, then immediately cancel, you will get an option for “heads down mode” which you will collect 5,000 snaps every month. I believe you can also set it up under the category where you post your books.
Ebook and paperback reviews are linked! You’ll use your ebook to get the review but it just comes up on your product page regardless of the format someone selects
This is a non issue. Your book is already on Amazon. If they post the same book to Amazon, Amazon will take it down or not let it on. Or, you see it cause it ranks in the same place as you and you report or. However, this really doesn’t happen and it’s not something to worry about. People don’t need to have Bookbite to get your book they can easily download the ebook from Amazon as well. But like I said, once your book is on Amazon, it’s almost impossible for people to post the same one.
Once the book is published you can update the page in the manuscript with the review link and edit your book on Amazon with the new manuscript. (once you get the ASIN). The link is in the pinned comments! Sorry I didn’t mention that!
You cannot update your title or author; you can, however, update your book's manuscript. You can change the interior content as many times as you like. Simply upload a new manuscript. @@eiggy7126
Yeah you’re gonna need an ebook for these sites. I always recommend having an ebook for these options and it looks better when your book has multiple formats. Best selling book always have as many formats as possible, even if you only sell paperback
Thank you for the excellent information you are providing! My books are appointment books, calendars, logbooks, etc. I haven't considered doing e-books because I don't think they could be properly used in this format. Am I missing something? Thanks again!
Not at the moment as they technically don’t go against any Amazon guidelines. But of course, do your own research and make sure it’s something you’re comfortable with! Things can also change aswell so I monitor it closely.
As I understood, Pubby or so..has a procedure in the triangle for reading the books and giving reviews. So, you do not directly relate to the reader giving you the review: you read John's book, Mary reads your book, and John reads Mary's book. It's fair and be sure that Amazon agrees with that. If not, thousands of reviews would be banned in the second number 2.
Some FAQs about the video:
Where do I send the QR code?
www.amazon.com/review/create-review/?asin=*ASIN*
Insert your asin and remove the stars. This will take the reader directly to the review page. You can change the .com to any Amazon site you'd like.
Are these site sites against Amazon TOS?
There is no review swapping going on or paying reviewers, so technically no. However, you should always monitor these sites and do your due diligence to make sure it's something you are comfortable with.
It's confusing because if you're paying for reviews, they are paid reviewers.
@@andr3s1976 You aren't paying for reviewers. Yes, you are paying for the software, but the reviews itself there is no transaction for the reviews. They are reviewing your book and leaving their honest feedback based on what they thought. If they think its a 3 star book, they'll leave 3 stars.
Ken great video. What is an ASIN?
Another awesome video Ken. I've used your other vid on Amazon Ads and that turned into sales immediately. Keep up the great vids!
Thanks Russell I really appreciate this. Thanks for the support and glad you’re getting something out of it! Feel free to ask any questions in the Facebook group if you’re stumped on anything. Happy to help!
I love the idea of the QR code at the back. I'm not so sure about those review sites though honestly, that seems super sketch, and something that Amazon would be likely to shutdown because while you're not paying for reviews directly, like you said, you don't really care to read the whole books. You're just there to skim and leave a review so that you can get reviews. It seems like an attempt to circumvent the organic review system.
Yeah I understand the concern many people have it! It’s whatever you’re comfortable doing.
How do you pūt that QR for reviews if book is Not buploshed yet?
Thank you so much for your effort in making this video!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Your back matter is genius. I will definitely make some adjustments to mine! Thanks Ken :)
Im glad you enjoyed the video! :)
Thank you - had no idea these review services existed.
Happy to help!
This was very useful, good job and thanks ❤
Thanks for the solid and straightforward information here on these 2 book review sites.
Slow down Ken, 🎉😊
These are some good tips.
Those review sites sound like a great way to get Amazon to block your books. If you give reviews *in exchange* for other reviews, that is against the terms of service and its your own fault when (not if) you get shut down.
Also, the idea that you make thousands of extra dollars a month once you get more reviews is bullish!t designed to trap the gullible.
I agree to an extent, but there is no review swapping happening. It’s set up so you cannot review someone’s book who has reviewed yours. All Amazon sees if you leaving a review, and you getting reviews at completely seperate times with complete separate people. Of course, don’t use anything you aren’t comfortable with!
@@KenSelfPublishing You cannot incentivise a review. So, if you are reviewing other products to earn coins, which you then exchange for a review, you are breaking the terms of service.
Come to think of it, how likely are you to get an *honest* review? Do you really believe these people are reading your book? Are you reading all of theirs? It's a shame, because my best reviews and my biggest fans are from my ARC readers. They join my newsletter, follow me on social media, tell their friends how great my books are. You're missing out on all of that by trying to game the system.
Oh so you absolutely have to review books to get coins? I was going to be on board with this before that. Because Amazon specifically says to not do that. One. You cannot incentivize. Two. You actually can't leave a review on any competitor's product, and they consider every book your competitor's product.
Thank you for a great video!
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Hi 😊 I am a new subscriber, you are giving stupendous content
Thanks so much for the support and glad you’re enjoying the content :)
Great Video Ken 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Great video, thank you! A question : How do you actually make the QR-Code beforehand? To generate the QR-Code you need the ISBN of the book, and that is ( at least for low-content/medium-content books) generated by Amazon after you publish, right ? So how do we put it inside the book?
We simply edit the manuscript to have the review page and the review link inside it, after our book is live. You can update your manuscript as many times as you want. Publish, get the ASIn, make the link and page, add to manuscript, and update manuscript!
Hi Ken,
Amazing video!! I appreciate how in-depth your advice is!
With low content books, especially activity books, do you know if you can leave the kindle version on Amazon only while you get reviews and then remove that format?
I’d just prefer to remove it in case anyone mistakenly buys the ebook form which they wouldn’t be able to really use.
I do believe you can remove it but I don’t know 100! What you can also do is just price the ebook very high so it doesn’t make sense to buy it!
@@KenSelfPublishing thank you for your response Ken, that’s an amazing idea!!
💥 My Amazon KDP Community (If You Want to Take This Seriously) www.skool.com/publisher-mastery-academy-3567/about
Thank for the great content. Any thoughts on BookRoar?
Have not heard of it! I will check it out
I know of a writer who got his book banned from AMZ because the reviews from Pubby were not accepted. Is Amazon now becoming tough on Pubby? Any comments? Or was that an odd incident?
I’ve never heard of this happening so it might be a rare occurrence . But worth looking into more!
So informative! Why do you choose verified purchase instead of free/standard for your book?
Glad you enjoyed it! Because a verified purchase Just looks more legit in Amazons eyes, and it shows up on every market place. More value for the review. Non verified reviews only show up in the market place they are left
The problem is... none of those people will actually care about your book, and the reviews will read accordingly generic and soulless. That's the general problem with ARC. I don't mind paying, I only mind having reviews that are obviously fake.
Hi Ken, love this video. When collecting currency from Bookbite and adding them up to use all at once on the book at the book release date (let's say 10 or 15 reviews), wouldn't it look suspicious to have earned so many reviews so quickly a day or two later when the book goes live? I wonder if Bookbite makes more sense after posting my book. Unless, I can control when and how many reviews I can choose to spread out during a period of time. I'm just thinking I want a more realistic review count so quickly after my book goes live. Thanks for your input! :)
Glad you enjoyed it! Valid question. Actually not at all. This is super normal for people with big book brands or audiences. They often will get 50+ reviews in the first few days. It’s not a problem to get a lot reviews once your book goes live and is actually super common to have happen!
@@KenSelfPublishing oh, thank you for the quick reply! I actually forgot to mention that I'm a brand new beginner and don't have a large audience or name brand. That's why I'm kind of nervous lol. Your videos have been very helpful. I will definitely hire your one to one services when the time comes bro!
any idea why would amazon tell a reviewer that the review will be reviewed first prior to publishing and it could take few days
?
Do you review subscribers' books?
Hi Ken, Thank you for the video. I'm quite determined to publish ebooks on KDP. I'm quite a beginner here, just learning things about KDP. I'm thinking of booking a call with you, but I haven't started anything yet, will this work? Or shall I first create an ebook and then book a call with you?
I think the best way is to not necessarily create a book, but at least start the process. Start doing some keyword research and get a direction. By this time you’ll have a lot of questions and it would be the best time. Thanks for the support :)
Hey Ken, thanks for the great information. I have 3 questions, hopefully you will answer them. 1. Do i need a amazon account (America) to review books on these platforms? or it is also ok to have amazon account e.g., in The Netherlands. 2. to leave verified reviews for other people needs to buy the book on amazon or on these platforms using currency? 3. if i redeem currency for reviews at once, how long does it take to get those reviews for my book.
Thanks!
On Pubby it says that to review other people's books, I must upload my own. How can I bypass this if I'm trying to collect points before publishing?
When creating an account they have an option where you don’t have to do this. If you’re unsure simply message support and they will change your account if you don’t have a book yet!
Thank you for great video! Does book has to be in digital format on Amazon to get reviews through Pubby?
It has to neither either your ebook (for a verified review) or you can simply upload a pdf to the platform, but the reviews won’t be verified. Hope this helps!
Amazing video Ken. But I have a question How can I Add a Direct Review Link in my Paperback Book BEFORE It Is Published? It would be great if you can help me out with this. Thanks!
The only way would be to add in your QR code, then update the QR after the book is uploaded once you have the link. However, its perfectly fine to update our book after and its good to learn how to do it.
@@KenSelfPublishing First Thank you for your response. Could you please recommend a great QR generator? Can we update the paperback as well after uploading the book? And if possible is there a video of yours where I can learn that?
Don't you have to go "live" first before you can generate a QR code and/or link? That would mean you have to add them to your interior paged and then republish. Or am I missing something?
Yes, once your live you can get your ASIn to create the review link! However, you don’t need to republish. You can update your manuscript as much as you want. I will just add a page in my manuscript and update my book!
How do I give to Pubby readers access to my book, which has already been published on Amazon?
You will Basically add your book to Pubby with a link to it, and they will actually buy the Ebook to leave a review, If you choose a "verified purcahse" review. If you dont want a verified purchase, you will upload a PDF of your book.
Thanks!@@KenSelfPublishing
Hi Ken, Thanks for this great video. I just wanted to know if it's ok if I add my website URL to the page asking my readers to visit my website in the - Thanks you so much for making it this far! page
Yes this should be fine as lots of people do it-but always good to check Amazon TOS to ensure it’s something you are comfortable with!
@@KenSelfPublishing Thanks Ken! Appreciate your efforts
Hi Ken, Thanks for another great video. Just a question, with kids activity books how could I utilise book bite to get some reviews prelaunch for my book.
Yes they allow low content books like that so you’re good to go! Glad you enjoyed the video :)
Awesome, thanks for the info. Since its an activity book will I be able get verified reviews or only the un-verified reviews? If you could please explain the steps. Also sent you $10 aud as a small thanks for all your help :) @@KenSelfPublishing
Hi, Can i use the last page of my manuscript to ask for reviews just as you did here. I prefer organic reviews ?
Yes for sure
Love your videos thanks for putting me on to bookbite! Whenever I try and upload my children’s book it says it’s too large of a file is there anyway around this?
Thanks so much for the support! I’m not 100% sure actually. Try contacting their support. The owner is very nice and I’m sure they have a great support team! I believe there is a chat option in the corner of the dashboard.
@@KenSelfPublishing I will do that thank you very much!
Did you finally have success uploading your children's book file? This children's book author would love to know before trying!@@dallascoffey4788
I have an activity book for adults and coloring book for children. With either Pubby or BookBite am I uploading a PDF to their site? Does that really work with coloring books?
Bookbite you’d upload the PDF or ebook. If it’s just a PDF they will simply leave an unverified review ( which is fine) Amazon knows you’ll give copies away in many situations so that’s why they allow people to leave reviews without buying the book! Low content can only be done through Bookbite
Thanks
Wow, thank you so much!!! I really appreciate all :)
Nice 👍
Hi Ken, i got a question, can we review others authors book first without put our book in the platform? I mean, collecting the currency first to spend it later when is needed. is this possible?
No, you need a book on the platform. However, if you create and account, then immediately cancel, you will get an option for “heads down mode” which you will collect 5,000 snaps every month. I believe you can also set it up under the category where you post your books.
Any opinions on Book Sirens?
Never heard of it personally, But will look into it!
I spoke to Amazon and they say using book review sites is not allowed, so how can I get reviews quickly ?
These sites are the only ways to get reviews quickly
hi, i have a coloring book can i use bookbite to get reviews?
Yes bookbite works for colouring books
@@KenSelfPublishing thank you, but i only have paperback format.
This is only for ebooks?
Ebook and paperback reviews are linked! You’ll use your ebook to get the review but it just comes up on your product page regardless of the format someone selects
My children’s book exceeds the limit of 10 MB for Bookbite and 15 MB for pubby? Any solution for this?
If you’re just uploading the pdf of your book you should be able to compress the file online!
What about piracy of your book by people who download it on review sites?
This is a non issue. Your book is already on Amazon. If they post the same book to Amazon, Amazon will take it down or not let it on. Or, you see it cause it ranks in the same place as you and you report or. However, this really doesn’t happen and it’s not something to worry about. People don’t need to have Bookbite to get your book they can easily download the ebook from Amazon as well. But like I said, once your book is on Amazon, it’s almost impossible for people to post the same one.
at 1:25 I don't understand how you can link to a review page for a book that hasn't been published.
Once the book is published you can update the page in the manuscript with the review link and edit your book on Amazon with the new manuscript. (once you get the ASIN). The link is in the pinned comments! Sorry I didn’t mention that!
@@KenSelfPublishing It was my understanding that the only thing that can be updated is the book cover, not any inside content. I'm I wrong?
You cannot update your title or author; you can, however, update your book's manuscript. You can change the interior content as many times as you like. Simply upload a new manuscript. @@eiggy7126
At what part of manuscript can I add review link? Beginning, middle or at the end
I have only paperback,
Yeah you’re gonna need an ebook for these sites. I always recommend having an ebook for these options and it looks better when your book has multiple formats. Best selling book always have as many formats as possible, even if you only sell paperback
Thank you for the excellent information you are providing!
My books are appointment books, calendars, logbooks, etc. I haven't considered doing e-books because I don't think they could be properly used in this format. Am I missing something? Thanks again!
Do the reviewers actually buy the book?
If you select verified review, yes. They will purchase the ebook.
Is bookbite free?
No it’s a paid software but you can simply use it for a few months and then cancel your subscription if you don’t need it! There is also a free trial.
@@KenSelfPublishing thank you for your reply
Can i just pay to get reviews?
No, there isn’t really anywhere to do this, and it’s against Amazon TOS as your soliciting reviews and it’s not good.
Are you not worried about Amazon banning you for these services?
Not at the moment as they technically don’t go against any Amazon guidelines. But of course, do your own research and make sure it’s something you’re comfortable with! Things can also change aswell so I monitor it closely.
As I understood, Pubby or so..has a procedure in the triangle for reading the books and giving reviews. So, you do not directly relate to the reader giving you the review: you read John's book, Mary reads your book, and John reads Mary's book. It's fair and be sure that Amazon agrees with that. If not, thousands of reviews would be banned in the second number 2.
Some of the reviewers are really mean authors who want to knock your rating down. I just report them.
I agree it’s quite annoying. It should get better!