How to Get Reviews for Your Self-Published Book

A book with no reviews does not look new to a browsing reader. It looks avoided. We list over a thousand books on Skriuwer, and the ones that stall are almost never the badly written ones. They are the ones nobody vouched for yet.

Here are the six routes that actually produce reviews, what each one costs in money and in weeks, and which one works when you are starting from nothing.

The six routes

Your own reader list
Free, slow
The most reliable source of reviews you will ever have, and the one nobody has on launch day. Every review you collect from a mailing list you built yourself is worth ten from a stranger. If you are starting from zero subscribers, this route helps your third book, not your first.
Advance copies to genre readers
Free to cheap
Send the book out before release to readers who already finish books in your genre. Response rates are low. Plan on ten copies out for every review that comes back, and give readers at least three weeks.
Reader communities and hashtags
Free, high effort
Bookstagram and BookTok readers do post reviews, but they pick the books. Cold pitching gets ignored. Being present in the community for months before you ask is what makes this work.
Personal outreach to bloggers
Free, very slow
One email at a time to reviewers who cover your subject. Expect a five percent reply rate and a queue of several months. Worth it for the long review that you can quote forever.
Paid review services
€100 and up per review
Editorial review services charge per book and deliver one review. It reads well on a sales page. It does nothing for the number under your cover on Amazon, and the price is hard to justify before your book earns anything.
A points-based review platform
Free if you read
Platforms like iWrity match indie authors with readers who give an honest read. You read and review other people's books, that earns points, and points get your own book in front of readers. This is the only route on this list where an author with no list, no budget, and no following can start today.

The free route, step by step

Four approved reviews on iWrity earns you a month of Pro, with no card at any point.

1
Make a free account
No card. The free plan lets you browse the library and review, which is all you need for this.
2
Pick four books you would actually read
The library covers most genres. You keep the book. Reviews get checked for real engagement with the text, so skimming does not pass.
3
Write four honest reviews
Each approved review pays at least 1,300 points. Honest means honest. A three-star review that says why is worth more to the author than a vague five.
4
Your fourth approval unlocks the month
One month of Pro on the house, your own book goes up, and you keep every point you earned on the way. The month ends by itself, so there is nothing to cancel.

reviews to unlock

5,200+

points you keep

no card needed

Authors set their own bounties, currently between 1,000 and 3,800 points per review. Four reviews of your own book therefore costs roughly what four reviews of someone else's earns you. If you would rather not wait for the fourth approval, 5,000 points also redeems a month of Pro directly, which is the route the pricing page describes.

What not to do

✕
Buy reviews. Amazon detects the sellers, not just the reviews, and the account it removes is yours.
✕
Ask family. Linked accounts and shared addresses get flagged, and the review disappears along with your credibility.
✕
Chase five stars. A book with nothing but perfect scores reads as manufactured. Mixed honest reviews sell better than a wall of praise.

Questions authors ask

How many reviews does a new book actually need?

The visible jump for most indie titles comes somewhere between the first and the tenth review. Under three reviews, browsers treat a book as untested. The exact number that matters less than the pattern: a few detailed reviews beat a pile of one-liners.

Is it against Amazon's rules to trade reviews?

Amazon prohibits reviews that were paid for or given in exchange for a review of your own book. That is why the reviews on a platform like iWrity are written on the platform, by readers who chose the book, and are checked for genuine engagement. Treat any service promising guaranteed five-star Amazon reviews as a way to lose your account.

What does iWrity cost if I do not want to review anything?

Pro is $19 a month and lets you list up to three books. Reviewing four books from the library earns your first month instead, which is the point of the offer: you see whether the place works before you pay for it.

Do reviews from outside the United States count?

Books from non-US marketplaces are subsidized on iWrity, so a UK, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Canadian, or Australian edition is more likely to get picked up than it would be on a US-weighted platform. Pickup speed still depends on how many readers are active in your genre that week.

How long does the whole thing take?

Four books at a normal reading pace is two to three weeks. Approval is not instant, so budget a few days after your fourth review before the month lands.

Start with one book

Pick something from the library you would have read anyway. Four of them and your own book goes up free.

Browse the iWrity library

Skriuwer and iWrity are run by the same team, so treat this as a recommendation from people with a stake in it. The routes above that cost nothing and involve neither site are listed first for a reason.