How to Review a Book on Amazon: Author Rules (2026)

To review a book on Amazon, you need an Amazon account with at least $50 in purchases over the prior 12 months. Once you clear that bar, you can review any book that has officially released — you do not have to have bought it on Amazon, though only Amazon purchases earn the Verified Purchase badge. You can leave a star rating on its own, but writing a review requires adding text.

If you are an author, the rules get stricter: you cannot review your own book, and Amazon penalizes self-reviews. People in your household and close friends and family cannot leave customer reviews on your book either. And you cannot copy reviews from other sites or emails into the Customer Reviews section. This guide walks through the author rules, the common traps, and the red flags that get reviews removed.

The $50 Purchase Requirement

Amazon requires reviewers to have spent at least $50 on the site in the prior 12 months before they can leave a review. This is an anti-fake-review measure — it makes it expensive to spin up throwaway accounts just to plant reviews. If a reader tells you they cannot leave a review on your book, this is usually why. There is no workaround; they need to be a genuine customer first.

You Do Not Have to Buy the Book on Amazon

Here is the part that surprises people: you can review a book you did not buy on Amazon. Read it through Kindle Unlimited, borrowed it from a friend, bought it at a local bookstore — you can still leave a review. The difference is the badge: only reviews of books purchased on Amazon get the Verified Purchase badge. An unverified review still counts and still shows up; it just does not carry the badge.

Star Ratings vs. Written Reviews

You can leave a star rating alone, without writing a single word — Amazon lets you rate a book with just the stars. But to publish a written review, you have to add text. For authors, this matters: a silent five-star rating helps your average, but it does not give future readers any reason to buy. Both count, but they do different jobs.

Timing: Reviews Open at Release

Readers cannot review a book until it has officially released on Amazon. Pre-order customers can leave their reviews once the book goes live — the when-can-I-review-a-pre-order question comes up constantly, and the answer is after release day, not before. Reviews submitted early get held or rejected.

The Self-Review Ban

You cannot review your own book. Amazon’s systems look for self-reviews and penalize them — this is not a gray area or a just-don’t-get-caught situation. It is a clear policy violation, and getting caught can affect your book’s standing, not just the review.

Household, Friends, and Family Cannot Review Either

The ban extends outward: people in your household and close friends and family cannot leave customer reviews on your book. Amazon’s detection here is aggressive — shared addresses, shared devices, shared payment methods, and social connections all feed into it. Even a genuine, honest review from your spouse will get flagged. Do not ask, do not hint, and do not forget to mention the connection.

No Copying Reviews From Elsewhere

You cannot copy reviews from other sites, emails, or messages into the Customer Reviews section. Each review has to be written natively on Amazon. If a reader emails you a lovely review, you cannot paste it into Amazon on their behalf — they need to write it themselves on the site.

Other Authors Can Review (With Conditions)

Another author may review your book — authors are readers too — as long as there is no personal relationship or quid pro quo. A genuine review from a fellow author you do not know is fine. A review swap, where you five-star theirs if they five-star yours, is not. The line is the relationship and the exchange, not the job title.

Red Flags: What Gets Reviews Removed

These are the policy traps that cost authors their reviews. Read them twice:

• Incentivized reviews are prohibited. Paying for reviews, or giving out free books in exchange for positive reviews, violates policy. Handing someone a free book with no strings attached and hoping for an honest review is the line — requiring positivity crosses it.
• Amazon can retroactively remove reviews. Reviews that passed at first can be re-flagged and removed later when Amazon’s systems catch up. A review that is live today is not guaranteed to stay live.
• Fake paid reviews violate FTC endorsement rules. This is the one with teeth beyond Amazon: reviewers who were paid for endorsements without disclosure can face FTC fines. It is not just a platform policy — it is federal law.

The Safe Playbook for Authors

So what should you actually do? Build a real readership, make it easy for genuine readers to leave honest reviews — a polite ask at the end of the book is fine — never pay for or require positive reviews, and keep your friends and family out of your review section. Slow, honest reviews beat a burst of fake ones that get purged, and the purge usually takes the book’s credibility with it.

Amazon’s book review rules boil down to one principle: reviews must come from real, independent customers. The $50 bar, the self-review ban, the household rule, and the bans on copied and incentivized reviews all serve that principle. Play it straight — ask genuine readers, never pay for positivity, keep your circle out of it — and the reviews you earn will actually stick around.