How to Set Up an Advance Review Team Step by Step

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As a first-time author you want sales, but a new book has no reviews, and sometimes the first one is a one-star review from someone who never read it. An advance review team fixes that. Here is how to set one up in a way Amazon accepts.

Why can’t I just ask friends and family?

When I published my first book, I asked friends and family to leave reviews. It seemed like a great idea. The only problem was that the reviews were taken away.

Amazon wants reviews to be organic and unbiased. The trouble is that organic reviews tend to lean negative. If people are happy with something they usually say nothing, but if they are unhappy they write a review. Some even use your book’s review area to complain about Amazon itself.

Reviews from friends and family are a problem for Amazon, especially when they come from the same internet connection as the author. Amazon sees the person who published the book and the person reviewing it on the same network, and it removes the review. For which other reviews break Amazon’s rules and how to answer bad ones, read what everybody ought to know about book reviews.

Can I swap reviews with other authors?

No. Amazon treats it as a review trade.

The next thing I was exposed to was swapping reviews with other authors, or having virtual assistants leave reviews. It seems reasonable: you read their book and they read yours. But Amazon has a serious problem with it. It looks like “I will give you a five-star review if you give me one”, and it creates strange patterns, with one person reviewing a puppy training book, then a science fiction novel, then a romance. Amazon does purge reviews, and authors have received warnings for review swapping. Do not do it.

Asking your email list for reviews helps a little, and so does asking at the end of your book. I cover both below.

You must never ask for five-star reviews. You can only ask for an honest review.

Can I ask readers for a review at the back of my book, and why don’t ARC readers leave reviews?

Yes, you can ask for a review at the back of your book, as long as it is a plain, honest request and you offer nothing in return. KDP’s rules rule out rewards and conditions, and they say a review given for anything other than a free or discounted copy is invalid.

Here is what the rules say:

• Allowed: a plain request such as “If you enjoyed this book, please leave an honest review on Amazon.” The FTC’s guidance says a business can make “generalized solicitations to purchasers to post reviews about their experiences” (FTC reviews rule Q&A).
• Allowed: a free or discounted copy, but only “as long as you do not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review” (KDP customer reviews help).
• Not allowed: a gift card or any other reward. KDP says “Offering anything other than a free or discounted copy of the book, including gift cards, will invalidate a review” (KDP customer reviews help).
• Not allowed: asking only for a positive review. The FTC allows incentives only when there is no requirement that a review “express a particular sentiment”, and it treats tying a reward to 5-star reviews as a violation (FTC reviews rule Q&A).

One related rule: KDP does not accept “requests for customer reviews” in the book description field (KDP title guidelines). Put your request inside the book, not in the description.

Why don’t ARC readers review? In my experience, most readers never act on a request. A free copy has already given them what they came for, and a review does nothing for them. That is why I invite readers who already review books, remind them on launch day and drop people who never review, as in the steps below. You cannot make it a condition of the free copy, so a quiet gap between downloads and reviews is normal.

How do I set up an advance review team?

Build an email list, invite readers to take a free early copy, pick readers who already review, remind them on launch day and keep the team fresh. Here are the five steps.

Step 1: Build an email list. You need to know who is interested in your book in the first place. People will give you their email address for something useful: a quick reference guide for a non-fiction book, or a short story or bonus chapter for a novel. This is a fair exchange.

Step 2: Invite readers to join the team. An advance review copy is a free copy of your book that readers get before it comes out (you can also do this for books you have already released). Tell them: “Here is a free copy of my book. Please do not share it. If you enjoy it, I would appreciate an honest review when the book is live.”

KDP’s help page on customer reviews says you may give free or discounted copies as long as you do not require a review in exchange, and that offering anything besides the free or discounted book, such as a gift card, invalidates the review, which the Amazon Community team will remove. So you cannot require a review, ask for a positive one, or give anything else in return. The rules change, so check that page from time to time.

Step 3: Choose the right people. Amazon sets rules on who is eligible to write reviews (see its community guidelines), so it helps to invite readers who already review books on Amazon. A reader who has reviewed other books is also much more likely to do it again. Ask who is interested, and tell them when the book launches.

Step 4: Give them time and a gentle reminder. Send the copy before launch day, then email again on release day with a link to the book’s page. A couple of weeks is plenty of time to read it.

Step 5: Keep the team fresh. Each time you release a new book, offer it to the team. Some readers will review every book, and some will not. You do not have to keep sending books to people who never review, and you can quietly remove them from the list. You should never pressure anyone.

This is standard practice, and it is probably the most effective way to get early reviews quickly without breaking Amazon’s rules. It all comes back to having an email list. If you have not started one, start now. MailerLite’s free plan covers up to 250 subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails (pricing page), and you can move your list later as it grows. I recommend MailerLite.

If you are looking for readers to give you feedback before launch, rather than reviews, see how to find beta readers.

How many ARC readers do I need, and how do I send them the book?

My advice is to start with 20 to 50 readers from your list. Many will not read the book or post a review, so a small team that does is worth more than a big one. This is my rule of thumb, not a figure from Amazon or KDP.

Send the file through a delivery service, not an email attachment. BookFunnel’s Certified Mail gives each reviewer a unique link, watermarks the EPUB to discourage piracy and tells you who downloaded. Its page says to use it only for vetted, engaged readers, and it needs a Mid-List Author plan or above.

Can someone steal the book? The US Copyright Office says your work is protected the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form.

When can they post? Amazon’s Community Guidelines say customers may not post a review before the product has been delivered to them, so readers can only post once the book is live.

Can I send ARCs if my ebook is in KDP Select?

My advice is to treat an ebook ARC as digital distribution and send it before you enroll. KDP’s enrollment page says that during the 90-day enrollment period the Kindle ebook can only be distributed through KDP and public libraries, and that you can still distribute print, video or other formats elsewhere. It also says enrollment renews automatically unless you turn off automatic renewal. The page does not mention review copies, so this is my reading, not KDP’s: an ebook file sent to an ARC reader while the book is enrolled is distribution outside KDP.

This part is my advice, not KDP’s:

• Send ebook ARCs first, and enroll once the ARC window has closed.
• Or send print copies to your ARC readers, which KDP’s page allows.
• If you want to send ebook files while enrolled, ask KDP support in writing first and keep the reply.

Why can’t my ARC readers post a review on Amazon?

The first thing I’d check is Amazon’s account rule. Amazon’s Community Guidelines say you must have spent $50 on Amazon.com, using a credit or debit card, in the past 12 months to create reviews, including star ratings. They also say customers may review free books (advanced reader copies) from authors or publishers, but the author can’t require a review or try to influence it. Other Amazon stores have their own pages.

A reader’s rating may not count either. Amazon’s page on customer reviews and ratings says it doesn’t consider ratings without Verified Purchase status in a product’s overall star rating until the customer adds text, an image or a video.

This part is my advice, not Amazon’s:

• Tell ARC readers in the invite that Amazon reviews need an account that meets Amazon’s rule, and can only go up once the book is live.
• Ask for a line or two, not only stars.
• Let readers who can’t post on Amazon review on Goodreads or their own channels.
• Never ask ARC readers to buy the book to get the Verified label. A condition on the free copy breaks the rule above.

What is a street team, and do I need one as well as ARC readers?

ARC readers read the book early and give an honest review. A street team shares the book around launch: posts, mentions to friends, pictures of the cover. Some people are on both lists, but the jobs are different.

As a first-time author, I don’t think you need a separate street team. A few readers who already like the book are enough, and they can do both jobs.

Two rules cover both groups. A team member who got a free copy should say so when they post about the book. The FTC says your connection to the company should be disclosed everywhere you endorse the product. And nobody can be asked for a positive review. The FTC says a business cannot suggest that reviews must be positive to get an incentive, and KDP allows free copies only as long as you do not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review. A “launch team” that agrees to post positive reviews breaks Amazon’s rules. Ask for honest ones. For more, see ethically getting reviews.

Are paid ARC sites like BookSirens, Booksprout, StoryOrigin and NetGalley worth the money?

They can be a fair way to find readers who review, but none of them promises reviews, and you can run your own team from an email list for free. Start with your list. Use a paid site only if you want readers beyond it and you accept that it is a cost with no guaranteed result.

Here is what each site’s own pricing page showed in October 2026:

Prices change, so check the page before you pay. These sites match you with readers, but a reader who gets a copy still has no duty to review it. As in the steps above, you cannot make a review a condition of the copy. KDP’s customer reviews page allows free copies “as long as you do not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review”, and says anything other than a free or discounted copy invalidates a review.

I have not tested these sites myself, so I cannot tell you what review rate to expect from them. If you do try one, treat the fee as the price of reaching new readers and keep inviting the readers on your own list too.

For more on reviews, see Ethically Get Reviews For Your Books and What To Do In Your Book Pre-launch Period. If you would like help launching your book with real reviews, book a free 25-minute discovery call with me.

What if a reviewer used AI to write their review?

Amazon’s Community team handles reviews that break its Community Guidelines. You report a review with the Report link under it, and for privacy reasons the team won’t share the outcome of its investigation (KDP Customer Reviews help). If the reader came through an ARC site, ask that site what its rules say.

What I would do, and this is my advice, not a rule: you can’t prove a review was written by AI, so don’t accuse the reader in public. Take that reader off your list for the next book instead. When you invite readers, ask for a review in their own words about what they liked or didn’t like. That tells them what you want without pushing them toward anything.

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