What Should You Do First Once Your Book Is Live on Amazon? Reviews, Then Ads

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When your book goes live on Amazon, get reviews first. I tell authors that when the first review is up, they start Amazon ads, and that they keep working on reviews alongside the ads from then on. This post covers why that order, why written reviews count for more than a bare star rating, and how to ask for reviews without breaking Amazon’s rules.

Why do I start with reviews and not ads?

A book page with no reviews is a hard page to buy from. An ad does not fix that. It only sends more shoppers to the same page. So I get the first review in place, then switch the ads on.

That order is mine. It is not an Amazon requirement. KDP’s help page on Amazon Ads (checked 13-Nov-26) lets you choose Sponsored Products ads, which appear among search results and on other book pages, or Sponsored Brands, and you set your own budget. It does not mention a review count.

The methods and numbers for the ads themselves are in my post on Amazon ads for authors. Ad settings, prices and Amazon’s screens change, so check any figure there against Amazon’s pages on the day you start.

Do written reviews matter more than star ratings?

Yes. I tell authors to go after written reviews. Fiction needs this most. A reader deciding whether to try a novel wants someone else saying it is worth reading, and a bare star rating does not say that.

Amazon lets customers leave a star rating with no text, so some readers will only give stars (Amazon Community Guidelines, checked 13-Nov-26). You cannot make them write more. You can ask nicely, at the right moment, which is the next section.

Who do I ask for reviews?

The people who take your free gift. If your free gift is a short guide or checklist that earns you an email address, ask those readers to leave a review once they have read your book. They already chose to hear from you, so they are the readers most likely to say yes. My post on the lead magnet page in your book shows how that list gets built.

I keep asking after the first review lands. Reviews bring more sales, and more sales bring more reviews, so the work does not stop when the ads start.

What does Amazon allow when I ask?

Read the rules before you send the first email. Two Amazon pages cover this, both checked 13-Nov-26.

• Free and discounted copies are fine. KDP lets you hand out free or cheap copies of your book. You may not make a review the price of the copy, and you may not nudge what it says (KDP customer reviews help).
• Nothing else counts as a thank you. Add a gift card, or anything else on top of the copy, and KDP treats the review as invalid. Amazon takes it down. Amazon’s Community Guidelines list payments, refunds, discounts, products, gift cards and services as compensation a reviewer may not take for a review.
• Honest means honest. The guidelines ask for your sincere opinion whether it is positive or negative. So do not write “please leave five stars”.
• Friends are out. Amazon’s guidelines bar customers from reviewing books by authors they know personally.

One more point, and this one is my reading, not Amazon’s wording. If you only ask the readers you expect to love the book, you are steering the reviews. I ask everyone who took the gift in the same words.

My longer post on getting reviews without risking your account goes through what Amazon and the FTC say about paid and swapped reviews.

What next?

If your book is live and the reviews or the ads are not moving it, book a free 25-minute discovery call. Bring your book page and we can go through it on the call.

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