By Tammy Karasek @tickledpinktam

Recently, I was asked about an author’s use of the good reviews left in their Amazon account. Specifically, could an author copy and paste those reviews in their website, use to make social media graphics or any other type of promotional items. I paused. I had never thought of that or had the question asked.

I love to dig for information and correct information for sure. I decided I would go to Amazon to ask what they said about that. If you’ve ever tried to look for an answer on Amazon, you will understand my angst when I tell you it took me a couple of hours of digging to find what I wanted to see for myself.

I did have to go back and forth between legal websites regarding Intellectual Property and Copyright Infringement. Then go back to Amazon and look for words that they “might” have used to explain their stand on these reviews. Truth—it wasn’t that easy to decipher, at first.

[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none” inject=”#Writing #BRMCWC #Writinglife”]Amazon Reviews are Golden, Can an Author Use Them? by @tickledpinktam on @BRMCWC[/tweet_box]

One thing is for sure, in all of the sites and Amazon included, they did say you should not copy and paste a book reader/customer’s review to use on your social media or website for the promotion of your book without the permission of the reviewer.

It’s very clear, the original poster of that review is the Intellectual Property owner of that review. However, Amazon policy prohibits an author to use customer reviews for promotional and personal use, too. Furthermore, Amazon retains a “nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use customer reviews.”

Hang in there, though. With over fourteen years of book launch experience—I give it my best to follow the rule, if there’s a will, there’s a way! And by George, there’s a way … to use those reviews.

A suggestion I found on most of the legal sites I was digging through for information on copyright infringement was to use a small portion of a review, especially if a phrase seems common in more than one review. Let’s say a review said, “The book hooked me at page one. I was pulled in and couldn’t put it down. It had the right amount of romance and suspense. It kept my attention until the end. It was thrilling, riveting and gave me a breath when I needed it.” Then you find another review or two that might use the phrases: hooked me at page one, couldn’t put it down, kept my attention, thrilling and riveting. You could use those phrases within a graphic you create for your social media use as well as in your newsletter or on your website.

Another suggestion was to reach out to the reviewer for permission. While I feel this suggestion would be great, we authors do not have permission or even access to reach out to customers through Amazon. But, my suggestion as a launch manager … when you do your launch team application to form your team, add that as a question in your google application form. You could say something like: I give permission to AUTHOR to use all or part of my review wherever I may post them to use to promote their book. Then leave them Yes or No boxes to check. Then you have permission in writing should an issue arrive. And if you do have permission to use the review, ALWAYS give them credit when using the full review, such as: Robin Reader, Amazon Reviewer – Used with permission.

One more thing before I close up. I am consistently hearing of late from my launchers – “I was told I had to buy the book to leave a review, I need to be a Verified Purchaser.” This is so incorrect. It is right in Amazon’s Community Guidelines. All reviews are allowed whether you buy the book from them or elsewhere. A verified purchase holds the top spots in the list of reviews with its little ribbon. Your review will NOT be rejected if it is not a verified purchase.

The only way your review will be rejected is if it doesn’t meet the Community Guidelines. For my Launch Teams, I’ve created a Do and Don’t List for reviews to help folks keep those reviews within the guidelines. If they do get rejected, I ask them to send their review to me. More often than not, I can pick out the problem in seconds, email them back to change it and resubmit their review. The review is usually accepted within twenty minutes after the resubmission. Top two culprits I see a lot—the reviewer says they know the author or they gush over the author and their writing style, etc. The review is ONLY about the book, not the author.

With over 400 reviews over the last fourteen years, I’ve only had one book review rejected. It was a couple of years ago, I wrote a quick review and didn’t proof my review. I did the no-no of gushing over the author, or what they would consider gushing. Here’s what got me kicked out … This author has a way of making us hold our breath, start chewing our nails even though we never have before and keeps us up late to finish the book—and this book is another one of her books you can count on to deliver what you expect from her writing style.

I stand by my words about that book and that author. But I took it out and the review popped up on Amazon twenty minutes later.

Tammy Karasek uses humor and wit to bring joy and hope to every aspect in life. Her past, filled with bullying and criticism from family, drives her passion to encourage and inspire others and show them The Reason to smile. From down and defeated to living a “Tickled Pink” life, she believes there’s always a reason to giggle!

Tammy writes romance—with a splash of sass. Her book, Launch That Book, second edition, released December, 2025. She’s also published in several compilations: Sustaining Life’s Victories, The PAC Method for Writers, and Cool-inary Moments—A Divine Moments book. She’s also a regular writing team member for The Write Conversation, Blue Ridge Writer’s Conference Blog, The Write Editing and New Mercies Cafe.

Contact: https://www.tammykarasek.com.