How To Post A Customer Book Review On Amazon

One tip I received to help promote my book from the book How To Sell Your Book On Amazon and my publisher, Outskirts Press, was to write customer reviews on Amazon. I had no idea how to do this but worked my way through and now have done 188 customer reviews! After asking people to write a customer review after reading my book, My Funny Dad, Harry, I discovered that most people had no idea how to do this so that is why I'm writing this post.

First, you have to open an account if you don't already have one. This is a bit of an inconvenience, but doesn't take too long. You have to actually order something from Amazon in order to post customer reviews (that's why it's called "customer" reviews). You could start by ordering the book I wrote: My Funny Dad, Harry or any other. (Just a word of caution here. You can order used books cheaper but should check out the feedback about the seller first. I got burned on this once when I ordered a used book and never received it but was out my money.) Once you have an account, posting reviews is quick and easy.

2. Type the title of the book you wish to review in the search box and do the search.

3. Click on the book title and it will take you to what is called the "Detail Page" which contains more information about the book. If you scroll down, you can even see the Amazon statistics about its rank and any editorial reviews.

4. Click on the small print right under the book title that says "customer reviews."

5. That opens a screen that shows all the reviews that have been posted and has a button that says "create your own." Click on that and then just answer if you're over 13, rate the book, fill in a title for your review and then write it.

6. At the bottom of the review box is an option to put in tags, several are usually listed that have been previously used that you can just click on to insert). Click on "preview" and you'll see how it will look when published. From here you can either edit it or hit "publish" and be done. It sometimes posts the same day but can take up to two days.

Here is a video I made demonstrating how to do it.  Please excuse the shakiness--it's not easy using a Flip camera while typing:


Why not give it a try and brighten an author's day by posting a good review? There are 21 so far for My Funny Dad, Harry. If you have read and liked my book, I'd love for you to post a customer review of it on Amazon if you get a chance.

To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here.
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Now That's A Tool I Can Use! Thanks, Dad!

My dad’s favorite stores were any hardware store. He had lots and lots of tools in the garage, the basement, the back porch, his dining room, his bedroom and even his living room! While my mom was still alive, he kept them in the garage or the basement but after she died, they made their way into various rooms of the house. His tools were very important to him because they were not cheap and he loved working with them. He even bought tools from catalogs and ordered one the week he died which I returned because I didn’t even know what it was for. He obviously planned on living longer.

Unfortunately, there weren’t too many of his tools that I would have a use for or a place for. Most I didn’t even know how to use! I wish I was blogging back then because I would have taken more pictures of things, but I didn’t even know what a blog was back in 1997. Ever hear that saying if only “I knew then what I know now”? The few tools I did take were a few C-clamps, a couple lights that have clamps, picture hangers, his bubble level (for the pool table), the snake to clear clogged drains (although I don’t know where it is) and a big roll of duct tape. We also kept the lawn mower—is that considered a tool? I offered the others to my brother-in-law and my nephews and sold the rest.

The best tool I kept though is the duct tape. I never knew how wonderful it works and how easy it is to use until I took his. I can actually fix things now too! Check out my post, “Duct Tape To The Rescue In 5 Ways” to see five uses I’ve found for it. If you read the comments, readers mentioned even more. Every house should have a roll of duct tape!

Do you have a house full of tools? What tools do you use?

To find out more about my book and why I wrote it, read the Foreword here.
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5 Products My Dad Used In His Old Age (Writer's Workshop)

Five products my dad used were a weekly pill box, a magnifying glass, a grabber gadget, a very cool walker and a wheelchair that his favorite cat, Blackie, liked riding on.

Weekly Pill Box --This kept him organized enough to take his pills. He had quite a few to keep track of and with his memory going, sometimes he couldn't remember if he took his pill or not. Don't laugh, I've had this on occasion too. He would put them all in the three weekly pill boxes he used--morning, noon, evening. It was a good system that worked for him.

Magnifying Glass--Since Harry didn't go to the Optometrist regularly, he couldn't see very well so he used a magnifying glass all the time. I must admit, however, that his instructions that came with his diabetes gadget and his watch and clocks had such tiny print that even I couldn't read them without a magnifying Glass. When I was showing him how to use the computer, he needed a magnifying Glass to read everything unless it was 14pt or bigger! He even had a special one for reading books or the paper. It was flat on one side and curved on the other and about 8 inches long so he could just slide it right down the page. Why spend money on eyeglasses when he could see just fine with his magnifying glasses.

Don't Ever Go On A Plane! (Writer's Workshop)

Harry was always very cautious. He never liked to drive fast so would avoid the Interstate highways if he could and always said that planes were dangerous. He was not only fearful of flying but felt like no one else should ever fly anywhere either. He always pointed out the plane crashes saying "See, planes are dangerous!" Although I would tell him that there are more car accidents than plane crashes, he was not persuaded that planes were safe and stuck to his belief that people shouldn't fly.

When my sister went on a plane to Hawaii, my dad was very nervous about her flying and told me to NEVER go on a plane. Since I had no plans or inclination to go traveling anywhere, it didn't bother me. I thought I would spare him the worry and not fly during his lifetime and just said okay.

A Glowing Book Review of "My Funny Dad, Harry" From MyTop Commenter of 2009

Yesterday morning when I checked me email there was a Google Alert which I followed to Jude's blog at Mature But Not Senile and found the following review of "My Funny Dad, Harry" which I have re-posted here with her permission. Thanks so much, Jude! I really appreciate it and am so glad to hear you enjoyed the book, sad parts and all.

I received Karen Zemek’s book My Funny Dad, Harry in February, but have only just finished due to other things going on in my life. I simply didn’t have time to read it all in one or two settings. The book itself is a collection of Karen’s memories and things she wrote about in her journals of her life with her Dad, Harry and Mom, Lenore. I met Karen through the Internet and enjoy reading her blogs.