When you vote on Amazon reviews, you’re “up-voting.”

I was reminded of this recently when a discussion group member and prolific Amazon reviewer wondered why more people don’t do it.

She wondered if authors think it isn’t allowed by the great and powerful ‘zon.

Why authors don’t vote yes or no

Most authors responded one of four ways:

1. They never noticed that question at the end of a review
2. They do it all the time
3. They didn’t think they were allowed to up- or down-vote one of their own reviews with a “yes” or “no” response
4. They didn’t know if they could or couldn’t vote on reviews on their own books, but they’re so terrified of getting kicked off the retail site that they stay as far away from reader reviews of their books as possible

There was a significant amount of back-and-forth in the discussion about whether Amazon allows authors to vote “yes” or “no” on reviews of their own books.

Those who said it is allowed used as proof the fact that they do it, and their books are still sold there.

Those who said it isn’t allowed linked to Amazon’s terms of service, which don’t directly address this specific question, but do say that manipulating reviews is banned. That is close enough to “no” for many.

The definitive answer

But still . . . in spite of what they said, nobody in the discussion really knew for sure if they could vote on Amazon reviews of their books.

So I asked Amazon if authors could vote “yes” and “no” on reviews of their own books.

The answer is “yes.”

Here’s the message I got from Amazon:

“You may vote on any review.”

There you have it.

Why you should vote on Amazon reviews

So vote, because you can. Vote early, vote often.

There are three reasons why you want to vote on reviews of your own books as well as those that helped you make a decision about whether to read someone else’s book.

1. Reviewers want you to.

As already noted, “yes” votes help prolific reviewers move up in rank on Amazon’s list of top reviewers.

There’s no tangible benefit for the reviewer — they do all of this voluntarily, after all — but a higher ranking is validation that their reviews are valued by site customers. Who doesn’t want to feel valued?

(For more on this, read the post on this site, “Book review: How to Get Good Reviews on Amazon.”)

2. It shows that readers are paying attention to your book.

Visitor engagement with reviews suggests activity and momentum. It shows that there’s traffic on the page.

Does that mean that a page with no review votes is bad for your book? No. It’s more that any activity is better than no activity. But the fact that there’s no interaction with reviews isn’t going to crush your book.

3. It might help readers make a decision.

You know what “groupthink” is, right? In short, it’s conformity.

It’s similar to what happens when I’m looking at a menu with too many choices. I get so overwhelmed (heaven forbid I should select something that tastes bad . . . ) that I ask my companion, “What are you getting?” That’s often what I order.

It works that way with review votes, too. If a reader review does a nice job of making a case for reading a book and several people have declared that review helpful, it gives others the courage to take a chance and buy it.

It also works the other way around. If many found the specifics in a one-star review helpful, those noticing the review and the votes might decide to move along without making a purchase.

So vote “yes” . . . or “no”

Consider adding up- and down-voting to your regular Amazon browsing routine for one simple reason: It’s a nice thing to do for reviewers.

They want you to do it because it’s good for them. And, it takes no effort to show that support.

After all, just as they need your books to review, you need their reviews for your books. Do your part in this symbiotic relationship.

Do you vote on reviews on Amazon? Why or why not?