Amazon had changed their terms and conditions to ban incentivised reviews. Although Amazon state this doesn't apply to 'the age-old practice of providing advance review copies of books', most of the books offered for review were not advanced copies, and this feels like a grey area.

We have always stressed the need for honesty, but research found that incentivised reviews were, on average, half a star higher than others. Regrettably, that means we've closed our Review Copies section.

Unfortanately, this makes it even harder for unknown authors to get a foot in the door. For ideas to secure those first few reviews, see our forum post

Here's how we're going to help

- We will feature more books with low review counts, but only those that have valid links to editors, and professional covers.

Here's what you can do

- Run a short free promotion. This gets your book in front of lots of readers, who may choose to review your book but are not obliged to.

- Without targeting any specific individuals, use social media to remind readers of the importance of leaving reviews after reading books.

- Send advance review copies to readers before your book is published.