Free books in exchange for a review
That is the phrase almost everybody searches, and it describes the version that gets reviews deleted. Three words are doing the damage: in exchange for. Take those out and the same arrangement is permitted, common, and how most indie books get their first readers.
See the free shelfWhy the wording is the whole thing
An exchange is a transaction. You give something, you get something, and each side is conditional on the other. Once a review is what you hand over to receive the book, that review was compensated, and compensated reviews come off.
A gift is not conditional. The author gives away the book, you read it, and whether you say anything afterwards is entirely yours to decide. Nothing about the file changes. What changes is whether anything was owed.
This is not a technicality that a clever terms page can route around. The condition either exists or it does not, and platforms that build a credit economy around review rates have built the condition into the product.
The two versions side by side
Same book, same reader, same review. Only the terms differ.
Gets removed
A review is a condition of getting the book
Permitted
The book is given with no condition attached
Gets removed
You lose access, credits or standing if you do not review
Permitted
Nothing happens either way, and nobody is counting
Gets removed
The platform tracks your review rate and gates books behind it
Permitted
You take what you want to read and that is the whole system
Gets removed
You are told what to mention, or asked to hold back if it is negative
Permitted
Nobody sees your review before it is posted, and critical ones are welcome
Gets removed
Money, gift cards or points redeemable for money change hands
Permitted
Nothing of value moves except the book file itself
What to check before you take a free book
Open the terms and look for one thing: whether a review is required, expected, or tracked. If the site counts how many books you reviewed and uses that number to decide what you can take next, the review is the price. That is the arrangement, no matter how the page phrases it.
The reader rarely pays for this. The author does. So the question is not really whether you will get in trouble, it is whether you want your review to be one of the ones that disappears and takes somebody's book with it.
How this site does it
Books sit on an open shelf. You take one, it is yours, and nothing is tracked. Four days later you get one email saying a review is welcome and that a critical one is just as useful. That is the only time anybody asks, and you can unsubscribe from it.
Frequently asked
So is getting a free book for a review against the rules?+
Getting a free book is not. Making the review the price of the book is. An author or publisher is explicitly allowed to hand out free or discounted copies, on the condition that they do not require a review in return and do not try to influence what it says.
Does it help if the site calls it something else?+
No. Reading slot, reader fee, participation credit, reading report: the label does not change the shape of the transaction. What gets evaluated is that value moved from an author to somebody who then reviewed that author's book.
What actually happens when it gets flagged?+
The reviews come off, usually all of them at once. If the account looks like the source rather than a participant, that account can go too. Authors are the ones who lose the listing and any pending royalties, which is why the framing matters more to them than to you.
Do I have to disclose that the book was free?+
Yes, if you post a review. A free copy is a material connection under the FTC endorsement guides. One sentence at the top of the review handles it. We wrote a separate page on exactly how to word it.
Will the review still count if it is not a Verified Purchase?+
It appears, and readers can read it, but it does not carry the verified badge because no purchase happened. Unverified reviews are weighed less and filtered harder. Nobody can promise you or an author otherwise.
Reading for free, not for pay
iWrity gives readers free copies from indie authors. No payment, no review required, nothing owed in return. Amazon bans paying for reviews, so we do not pay.
See the free shelf