I’m glad to see this. Fake reviews are a natural product of a climate where “Marketing” is everything, regardless of the quality of the work it promotes.
This is one of the reasons why I no longer ask readers to write reviews, but leave it up to them to do so if they wish. Then there’s no sense of a conflict-of-interest nor does a reader feel beholden to rave-review a book simply because it’s expected of them. This has long been a problem with Tripadvisor and other travel sites where hotels, etc., ask guests to write positive reviews to improve their site ratings. I find this to be totally unethical, and also very misleading for those travellers who do believe that what they are reading is truth about a place. I was asked to write a rave review like this by a proprietor I was helping at the time with promotion and social media, and I refused to do so on ethical grounds. That person no longer speaks to me. So be it. I have a conscience. He apparently doesn’t.
It’s about time. I work very hard to get readers to review my books, but always ask for genuine reviews. Because of this I have fewer reviews (my top seller has 9) but at least the reviewers were honest. I’ve only received one review that missed the mark. I wrote a novel that is a post-apocalyptic story with a spiritual bent, and a reviewer wrote that the novel was great when they skipped past all the spiritual stuff. Hilarious. Anyway, I’m glad Amazon is finally cracking down.
Certainly in the right direction as far as products are concerned as in many cases we are talking about health and safety especially for electrical goods or for children’s toys etc. With books it is more difficult as opinions will differ depending on people’s reading tastes and the author’s style.. one man’s poison etc. With Ebooks in particular you are going to need to really pull the wool over readers eyes to make a fortune by the time Amazon, tax and VAT man has his chunk and I think that after a handful of readers have bought a book based on glowing reviews and it is rubbish they are going to mention it.
I have heard, though not confirmed, that authors who leave reviews for other authors may be considered in a conflict of interest and their reviews will be pulled. Thus, you get a voice up to the point where you publish something, then Amazon decides you’re probably up to no good and that’s the end of it. This is probably a good thing in a few cases, but a bad thing in most cases. Most writers I know are also avid readers and probably the best persons to review other novels, because they’re aware of story structure, character arcs, and grammar.
It might help to have a legitimate but secondary pseudonym account to do all the reviews and orders.
This is a good thing I reckon. Although – whenever another writer reviews any of my books I always try and make sure to buy and review theirs too. I just hope that my reviews for books that I don’t know the authors of will show that I’m not doing anything dodgy. I have had offers of five star reviews from people who have no intention of actually reading my books, and I think that that sucks. I’d much rather have a genuine one star.
I’ve got an Ass**** review then. 😀 Thank you Chris! ❤ I love to read reviews. I've got a couple of non-fiction books for later on (Bwaa haaa haaaa!), so I've been researching a bit. There are loads of "internet marketers" posing as authors publishing outsourced books, and paying for fake reviews from sites like Freelancer and Fiverr. Gives us all a bad name, so if Amazon zaps them I'll be a happy bunny. 😀
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog 
Hear. Hear!
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I’m glad to see this. Fake reviews are a natural product of a climate where “Marketing” is everything, regardless of the quality of the work it promotes.
LikeLiked by 3 people
This is one of the reasons why I no longer ask readers to write reviews, but leave it up to them to do so if they wish. Then there’s no sense of a conflict-of-interest nor does a reader feel beholden to rave-review a book simply because it’s expected of them. This has long been a problem with Tripadvisor and other travel sites where hotels, etc., ask guests to write positive reviews to improve their site ratings. I find this to be totally unethical, and also very misleading for those travellers who do believe that what they are reading is truth about a place. I was asked to write a rave review like this by a proprietor I was helping at the time with promotion and social media, and I refused to do so on ethical grounds. That person no longer speaks to me. So be it. I have a conscience. He apparently doesn’t.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s about time. I work very hard to get readers to review my books, but always ask for genuine reviews. Because of this I have fewer reviews (my top seller has 9) but at least the reviewers were honest. I’ve only received one review that missed the mark. I wrote a novel that is a post-apocalyptic story with a spiritual bent, and a reviewer wrote that the novel was great when they skipped past all the spiritual stuff. Hilarious. Anyway, I’m glad Amazon is finally cracking down.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Certainly in the right direction as far as products are concerned as in many cases we are talking about health and safety especially for electrical goods or for children’s toys etc. With books it is more difficult as opinions will differ depending on people’s reading tastes and the author’s style.. one man’s poison etc. With Ebooks in particular you are going to need to really pull the wool over readers eyes to make a fortune by the time Amazon, tax and VAT man has his chunk and I think that after a handful of readers have bought a book based on glowing reviews and it is rubbish they are going to mention it.
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Reblogged this on Jo Robinson and commented:
Very pertinent topic for us scribblers right now. Weigh in with your opinion.
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Thanks Jo 😀
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It’s a step in the right direction…
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Let’s hope so Ali 😀
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I have heard, though not confirmed, that authors who leave reviews for other authors may be considered in a conflict of interest and their reviews will be pulled. Thus, you get a voice up to the point where you publish something, then Amazon decides you’re probably up to no good and that’s the end of it. This is probably a good thing in a few cases, but a bad thing in most cases. Most writers I know are also avid readers and probably the best persons to review other novels, because they’re aware of story structure, character arcs, and grammar.
It might help to have a legitimate but secondary pseudonym account to do all the reviews and orders.
Your name is your brand!
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This is a good thing I reckon. Although – whenever another writer reviews any of my books I always try and make sure to buy and review theirs too. I just hope that my reviews for books that I don’t know the authors of will show that I’m not doing anything dodgy. I have had offers of five star reviews from people who have no intention of actually reading my books, and I think that that sucks. I’d much rather have a genuine one star.
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Only a Troll or an Ass**** would give YOUR books a one star Jo 😀
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I’ve got an Ass**** review then. 😀 Thank you Chris! ❤ I love to read reviews. I've got a couple of non-fiction books for later on (Bwaa haaa haaaa!), so I've been researching a bit. There are loads of "internet marketers" posing as authors publishing outsourced books, and paying for fake reviews from sites like Freelancer and Fiverr. Gives us all a bad name, so if Amazon zaps them I'll be a happy bunny. 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people