Sally Altass's Blog - Posts Tagged "breech-of-conditions"
When Reviewer's on Instagram aren't actually reviewers.
hen Reviewers On Instagram Aren’t Really Reviewers.
So, I’m new to the world of Self Publishing. Like, I submitted my book on Kindle Unlimited last week! So, when it comes to marketing my debut novel, I’m finding it something of a minefield. Especially on Instagram.
I posted a picture of my cover on all of my Social Media Platforms and then promptly forgot about most of them (mainly because I’ve turned notifications off). That was until one of my Facebook friends sent me a quick DM telling me that he’d tagged someone on my Insta and to check them out. Now, I was on a night out at the time, and the battery on my mobile was somewhat low, so I gave it a cursory glance and thanked him. I peeped on Insta when my husband popped off to the loo, and was gobsmacked. So many people commenting and asking me to contact certain accounts. One was even asking me to check my message requests. I was in a bit of a daze when I checked out their follower numbers, and began to wonder what on earth was happening. I’d had one review, at this point, from the lovely Immersed In Books, and was somewhat shocked at the interest I was getting from one Insta post.
So, later that night when I got home, I popped my phone on charge and began to scroll through the comments and messages. The account which asked me to check my requests had indeed messaged me, and had over 10,000 followers. They seemed interested in reviewing my book, so I replied and asked them to send their email address so that I could pop them over an e-Pub.
That’s when they replied that they charge. 20 USD for a review on Instagram.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m a Journalist. I write reviews for publications, for Reedsy Discovery, on Amazon, Goodreads and this very blog. However, I don’t charge, unless I’m commissioned by a publication for a review. And then, it’s the publication that would pay me a fixed fee. I would never dream of saying to authors ‘yeah, sure. Send me a copy of your book and then pay me for the privilege of sending it to me.’ That’s not an honest review; that’s paid marketing. And that’s something that I, and many other debut novelists can not afford. Not with the outlay of paying for typesetting, cover design, editing, illustrations and marketing on Amazon.
While I was naively waiting for the account to reply back with their email address, I started scrolling through their posts. There were a lot of them, and every single one had above a four star rating. I was a little bit confused, but then, when the reply came back asking for money, I realised what was going on. The authors were basically paying for a positive review. Which, if they’ve got the money to do it, good for them. But I want to do this honestly, on the merit of my work. Will I become a best selling author? I can dream, but I doubt it; purely because I’m skint. No, really. I care for my youngest child who is autistic, for which I have to be here 24/7 and get less than £70 a week to do so. My husband works nights as a stock take admin in a very famous clothes warehouse, and his pay isn’t a mega amount. I’m not complaining, I’m being honest.
Over the next few days, I started receiving similar comments on my Insta posts. “Send it to ______ 3m+”. “Promote it here!” “Send pic to these!”. All of the commenters were either private accounts, had no posts, or were purely promo hunters. I still messaged the accounts they suggested, just to see what they said.
One was strange. I messaged asking if they charged for reviews, and they replied with ‘rates’. I replied I couldn’t afford marketing at the moment, and they offered me cheaper ‘rates’.
Another one at least gave me a straight answer when I asked, with a simple ‘yes’, but still sent me a large amount of text telling me their ‘rates’. I had a quick scroll on both of these pages, and neither were really review sites, even though they stylised themselves as such. One even had a ‘Face of the Week’.
Like I said, this isn’t reviewing, it’s marketing – and by people who have no guarantees. I mean, I know there’s no guarantees with marketing and advertising; but when you advertise through an agency or organisation, you at least know you’re paying for a professional advert. You know that they are governed by strict advertising standards, and you know you’re going to get at least something for your money. These Instagram ‘reviewers’ offer no such standards. In essence, they’re being paid to post – sponsored for each person they ‘promote’. However, not on any single one of these posts is the hashtag AD. There is no mention of ‘paid partnerships’. Nothing. Two of the accounts even turn off comments on the posts – limiting the reach of the paid post. It’s kind of bewildering, slightly unethical and completely against the advertising standards on Instagram. Their accounts are misleading, claiming to be reviewers, but are actually marketing; and not following the marketing rules (#ad or #paidpartnership is noticeably absent).
Anyway.
I kind of wanted to post about these types of Social Media Accounts. They’re undermining genuine reviewers and violating so many rules. For all I know, it could be a scam – taking people’s money and then not providing the product or results they’ve actively promised. They’re certainly not being honest on their pages.
So, I suppose, this slightly longer than I expected it be, blog is finally over. But, I would love to know your thoughts on this strange world of Social Media ‘Martketeers/Reviewers’. Do you think they’re simply trying to make the most out the platform and are earning their way, or are they being dishonest about what they actually do when they get their, I don’t know, employees?minions? to comment on other people’s posts insisting that they can boost their sales/ratings/followers if you pay them the rate for posting a single picture? Let me know, below!
So, I’m new to the world of Self Publishing. Like, I submitted my book on Kindle Unlimited last week! So, when it comes to marketing my debut novel, I’m finding it something of a minefield. Especially on Instagram.
I posted a picture of my cover on all of my Social Media Platforms and then promptly forgot about most of them (mainly because I’ve turned notifications off). That was until one of my Facebook friends sent me a quick DM telling me that he’d tagged someone on my Insta and to check them out. Now, I was on a night out at the time, and the battery on my mobile was somewhat low, so I gave it a cursory glance and thanked him. I peeped on Insta when my husband popped off to the loo, and was gobsmacked. So many people commenting and asking me to contact certain accounts. One was even asking me to check my message requests. I was in a bit of a daze when I checked out their follower numbers, and began to wonder what on earth was happening. I’d had one review, at this point, from the lovely Immersed In Books, and was somewhat shocked at the interest I was getting from one Insta post.
So, later that night when I got home, I popped my phone on charge and began to scroll through the comments and messages. The account which asked me to check my requests had indeed messaged me, and had over 10,000 followers. They seemed interested in reviewing my book, so I replied and asked them to send their email address so that I could pop them over an e-Pub.
That’s when they replied that they charge. 20 USD for a review on Instagram.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m a Journalist. I write reviews for publications, for Reedsy Discovery, on Amazon, Goodreads and this very blog. However, I don’t charge, unless I’m commissioned by a publication for a review. And then, it’s the publication that would pay me a fixed fee. I would never dream of saying to authors ‘yeah, sure. Send me a copy of your book and then pay me for the privilege of sending it to me.’ That’s not an honest review; that’s paid marketing. And that’s something that I, and many other debut novelists can not afford. Not with the outlay of paying for typesetting, cover design, editing, illustrations and marketing on Amazon.
While I was naively waiting for the account to reply back with their email address, I started scrolling through their posts. There were a lot of them, and every single one had above a four star rating. I was a little bit confused, but then, when the reply came back asking for money, I realised what was going on. The authors were basically paying for a positive review. Which, if they’ve got the money to do it, good for them. But I want to do this honestly, on the merit of my work. Will I become a best selling author? I can dream, but I doubt it; purely because I’m skint. No, really. I care for my youngest child who is autistic, for which I have to be here 24/7 and get less than £70 a week to do so. My husband works nights as a stock take admin in a very famous clothes warehouse, and his pay isn’t a mega amount. I’m not complaining, I’m being honest.
Over the next few days, I started receiving similar comments on my Insta posts. “Send it to ______ 3m+”. “Promote it here!” “Send pic to these!”. All of the commenters were either private accounts, had no posts, or were purely promo hunters. I still messaged the accounts they suggested, just to see what they said.
One was strange. I messaged asking if they charged for reviews, and they replied with ‘rates’. I replied I couldn’t afford marketing at the moment, and they offered me cheaper ‘rates’.
Another one at least gave me a straight answer when I asked, with a simple ‘yes’, but still sent me a large amount of text telling me their ‘rates’. I had a quick scroll on both of these pages, and neither were really review sites, even though they stylised themselves as such. One even had a ‘Face of the Week’.
Like I said, this isn’t reviewing, it’s marketing – and by people who have no guarantees. I mean, I know there’s no guarantees with marketing and advertising; but when you advertise through an agency or organisation, you at least know you’re paying for a professional advert. You know that they are governed by strict advertising standards, and you know you’re going to get at least something for your money. These Instagram ‘reviewers’ offer no such standards. In essence, they’re being paid to post – sponsored for each person they ‘promote’. However, not on any single one of these posts is the hashtag AD. There is no mention of ‘paid partnerships’. Nothing. Two of the accounts even turn off comments on the posts – limiting the reach of the paid post. It’s kind of bewildering, slightly unethical and completely against the advertising standards on Instagram. Their accounts are misleading, claiming to be reviewers, but are actually marketing; and not following the marketing rules (#ad or #paidpartnership is noticeably absent).
Anyway.
I kind of wanted to post about these types of Social Media Accounts. They’re undermining genuine reviewers and violating so many rules. For all I know, it could be a scam – taking people’s money and then not providing the product or results they’ve actively promised. They’re certainly not being honest on their pages.
So, I suppose, this slightly longer than I expected it be, blog is finally over. But, I would love to know your thoughts on this strange world of Social Media ‘Martketeers/Reviewers’. Do you think they’re simply trying to make the most out the platform and are earning their way, or are they being dishonest about what they actually do when they get their, I don’t know, employees?minions? to comment on other people’s posts insisting that they can boost their sales/ratings/followers if you pay them the rate for posting a single picture? Let me know, below!
