Reviews - Amazon is doing what?
It has recently come to my attention that Amazon is removing reviews for books written by authors (LA TIMES LINK). Apparently, they consider us all to be competing with each other - which we are in a way. I don't believe it's an unfriendly way for the most part, and this is going a little overboard. There are a lot of people who post reviews for books under false names or pseudonyms, and are trashing people's work for personal reasons without ever reading the book. I know for a fact this happens. But, overall, the majority of reviews can be read by the viewer, and honestly, they can tell who has read the book and hasn't. There's also the gusher reviews that can be known to be true or false once the book is read.
I'm an author and I do book reviews. I even have my own review site: http://varietyreviews.wordpress.com
As of right now, I haven't noticed any of my Amazon reviews being removed, but I wouldn't be shocked if they started to disappear. Regardless, I'll still be reviewing on my site and posting my reviews on Amazon (as long as I can), and on GoodReads. If/when I notice my reviews are not being posted on Amazon, I will discontinue to try to publish them there. *shrug*
One of the things that I really don't like about all this is, being an author and editor, I can tell you more about a book than someone who doesn't have any idea about editing, plot, etc. I design my reviews to be informative and helpful for the writer and the possible reader. Heck, I'm not even bias! I've given a friend of mine (a fellow writer) a three star review because their book was poorly edited. Since then, the book has been reedited and I'm sure it's in much better shape. I'm not say that was because of me, but if people leave HONEST reviews and not back-scratching bullshit the writer and future readers can benefit.
Besides that, most readers don't take the time to review. Being an author, I understand the importance of a review. Most, even diehard, fans won't take the time to write a review and post it. They'll just wait silently for the next book while the author thinks no one likes their book.
Here's a previous post I did on book reviewing and how to make them count: http://blog.rebeccabesser.com/2012/08/31/reviews---how-to-make-them-count.aspx
I'm hoping this doesn't go full blown with Amazon, because most of the reviews on the site will go missing. Authors care more about reviews and reviewing than most other people. Where would we be without each other? I guess if Amazon has its way, we'll find out.
Copyrights owned by Rebecca Besser, 2012. All rights reserved.
I'm an author and I do book reviews. I even have my own review site: http://varietyreviews.wordpress.com
As of right now, I haven't noticed any of my Amazon reviews being removed, but I wouldn't be shocked if they started to disappear. Regardless, I'll still be reviewing on my site and posting my reviews on Amazon (as long as I can), and on GoodReads. If/when I notice my reviews are not being posted on Amazon, I will discontinue to try to publish them there. *shrug*
One of the things that I really don't like about all this is, being an author and editor, I can tell you more about a book than someone who doesn't have any idea about editing, plot, etc. I design my reviews to be informative and helpful for the writer and the possible reader. Heck, I'm not even bias! I've given a friend of mine (a fellow writer) a three star review because their book was poorly edited. Since then, the book has been reedited and I'm sure it's in much better shape. I'm not say that was because of me, but if people leave HONEST reviews and not back-scratching bullshit the writer and future readers can benefit.
Besides that, most readers don't take the time to review. Being an author, I understand the importance of a review. Most, even diehard, fans won't take the time to write a review and post it. They'll just wait silently for the next book while the author thinks no one likes their book.
Here's a previous post I did on book reviewing and how to make them count: http://blog.rebeccabesser.com/2012/08/31/reviews---how-to-make-them-count.aspx
I'm hoping this doesn't go full blown with Amazon, because most of the reviews on the site will go missing. Authors care more about reviews and reviewing than most other people. Where would we be without each other? I guess if Amazon has its way, we'll find out.
Copyrights owned by Rebecca Besser, 2012. All rights reserved.
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