Amazon’s Review Policy: Sock Puppets not Wanted

According to the New York Times (12/23/2012), you do not have to read a book on their Web site in order to review that book.  A spokesman for Amazon said,  ”We do not require people to have experienced the product in order to review.”

This means that anybody who wants to read my new zombie book Sanctuary in Steel, or has added it to their TBR list, can post a review like, “I’m looking forward to reading Sanctuary in Steel,” and Amazon will not delete the review.

However, sock puppets are discouraged.  A sock puppet is a false identity created by a person in order to deceive.  Apparently writers like Stephen Leather and John Locke created sock puppets in order to post positive reviews of their books under phony names.

Personally, I see nothing wrong with authors posting reviews of their own books.  After all, no less a writer than the French author of The Human Comedy Honore de Balzac used to do it all the time.

I have recently posted on Amazon a review of my new zombie apocalypse thriller Sanctuary in Steel. Amazon published it.  As of this moment, my review is still posted on Amazon.  Of course, there’s no chicanery involved.  I signed the review with my own name.  If I had used a sock puppet, maybe Amazon would have deleted the review.  The problem with using my own name on the review is that nobody will pay much attention to it, thinking it biased.  A sock puppet’s review would carry more weight with visitors to my book’s Amazon page.

But sock puppets aren’t allowed on Amazon anymore.