Amazon Abuse? What would you do?

[Lila]

I'm trying to figure out how to handle this issue where I received an Amazon review on one of my books from an author who was trying to promote their own book.

I wrote a blog post about it here.
http://bit.ly/188dsr9

In summary, the author didn't read my book and promoted their own book in the review. I'm trying to come up with the best way to handle the situation. I reported the review as abuse to Amazon but it's not coming down. It was a four star review, so it's not hurting my rating but it made a comment about typos in my book that I feel was unfairly suggested - I actually have a very "clean" book and feel that might be potentially off-putting.

How would you handle this scenario? Would this be considered "abuse"? I feel this is definitely an author being dishonest.

[Michael]

Other than reporting it, there isn't a lot that you can do.

[Lori]

I read the review you are talking about, can you not just comment to the person who wrote the review? Find out if it was actually your book being reviewed?
I would be very annoyed myself and upset especially if you have no errors or very little at that, but you sad you are a stickler for that and you have none. So i'm thinking they reviewed the wrong book not paying attention to who the author was, or some one is prompting their book thru you and that's just wrong in my opinion. But what good does that do them?
I have gotten comments back on reviews I have wrote asking me questions so that's why I am wondering if you can go straight to the source of the review and ask. I don't no for sure its just a suggestion.

[Cherene]

I would contact the reviewer, in the most classy way possible, if possible. Ask them where they found these errors, etc.

Otherwise, I feel that, especially with authors being more connected with the internet, you're going to run into readers that are less than enjoyable often, and you sort of how to just grit your teeth against it. Usually I am only off put by a review if their are several in the same tone.

[Tammy K.]

I recommend that you quitely report any concerns about the review to amazon You can probably get the link to the other book removed from that review as it could be seen as advertisement and
then AND THIS IS IMPORTANT.
Take down all the inquires that you have about this review and links back to this review that you have posted here, on Amazon and on personal blogs.. Why? because if YOU are seen as harassing That Reviewer you can get into serious trouble with Amazon yourself.
If that reviewer can make a case to Amazon about you asking others or that you are 'implying' to others that you want them to place a 'not helpful' vote made against that review(er) and that you have provided a link asking others to view the link that you have provided and comment about it, than it can have negative impacts upon your seller status.
Amazon is clear about not asking for votes which means both the helpful votes and not helpful votes, in their review guidelines.
Speaking now here just in general:
How you handle a negative review can and does make an impact on future purchasers views of your material.
I have written several reviews on Amazon (I am not an author just an reader).
While most of the time my reviews are in line with my fellow reviewers occasionally I will hit a dud that makes me scratch my head and wonder about the other reviews(ers).
I post my reviews for the sake of fellow readers/purchasers not for the sake of any author.
I have had authors write back to me in the comment section of my review and make a case for me about the points that I made on the review. Like one author said he was sorry it was too graphic and yet maybe I would like a different title of his that was less graphic.
Another author once when back and forth four times with me talking and honestly asking me what I was trying to express. While it did not change my end review of the title it did impress me with the authors willingness to take criticism.
I have had two goodreads authors who have come at me hard because of 3 star reviews, one of which tried to get my review taken down. The other wrote her own review here on goodreads saying for a fair review to look at amazon (I was the highest rank reviewer of her book here on goodreads) but those were the exceptions not the rules. Most authors take a reviewers review for what it is, the opinion of that individual about their reading experience.
I make it a habit to look at the comments that have been made in amazon reviews. I want to see what is being said, by whom and how it is resolved and you can best believe me when I say I am a regular voter.
As no two readers are likely to have the same reading experience with any title, due to the personal experiences of those readers no two reviews should look the same.
Example: I have read hundreds of apocalyptic novels. I have my own set of standards for said novels. I have seen just about every kind of zombie, end of the world event imaginable. It is gonna take a lot to get a five star from me, but I do hand them out on occasions. Yet other readers/reviewers might be new to the genre so they may be handing five stars out like mardi gra necklaces.
Next, I have certain sensitivities on some issues due to my personal history. I recently read an interesting book but it had in it a cast member who was a polygamist, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not get myself to like the character who turned out to be a key character. This caused me to fail to bond to the whole lot of characters and provided continuous breaks in the follow of the plot as my mind kept arguing with that issue. So in short I did not like the book as much as I could have. It was written quite well but was simply not my cup of tea.
So back to your reviewer she gave you four stars. That is not bad.
In addition, it is not the reviewers responsibility to provide the typos for the author, that is the editor or beta readers jobs. My personal view on typos is that I am NOT a Spelling/grammar expert myself so I note the grammar issues based only on how much they interfere with the follow of the story. I know some readers have to have everything perfect, that says more about them then they might want to admit but most of the time (in most of the books that I read) there are at least a couple typos.
So When I see comments on typos it does not impact me if I see other reviews that fail to comment about the typos. So many books get updated by the authors that typos often get corrected over time.
As for any sexual content, personalty I am thankful when the author and or reviewers comment about any graphic sexual or graphically violent content.
You want your book to be read by the appropriate readers right?
There is far less trauma/drama when a book is read by its intended audience.
I will be honest and say that I have not read your book, And this warning about the hyper sexuality of the character, the abuse and rape is a guarantee that I will not read it... because it would be a trigger for me due to my life experiences.
And finally, do not let this get to you. It was a fair review (other then her link to the other book). She was within Amazons review guidelines.
I wish you much continued success in your writings.
Respectfully
Tammy