THE Group for Authors! discussion
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Are people allowed to randomly do this?
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I don't know, but I just joined your group.
message 3:
by
Kendra G. ツ ~There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for~
(new)
Oh- thank you :)
You're the mod, it's your group....delete it! :)(I don't know of any spam protection rules on GR. But you might want to add some qualifiers re author participation in your group rules.)
message 5:
by
Kendra G. ツ ~There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for~
(new)
I know. I will. I just want to know if this is allowed before I do.Good idea!
Author spam? (He hasn't claimed his author page, but he's one of the co-authors, I see.) If you don't want it in your group, delete it.ETA: If it gets to be a problem, I agree with Miss M - add some qualifiers about author posts in the group description.
As the mod, YOU make the rules for your own group and post them clearly so that everyone knows what they are allowed to do in your group. Then YOU delete any content that breaks the rules, and remove people as needed.Goodreads only moderates the official groups / areas, and those that break site-wide rules. They tend to not get involved in user-made group moderation unless there is a major issue or a person is causing trouble in multiple groups, because they leave the running of those groups up to the creators / moderators.
As moderator, you can remove it and you can remove author from your group.Goodreads has plenty of anti-spam and no-commercial-use phrasing in their TOS. They will remove it eventually if anyone, moderator or not, flags as spam and group/thread was not set up for promotional purposes (one of few exceptions where promotions and commercial activity permitted).
If you don't want to remove it yourself, you and other group members can flag the comment for being spam.
For good measure, make sure your group description or welcome thread plus at least first time posting comment for the group clearly state if and where promotions are permitted, if authors can recommend their own book (your group description mentions group members also recommend books) or nominate their own books for group activities, if there are any promotion threads they can use (some groups make that compromise -- set up a folder for promotions so members who are interested in can visit and members who are not aren't bothered by ...okay, maybe some of us have done that because the deluge of spam gets hard to manage without that).
Not familiar with what your group does but other groups have also had a problem with authors trying to game polls and votes -- some activities like book-of-the-month selection (or anything that might result in sales or reviews) in particular you need to be cautious of massive amounts of new members during the votes, particularly new members that only nominate/vote. Larger groups with activities reputed to be good for sales/reviews from top reviewers have even had to lock membership or even go "secret" during the voting process.
Your group, your rules unless outrageously violating goodreads TOS. May help to lurk through some groups and see some of their wordings, check over in moderator groups with other moderators, etc.
Happens all the time to me. My group is specifically geared to non-reciprocal reviews, yet people constantly ask for swaps, The delete key is there for a reason. At the moment, their book/name is still being advertised on your group. Beside the thread header is an 'edit' button. you'll be able to remove the whole thread from there.
Emma wrote: "Happens all the time to me. My group is specifically geared to non-reciprocal reviews, yet people constantly ask for swaps, The delete key is there for a reason. At the moment, their book/name is..."
If you do allow your group to have review exchange threads -- I'd make sure there's a reminder that on U.S. sites with consumer reviews they have to be disclosed, that they are not allowed on goodreads, and that for other sites the policy on review exchanges should be checked prior posting. There are a lot of author run sites and groups that will still accept exchange reviews; some retail and reader sites will and some won't..
Reviews written that are paid via a service (such as a return review -- however assigned or obtained even if not directly swapped) are illegal on all U.S. sites if posted in with consumer reviews (or even what looks like a consumer review) -- unless the "for a return review" service is disclosed. If the review swap also came with a free for review book rather than both authors buying each other's book -- that also has to be disclosed.
Goodreads does not allow review swaps any more. (i think they used to allow provided the return review, any free books, and any conditions of review exchange/assign/swap process were disclosed as required by federal consumer endorsement and fraud laws -- but, suspect the change in policy came because either there was some legal concern/issue or because it was so extremely rare for authors to disclose even the free-for-review book part of it much less the writing a review in order to get their book reviewed part. Some programs even publicly asked authors not to disclose return review or the free book ...)
Personally, I don't mind them provided they are up front about it in the review. I'm no more or less convinced reviewer actually read the book and is reviewing honestly if the Internet stranger reviewing is just a reader or also an author. Some authors will read and review more thoroughly, some will be easier on fellow authors, some will be harsher because spot quality issues, some will be honest no matter what that does to their return reviews/ratings or how the review swap program/group reacts, some will be gentle to avoid retaliation ... so long as I know it's a review for a return review (however that process is done) -- I'll just consider myself honestly informed and read review from the position that they were at least honest about it.
Personal opinion. Different sites have different policies. Amazon.com never permitted even though legal if disclosed; goodreads no longer does even if disclosed. Both sites have and say they will remove when discovered. I also personally boycott authors who don't disclose despite not minding review exchanges that are honest.
D A, you seem to pop up everywhere reviews are mentioned on goodreads. I applaud your single minded battle against reciprocal review swaps, but I don't think this was what the OP was asking about. I merely said my group also suffers from spam and posted about how to delete the whole thread to remove the unwanted advertising of the spammers book, which, BTW, is still up there.
message 12:
by
Kendra G. ツ ~There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for~
(new)
Thank you all. I will delete it in a moment, now that I know more about these things.
Emma wrote: "D A, you seem to pop up everywhere reviews are mentioned on goodreads. I applaud your single minded battle against reciprocal review swaps, but I don't think this was what the OP was asking about...."
I didn't mean to derail -- I was responding to Emma saying her group was specifically set up to not have review swaps and kept getting them anyway. Any and all of those can be flagged to goodreads. Those above-the-rules-because-it's-my-book spammers and review frauds don't usually stop with one group even if moderators remove their posts -- so flagging might be more effective before deleting them.
(Yes, I know, I too keep seeing existing and new groups that unlike Emma's are set up for that purpose even though goodreads doesn't permit -- plus authors frequently jumping in on threads offering to swap -- where it gets very frustrating to me because, while I don't mind the reviews that do disclose what they are supposed to, I do mind how much of what I've enjoyed about goodreads from both authors and readers being drowned out by fraud and promotional materials--frustrating seeing bookclub type of groups drowning in a glut of promotion attempts where many of my groups are less active. I've been thrilled ever since staff this year confirmed they no longer allow the swaps even though they used to allow if disclosing -- review-swapping-illegally-not-disclosing authors don't seem to be getting that yet.)
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