Amazon rejected my NG review!

[A]

Claimed because I didn't buy the book from them my review was rejected. Yes, I put a clear disclaimer it was based on NG ARC received in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion. Yes, I've posted over 200 NG reviews in the past using the same disclaimer. Clicked on a link that said only Amazon Vine reviews will be accepted on books provided for free. Wth? This got me researching their Vine program. You have to be "invited" by them to be able to receive Vine ARCs/write reviews? Double wth? And it looks pretty impossible to wrangle that invitation! Dug a little deeper...and discovered Amazon owns Goodreads! Triple wth? Oh, they own several sites similar to GRs, as well. Since I write a lot of reviews and have a 100% success rate of posting on each book's release date (thanks to a spreadsheet), I put a lot of thought/effort into my reviews. Yeah, I'm stubborn, so I'll try re-submitting this one again. But I did notice the few reviews posted were verified as Amazon Vine reviews...so I'm nervous. Does this mean they bought Goodreads just so they could prevent our reviews from being posted on Amazon? At least that's what I'm wondering outloud. I read an article that claimed there is a chance Amazon might have done this to control GRs reviews because they are sometimes negative....and author's have complained they can be too harsh.

What is your thoughts on this? Is it even happening to your GRs reviews?

[Dee]

That's news to me - tge not being able to review if you didn't buy from them. I have a review I can post as a test

Amazon owning Goodreads was pretty well publicized

[Carrie]

I just posted a review this morning and it worked fine for me and I've posted over 200 reviews there without a problem. The only review I had that took a while to go through I had used a couple of words that might have been flagged or something due to the nature of the book but even that ended up approved.

[Emma]

The only ones i've had rejected included swear words. Whoops!

[Dee]

If it was just released today (which it looks like it was), there might be a delay in the switch from pre-release vine only reviews to all reviews

[A]

It took "4" tries but my review was finally accepted. What is weird is I got emails with different reasons why my review was rejected. 1st one said because I wasn't an Amazon Vine reviewer. That's why I immediately posted on here. The others just listed vague tips.

I posted 3 other reviews today and they went through. I'm just glad you don't have to be a Vine reviewer to still post.

[Dee]

like i said above, pre-release reviews on amazon, you have to be a vine reviewer to post; since the book was released today, it probably just means the system hadn't caught up with the release date yet which was why it was telling you, you had to be a vine reviewer

[Amber]

Sounds like a system error.

[A]

Dee wrote: "like i said above, pre-release reviews on amazon, you have to be a vine reviewer to post; since the book was released today, it probably just means the system hadn't caught up with the release date..."

I think you were right, Dee. It took lots of attempts but it finally got approved.

[Helen]

So far I have not had a problem posting my reviews on Amazon as long as the book has been published. The spreadsheet is a great idea for remembering to post at release date. thanks for the suggestion!

[Penmouse]

I put the html review link on my calendar. My calendar faithfully reminds me of when to post my review.

[Megalion]

Is there any point in trying to become an Amazon Vine reviewer? Whatever that is....

I've only made a point to cross post one of my reviews so far but I only just got started last Thursday on NG.

[Penmouse]

Vine members get to test and post reviews before non-Viners. Selection to join the Vine program is a mystery but Amazon states Vine reviewers have gained the respect of the Amazon community based on their good reviews.

Yes, getting an invite to the Vine program is worth it.

[Megalion]

Nice! Well at some point, I shall endeavor to cross post my 1k plus reviews into there. Maybe it'll get some "helpful" love. ;)

[Penmouse]

Good luck! One of things I think Amazon is looking for is a reviewer who gets a lot of positive votes. The reason why I write this is I posted a review that received about 25 votes overnight. Within a couple weeks I was invited to join the Vine program. Can't say that's what did it but it makes me wonder.

[Megalion]

Nice! What was it of?

[Penmouse]

A book review about Aspergers Syndrome.