Too good to be true, or truly good??

[Shannon]

So I found this ad when scanning through facebook and wonder if anybody knows anything about this book review site. I'm not sure if they're reputable, or if it's a scam. The problem is, if you have to ask yourself if it's a scam...generally it's a scam in my experience. So, anybody know anything about them?
http://seriousreading.com/get-your-bo...

[Riley, Viking Extraordinaire]

If you are paying for a review, you're doing it wrong. All of these services are against Amazon and other stores terms of services, as it is against FCC rules to pay for anything other than an editorial review.
My advice, don't pay for reviews. It's harder to work and get the free ones, but at least then you aren't out $50 from a reviewer that just didn't like your work.

[Sevda]

Riley wrote: "If you are paying for a review, you're doing it wrong..."
Not that I would (I really don't have any income), but it's good to know.. thanks!

[Shannon]

I had no idea it was against the rules on amazon! LOL, publish seven stories and don't know what the rules are...good move, Shannon. 8-) I was just curious. I don't have the $$ to spend either. Thanks!

[Peter]

Hello,
This is Peter from SeriousReading , the site in question.

I would like to start by saying we are definitely not a scam (there are hundreds of authors interviews on our website anyone can confirm), and are definitely not providing services against Amazon TOS either.

The review is published on our website and, if wanted, can be used on Amazon as an editorial review by the author, as per their TOS. We never publish anything on Amazon ourselves.

As far as "being out of $50 from a reviewer that just didn't like your work" as I see it's been commented, this is incorrect. We only review books that we find to be worth a minimum of 3 out of 5 stars. Anything below that is rejected and the payment is refunded. Our intention is to recommend books to readers and can't do it otherwise.

Thank you,
Peter
SeriousReading

[Riley, Viking Extraordinaire]

Peter wrote: "Hello,
This is Peter from SeriousReading , the site in question.

I would like to start by saying we are definitely not a scam (there are hundreds of authors interviews on our website anyone can co..."

Always good to hear from people to offer services, it's nothing against your service perse, it's just we as a group advise all authors to look into any service before they use it.
As for your reviews being what they are, most authors are looking for a verified purchase review when they are searching for reviews, or think that is what they are getting when they purchase it. I'm happy to see you've included in your response that these are EDITORIAL reviews, and there is a difference.
I support you guys on your endeavor, and hope you become the next Kirkus!
And I stand firmly by my opinion that if I paid $50 for a review and received anything less than a 4 star glowing review, I would be pissed, which is why I don't pay for reviews.

[J.N.]

How do you assess your minimum requirement/quality beforehand?

[Peter]

J.N. wrote: "How do you assess your minimum requirement/quality beforehand?"

Hi J.N.
A beforehand assessment is done by checking the book and author history, their past reviews, and by giving a quick read to the first pages of the book.

Based on that we can tell the author within the first 24 hours if the book will be accepted or not.

However, the final assessment is done only after the entire read of the book. On some occasions this can change the result. This can especially happen on brand new books, from new authors.