Should I be scared?

[Lee]

How bad is this? I received an email from Amazon with the title NOTICE: Policy Warning. It says that I may have manipulated product reviews. Then it goes on to scare me some more about how I may have attempted to manipulate in exchange for compensation. It then gives the Customer Review Guidelines page for Authors. What is this?

I did notice last week that after my friends read my book and wrote reviews they passed it on to their husbands to read and write reviews. The husbands did (on their own computer - not their wives') and not only did their review not show up but my girlfriends' reviews were taken down.

I read from my book A LOT to civic organizations and private book clubs where I sell my books in my state. Then, luckily, people write a few reviews. Are they going to punish me for 1) having good reviews or 2) having concentrated zip codes making it look suspicious?

They have said if it continues, they MAY not publish my books.

HELP!

[Tara Woods Turner]

It seems the identical mailing address for your friends may have triggered the Zon bots, although this is just a guess. To be ont he safe side I would simply ask that friends with the same address limit the review to one per household.Be glad that at least you got a warning.

[Steven]

You just have to be more careful.

[Ben]

I mean, I don't know exactly how Amazon determines these things, but I had a similar experience with a friend's product. I posted a review and got an email saying it won't allow reviews of people related to the seller. How they knew I had a personal connection to the seller is completely beyond me. I posted the review from my home network, which I don't think he's every connected to himself. They've got something go on behind the scenes that is either extremely complex or not complex enough.

[G.G.]

Yeah I would agree with Tara. One per household. Computers in the same household have same IP addresses, or at least close enough to know it's same house. I don't think people in the same area would flag the reviews though. Or at least I'd hope not.

The thing is, it's not always the author's fault. You cannot always control the eagerness of other people. :( They mean well but are not always thinking straight. :(

[Tara Woods Turner]

To be completely honest I don't even see why friends and family are off limits. If you can only get them to review and they give you glowing five star reviews I still think other readers can see through that. Besides, most people don't have large families so what can those 3 or 4 reviews hurt? I also think family are the *last* people who want to bother lol.

[Carole]

I've read reviews where the person identifies themselves as the author's daughter or parent and for some reason the Amazon police don't take that down. I work hard to get reviews and they selectively take down what they feel is "related" to the author. I just got a notice from them because they said I failed to write that I was given a book for free to review it. Well, I bought the book. I buy all my books. They are too hard to read on a PDF and I'd rather support other authors that way. There is a certain sense of Big Brother that won't go away for me where they are concerned.

[Wally]

I think reviews are more important than networking. No, wait, I take that back. We need both and they are hard to come by. I have written reviews for several friends in my writing group. I always purchase, but Amazon has stopped taking reviews from me for these particular friends.

You just have to keep plugging away and sometimes a review pops up.

[Lee]

I give public appearances - a LOT of them - and read from my books. My area is pretty concentrated. I understand the same IP address, but I sure hope they don't punish me for many in the same zip code. Thanks, all.

[Lee]

Lee wrote: "I give public appearances - a LOT of them - and read from my books. My area is pretty concentrated. I understand the same IP address, but I sure hope they don't punish me for many in the same zip c..."

They are my bread and butter.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Moved to the Author Help folder.

[Carole]

Don't you advertise in blogs, give out free copies to reviewers, do giveaway. All these things cost money. It's an investment like any other business. All the time spent on inquires, trying to get noticed, takes away from other things. Time is money. As far as the office goes, I carry around books everywhere, the nail salon, drug store, hair salon, diner,the dentist, you name it. I give them out and ask for honest reviews.

[Christina]

Just an FYI: the Amazon review policy clearly states that product reviews by friends, family, anyone with a financial stake in the product may not review. It is doubtful that they will catch everyone, but just because someone else does it and gets away with it doesn't mean they don't have the right to uphold their rules. Remember, Amazon isn't creating these guidelines to hurt you, but to help you. The Federal Trade Commission has the last word on what is and is not allowed. If Amazon were to ignore federal regulation, we would lose a hell of a lot more than a handful of reviews.

[Gippy]

Christina wrote: "Just an FYI: the Amazon review policy clearly states that product reviews by friends, family, anyone with a financial stake in the product may not review. It is doubtful that they will catch everyo..."

Thank you for this information, Christina, because when I started out a few months ago, I watched tons of webinars and podcasts that encouraged new writers to start with family and friends. But then discovered that they obviously do not realize that Amazon doesn't accept that. I found it out the hard way too.