Group 272. General - Mod Kat

[J.P.]

Yup, still good. And you're welcome B.B.

[S.D.]

looks good to me.

Anyone reviewing me again, I have 2 more books in this mystery series and several middle grade books... to chose from

[E.M.]

J.E. wrote: "I’m good to go.

I guess we are found with I Can’t Sleep for my book for this round then. No worries!"

What Kat said :)

If you can link Amazon and GR pages where reviews can be left I can change the listing for you J.E. Until you are able to do that, I regret I can not.

[E.M.]

Still need to hear from Frank and J.P. - I am assuming Gill is clash-free as she is new :)

[J.E.]

E.M. wrote: "J.E. wrote: "I’m good to go.

I guess we are found with I Can’t Sleep for my book for this round then. No worries!"

What Kat said :)

If you can link Amazon and GR pages where reviews can be left..."

I posted the GR link already. I’ve hit the publish button on Amazon so I can pop the link in as soon as that clears.

[E.M.]

J.E. wrote: "E.M. wrote: "J.E. wrote: "I posted the GR link already. I’ve hit the publish button on Amazon so I can pop the link in as soon as that clears."

I am somehow very confident that will happen before this round is launched into its reading phase ;) Please post that link and remind me of the GR one, when it appears :)

[J.P.]

E.M. wrote: "Still need to hear from Frank and J.P. - I am assuming Gill is clash-free as she is new :)"

No, no E.M. Above you-message 51... ;)

[E.M.]

J.P. wrote: "E.M. wrote: "Still need to hear from Frank and J.P. - I am assuming Gill is clash-free as she is new :)"

No, no E.M. Above you-message 51... ;)"

*looks up* Doh! ;)

Just Frank then? Or am I missing someone else?

[Mary]

I'm confused. Yes, I have reviewed Frank Parker's books in two different previous rounds, and in a completely different round, he has reviewed me. I didn't think there was a problem with that.
I see I've been dropped from this round, although Frank has not. Obviously we could not review each other in this round. I thought by mentioning this straight away that we'd noted the clash.

[E.M.]

Mary wrote: "I'm confused. Yes, I have reviewed Frank Parker's books in two different previous rounds, and in a completely different round, he has reviewed me. I didn't think there was a problem with that.
I s..."

Mary - I am very happy to explain the reasons for my decision if you wish to PM me. The key one being I could not fit both you and Frank in the round together and you signed up after he did.

However, just to make it very clear to everyone, reciprocal reviews no matter where gained or given are not permitted. Once you have done one you can never review each other in these rounds again. It is a matter of integrity - you can not give a completely unbiased and thus honest review to someone who has reviewed your book and we exist to provide honest and unbiased reviews.

[Mary]

E.M. wrote: "Mary wrote: "I'm confused. Yes, I have reviewed Frank Parker's books in two different previous rounds, and in a completely different round, he has reviewed me. I didn't think there was a problem wi..."Thank you E.M., I honestly did not realize it extended to all rounds forever. Even without the clash with Frank, it would have been hard to fit me into this round. I probably do not fully appreciate just how complex this has become. I shall wait patiently for another opportunity. But this looks like a great list of books, so I'm sorry I cannot be part of it.

[J.E.]

J.E. wrote: "E.M. wrote: "J.E. wrote: "I’m good to go.

I guess we are found with I Can’t Sleep for my book for this round then. No worries!"

What Kat said :)

If you can link Amazon and GR pages where review..."

The Amazon link is https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B08T...

Goodreads is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Thanks!

[E.M.]

J.E. wrote: "J.E. wrote: "The Amazon link is https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B08T...

Goodreads is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Thanks!"

Done :)

[Frank]

E.M. wrote: "Welcome Gil.

Willow - sorry, I can't fit you in this round.

Frank and Mary - I am profoundly shocked to learn you have
knowingly
reviewed each other in these rounds and I am tempted to ban yo..."
Like Mary I did not realise this rule applied across all rounds and groups (including, apparently, genre specific groups which are listed separately).
I ought to add that Mary is not the only author who has reviewed one or more of my books whose books I have reviewed (in separate rounds).
Please accept my apologies to everyone.
It would seem the review groups are becoming much less popular, with just a small group of authors participating each time. This must make it difficult for the mods to avoid clashes.
I can confirm that I have not reviewed any of the four authors above me in the list. None of the authors on the list has reviewed any of my books here on Goodreads.

[Gill]

E.M. wrote: "Still need to hear from Frank and J.P. - I am assuming Gill is clash-free as she is new :)"

Yes, definitely clash-free. Gill

[B.B.]

Hi E.M it looks like J.P is good to go on post number 51 : )

[J.P.]

Holy... :)

[E.M.]

Mary - thank you for your gracious response.

Frank - It is often a problem sorting these rounds. If people were wise they would tell all their author friends and we could have more new authors in and more rounds :)

[E.M.]

Here we go...

START DATE: 20-Jan-21

END DATE: 14-April-21

Round 1 – post your review by 10-Feb-21
Round 2 – post your review by 03-March-21
Round 3– post your review by 24-March-21
Round 4 – post your review by 14-April-21

As AUTHORS you SEND your book file to:

272-01__Angela Panayotopulos
Audrey Driscoll for round 1
Gill Mather for round 2
B.B. James for round 3
Frank Parker for round 4

272-02__Nathan Milner
Angela Panayotopulos for round 1
Audrey Driscoll for round 2
Gill Mather for round 3
B.B. James for round 4

272-03__J.E. Rowney
Nathan Milner for round 1
Angela Panayotopulos for round 2
Audrey Driscoll for round 3
Gill Mather for round 4

272-04__ S.D. Brown
J.E. Rowney for round 1
Nathan Milner for round 2
Angela Panayotopulos for round 3
Audrey Driscoll for round 4

272-05__ Balroop Singh
S.D. Brown for round 1
J.E. Rowney for round 2
Nathan Milner for round 3
Angela Panayotopulos for round 4

272-06__ J.P. Willson
Balroop Singh for round 1
S.D. Brown for round 2
J.E. Rowney for round 3
Nathan Milner for round 4

272-07__ Frank Parker
J.P. Willson for round 1
Balroop Singh for round 2
S.D. Brown for round 3
J.E. Rowney for round 4

272-08__ B.B. James
Frank Parker for round 1
J.P. Willson for round 2
Balroop Singh for round 3
S.D. Brown for round 4

272-09__ Gill Mather
B.B. James for round 1
Frank Parker for round 2
J.P. Willson for round 3
Balroop Singh for round 4

272-10__ Audrey Driscoll
Gill Mather for round 1
B.B. James for round 2
Frank Parker for round 3
J.P. Willson for round 4

As REVIEWERS you will receive books for review from:

272-01__Angela Panayotopulos
Nathan Milner for round 1
J.E. Rowney for round 2
S.D. Brown for round 3
Balroop Singh for round 4

272-02__Nathan Milner
J.E. Rowney for round 1
S.D. Brown for round 2
Balroop Singh for round 3
J.P. Willson for round 4

272-03__J.E. Rowney
S.D. Brown for round 1
Balroop Singh for round 2
J.P. Willson for round 3
Frank Parker for round 4

272-04__ S.D. Brown
Balroop Singh for round 1
J.P. Willson for round 2
Frank Parker for round 3
B.B. James for round 4

272-05__ Balroop Singh
J.P. Willson for round 1
Frank Parker for round 2
B.B. James for round 3
Gill Mather for round 4

272-06__ J.P. Willson
Frank Parker for round 1
B.B. James for round 2
Gill Mather for round 3
Audrey Driscoll for round 4

272-07__ Frank Parker
B.B. James for round 1
Gill Mather for round 2
Audrey Driscoll for round 3
Angela Panayotopulos for round 4

272-08__ B.B. James
Gill Mather for round 1
Audrey Driscoll for round 2
Angela Panayotopulos for round 3
Nathan Milner for round 4

272-09__ Gill Mather
Audrey Driscoll for round 1
Angela Panayotopulos for round 2
Nathan Milner for round 3
J.E. Rowney for round 4

272-10__ Audrey Driscoll
Angela Panayotopulos for round 1
Nathan Milner for round 2
J.E. Rowney for round 3
S.D. Brown for round 4


Please remember the commitment you are making to your fellow group members. If you pull out after the start date for any reason it is the other members who will be faced with the problem of finding a replacement, or missing out on reads/reviews, through no fault of their own. Please don’t ask the moderators to chase after replacements as we just don’t have the time.

It is the responsibility of the author to get their book to their readers in a format the reviewer can manage. Everyone must be able to provide and accept PDF. You may buy or borrow the books you are due to read if you wish, and I’m sure the author will appreciate the verified review, but IT IS NOT COMPULSORY. There are no set dates for the start of each round. You can each work at your own pace, within the limits of the round deadlines.

All reviews must be posted to GR. We also encourage members to post on Amazon. When you have posted your reviews, please post the links to each of your reviews, not the book page in this thread.
The mod of each round will record whether members have posted reviews on Amazon and for the good of all, members who persistently fail to post reviews or DNF reviews to Amazon, will find mods less than willing to add them to subsequent groups.

Postings to other sites are by agreement by both author and reviewer.

If I’ve missed something that results in you being asked to review someone who has already reviewed you, please let me know asap.

To exchange book files, my advice is to use PM to give email addresses to each other (save the chance of spammers getting your addies from this open forum).

Setting up and modding these rounds is a labour of love, with a lot of emphasis on the ‘labour’. If you want to show appreciation for all the hard work we admins put in for the group, you could download one of our books as a ‘thank you’.

Happy reviewing, everyone :)

[E.M.]

Please read this especially if you are new to these review rounds.

Quick 'start-up' summary for anyone new who might be scratching their heads. You are reviewing the four books 'below' you on the list.

You can, of course, choose to buy any or all of the books or read the books on KU, if you are a subscriber and the books are available there. If you can buy it adds weight to your review as it gives the 'Verified Purchase' stamp on Amazon.

However, as not everyone can buy, you should PM the four people who will be reviewing you (the four above you on the original list of names) through their Goodreads author pages. Click on the down arrow beside the 'Follow Author' button under their picture and it opens a menu which will allow you to message them.

Ask what kind of file they would like or say you can only offer PDF, though unless a publisher uploaded it for you, you can always download a .mobi of your own book from Amazon.

Don't forget to ask where to send it so they can give you their email.

The four people who you are reviewing should be in touch with you in a similar way.

Please make sure you have exchanged ALL FOUR books - or have been assured by your reviewers they will buy your book or read it through KU - as soon as possible. Some people read fast and it can be very frustrating to have to wait a long time to get hold of a book you are committed to review.
Don't forget to post the links to your reviews here so you can be signed off for them.

Please post your review to Goodreads, your own Amazon store and any other Amazon stores you might have access to as well.

The wonderful Kat Kinney will be modding this round so PM her with any issues ongoing please.

[Gill]

Gill Mather

Really sorry but what does PM mean?
Plus, in the two lists, not sure if the headings in bold are meant to be the authors or the recipients:
e.g in 272-01 where Angela Panayotopulos is in bold at the top, is she the author on the first list so that those underneath are to be sent her book by her, or is she the recipient to be sent books by the 4 people underneath? I don't want to start sending my book to the wrong people.

[Angela]

Hi Gill, PM means "private message." Just go to a person's profile and select the option to send them a message in their inbox (you should see the option to do so beneath the person's profile pic, if you click on the downward-facing arrow next to "follow author")

The list can be confusing for first-timers, so here's how it applies specifically to you.

You SEND your book to:
B.B. James for round 1
Frank Parker for round 2
J.P. Willson for round 3
Balroop Singh for round 4

You will RECEIVE & REVIEW books from:
Audrey Driscoll for round 1
Angela Panayotopulos for round 2
Nathan Milner for round 3
J.E. Rowney for round 4

I'm answering for brevity's sake since right now I'm in a more eastern timezone and America's just waking up. :) EM/Kat, please correct me if I'm wrong about anything.

[Angela]

Also, B.B. James -- please advise. I don't see an option on your profile to send a personal message; is there a way this can be added or is there another way to contact you?

[S.D.]

I have put up Alabaster Alibi for free through Friday on Amazon,

I plan to purchase the books I have to review.

[Kat]

Good morning, everyone! 😊 BB, could you please turn your PM's on? It's a requirement for participation in these rounds that 8. Your Goodreads profile allows people to message you, i.e. your profile is not set to private.

Gill, Angela is spot on. You should contact each of the four authors you are supposed to send your book to and ask them what format they would prefer (you are only required to provide a PDF but many people have EPUBs or MOBI) and what email you should send it to. Some people may prefer to buy your book or read it through KU, which is lovely, but not required.

You should also make contact with the four authors whose book you are supposed to review (if they don't reach out to you) and give them your email address and preferred format.

Let me know if I can help with any more questions!

[B.B.]

Ok checking now

[B.B.]

Hi kat it working your end now?

[B.B.]

Ok guys my messages are coming through now : )

[Kat]

Nathan, SD, Frank and BB, all four of you failed to report clashes during the initial sign ups and also failed to report them during final checks.

Nathan and SD, you have both reviewed each other in the past. Because of this you need to always tell the moderators of your situation so that you can be scheduled into each other's blind spot.

BB, you did report that there was a conflict with SD in post 27, however neither of you reported that there was anything wrong with the tentative order when it was put up. Frank, there is also an additional unreported clash with you. You are set to review BB, but she has already reviewed you.

In all instances, both authors involved bear responsibility for not catching the clash. It's really important to check bookshelves rather than relying on memory. Reciprocal reviews are against the Zon TOS and can result in an account ban. We don't want this to happen to anyone and this is why we ask everyone to check so carefully at all stages of sign up.

SD, if we have you forfeit the review from Nathan, that would solve that clash.

BB, if we have you forfeit the reviews from Frank and SD, that would solve those clashes.

If this seems workable, we can move forward.

[Nathan]

Sorry, I remembered reviewing SD and mentioned that. I didn't recall SD reviewing me. I should have checked more carefully.

[J.E.]

I’m really surprised that people don’t know that review swapping - where you and another author review each other’s books - is against Amazon TOS. I had assumed these reading rounds were developed to enable groups of authors to exchange reviews in a way that avoids contravening the TOS and enables us to support each other without breaking the rules. I don’t want to take any risks that could lead to Amazon taking action against my account and I’m concerned that if authors are using these reading rounds to swap reviews with other authors that have also reviewed their books then Amazon will restrict or remove accounts. I’ve seen it reported so often by authors that it’s a real worry.

Knowingly swapping reviews with another author is always a terrible idea. Let’s be vigilant with checks on who’s reviewed us and who we have reviewed, keep each other’s accounts safe and carry on working within the group’s rules and Amazon TOS. The mods are doing a great job and we need to do our bit too. This group is awesome, let’s all work together to keep it that way. I appreciate all of you; and I write this comment with warmth and support for you and the future of our group in mind.

[B.B.]

That's all fine with me , Kat. And now that we've all been suitably wrapped over the knuckles by J.E may we get on with the Round. : )

[Kat]

All right, I've spoken with EM. Here's what we're going to do. SD, you will receive a credit on the one for one list. BB, you will receive two.

Nathan, you should not review SD's book. Review everyone else on your list.

Frank, you should not review BB's book. Review everyone else on your list.

SD, you should not review BB's book. Review everyone else on your list.

EM will be revising the sign up rules to address this situation going forward.

[J.E.]

B.B. - not a rapping, just a supportive reminder. I want each and every one of us to have a positive outcome from this group and indeed from our writing careers. Onwards! :)

[Balroop]

I hope all other groups stand as mentioned.
I have already read half of the book in Round -1
Please clarify.

[Kat]

Yes. All others proceed as before.

[S.D.]

I'm willing to forfeit... or leave if it solves things. I thought I checked everything. I apologize.

[Kat]

S.D. wrote: "I'm willing to forfeit... or leave if it solves things. I thought I checked everything. I apologize."

Hi SD. It will all work out if you leave off BB's book and Nathan leaves off yours. (Plus the other change I mentioned for BB/Frank.) You may claim a credit on the one for one list after completing the rest of your reviews. We'll all try to do better about checking clashes moving forward.

[S.D.]

Thanks, just wish they had a complete list to check the reviews we've written to date. I have a master list at home, but I'm in Arizona on business.

[Angela]

Kat, thank you for staying on top of all this and sorting it out so well and kindly. Glad we'll be continuing on with this group, looking forward to all the great reads. :)

[Kat]

S.D. wrote: "Thanks, just wish they had a complete list to check the reviews we've written to date. I have a master list at home, but I'm in Arizona on business."

Ooo, there is a complete list! 😊 Here's how to check.

1) Go to your Goodreads bookshelf (MY BOOKS) and in the search box, enter the name of every person who is participating in the round. Then you will know if you have read them before.

2) Open a tab for every author who is participating in the round. Go to their bookshelf (on their profile page, click where it says X REVIEWS) and in the search box, enter your name. Then you will know if they have read you in the past.

Hope this helps!

[J.P.]

S.D. wrote: "Thanks, just wish they had a complete list to check the reviews we've written to date. I have a master list at home, but I'm in Arizona on business."

All the reviews you've ever posted to Goodreads are on your author profile, fairly easy to check...

[Kat]

If anyone else has any more questions, please feel free to PM me and otherwise I think let's move on to some wonderful reads this round! 😊

[Frank]

Kat wrote: "All right, I've spoken with EM. Here's what we're going to do. SD, you will receive a credit on the one for one list. BB, you will receive two.

Nathan, you should not review SD's book. Review eve..."

I will review BB's book - but not post the review here. Instead it will appear on my blog. I have to say this rule is bs. In the world outside of Amazon, in the world of traditional publisihing, authors review each other's books all the time. Those reviews are published in all the quality newspapers and magazines. No-one sees anything wrong with that. In fact, praise from one's peers is valued in most walks of life. Why does Amazon dictate that self-and indie published authors are in some way immoral or unethical in doing so?
Why is a review by author 'A' deemed suspect simply because one of author 'A''s books was reviewed by the author of the book being reviewed 2 1/2 years ago? More suspect than a paid for review from an organisation like Kirkus?
I can easily see, now, why so many of my fellow self-published authors are distrustful of Goodreads. I will complete my obligations to authors under this round but this is the last time I will participate in this charade.

[Frank]

And the irony of all this is that Amazon are constantly pestering me to post reviews of the books I purchase there!

[S.D.]

J.P. wrote: "S.D. wrote: "Thanks, just wish they had a complete list to check the reviews we've written to date. I have a master list at home, but I'm in Arizona on business."

All the reviews you've ever poste..."

Thank for the advice, but only about 8 of the reviews I've written appear on my page.

[Kat]

Hi Frank. I hear what you are saying. However, I have no control over their TOS. I am only trying to prevent anyone getting caught up in it. Thank you for completing your obligation to this round. Please feel free to contact me via PM if I can help with any more questions.

[Kat]

S.D. wrote: "Thank for the advice, but only about 8 of the reviews I've written appear on my page."

When I click on your profile, it lists 65 reviews for me? I know that you write under multiple pseudonyms/accounts, which I'm sure must make it tricky with an extra step you need to check each and every time.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

[Angela]

My Review #1 for Nathan's AN ELEGANT LOOP:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-...

[Nathan]

Thanks for the review, Angela.