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Fake reviewers on the attack on Amazon

I am wary of many of the reviews on book seller sites for this very reason. It's like all types of MLM nowadays are so pervasive - from the number of authors you get joining book reading forums to promote their books subtly (or obviously), to people posting health product reviews on health forums and similar. I have ulcerative colitis and am a member of a Facebook forum for that, and well, if we don't get fed up of different people joining for like 1/2 posts and then posting some link to some aloe vera super drink that they say can cure UC (rarely works and is very expensive).

One of the reasons I like this site in particular is that I've gotten to know people and trust their opinions on books, and share mine in equal matter. Generally we'll offer and share reasons for why we like books too - it's great stuff.

I think in many ways MLM marketing/individuals cheating the system will cause it to kind of implode on itself. But you're right, it is quite underhanded indeed. It's hard work to write a book - then to have someone trash it because it's competition :-( not cool.
 
I'm always leery of any review for an item that is 5 star and has way too much detail and filled with jargon or a one sentence review saying that the item is great and uses exclamation points.
For books reviews it's probably best to just read those by reputable reviewers and word of mouth by actual readers.
 
The Web really is an unruly place, with all sorts of guerillas roaming loose just to cause mischief. That just seems to be life in the electronic part of the universe. Too bad.
 
I hate when people give a one-star review for reasons other than the product's quality (especially since Amazon has discussion areas for all their goods). This happened to Stephen King's latest book since it wasn't released to Kindle. Granted, I'd probably be annoyed if I had a Kindle, but not to the point where I'd write a complaint in the form of a review.
 
I've noticed this a few times from Kindle users who feel they're entitled to the world and everything else on their device and get ratty when they don't get a book on the device... People nowadays are very impatient, and don't care to discuss anything it seems.
 
Wow, it doesn't surprise me though as we are dealing with a cut-throat business environment. On a related note, I've noticed that self-published authors who go through amazon will write their own "reviews.":innocent: When I see reviews for books, it's usually through a trusted source like the NYT or NPR.
 
Peder said:
The Web really is an unruly place, with all sorts of guerillas roaming loose just to cause mischief. That just seems to be life in the electronic part of the universe. Too bad.
Click to expand...

Its exactly the same as the rest of the universe.
 
As more and more of these strange schemes emerge, the entire review system will begin to break down. Which is sad, because Amazon does contain useful reviews. But, like everything else, one needs to wade through the garbage to find something of value. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of reviews for some single items (up to 1,000 in many cases) becomes overwhelming. In cases where an item has 30 5-star ratings and 2 1-star ratings, people probably click on the 1-star reviews just to see "how bad it can get" before buying. The 5-star reviews probably contain nothing interesting beyond praise (which may or may not end up being true). So trashing a rival book with 1-star ratings probably gives stronger results than padding one's own book with 5-star ratings. Human systems have this penchant for creating self-destructive loopholes.
 
Kenny Shovel said:
I never denied I was a monster, Peder. Never once.

K_S
Click to expand...

Hi, Kenny Monster :)
It has been a long time
Glad to see a friendly face return; hang a while. :flowers:
Hope all has been going well with you,
With sincerest best wishes for the coming year

Peder
 
I don't understand how writing a negative review for someone else's book will improve your sales. It is not as if someone will not read your book because they are reading this one other book. I just do not see the point to starting a smeer campaign against other books.
 
Banocanut said:
I don't understand how writing a negative review for someone else's book will improve your sales. It is not as if someone will not read your book because they are reading this one other book. I just do not see the point to starting a smeer campaign against other books.
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Speaking abstractly, of effects that might be too small to be of significance, degrading a competitor's book might lead to reduced share of market for his book and consequent increase of share of market for other books like one's own. An inverse to part of the Oprah discussion elsewhere.

But speaking more personally, I do look at both positive and negative reviews on Amazon to see what people's reactions have been and negative reviews (and positive) which seem reasonable and well-founded are given their weight.
 
Will said:
from the number of authors you get joining book reading forums to promote their books subtly (or obviously), to people posting health product reviews on health forums and similar
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Sorry, but I don’t think these things are similar in the slightest.
By now you’ve probably guessed I’m an amateur writer, and yes I have joined quite a few primarily reading based forums, why?
Well believe it or not, I read a lot, and like books ;)

As anyone who writes will tell you, it’s just part of their everyday life, so naturally I will occasionally make references to my writing, just as I generally routinely put links to my Blog etc in my signature.
I don’t see how this puts me in the same pool as people posting a couple of times on a health forum, and then putting up a blatant advert for supper-juce-3000!

I can’t see the harm of a signature link, and I probably couldn’t stop mentioning my writing unless I rigorously edited every post I wrote!
Most of my posts are pretty-much, stream-of-consciousness stuff… at best :)
 
I almost always disagree with reviewer's reviews anyways. I don't trust critics or reviews that give a one star. I mean there's almost always someone who will either like it, love it or hate it.
 
Of course.

One can only critique the writing style. Other than that, everyone's experience with a book is relevant to experiences of their life. Everyone reflects a book differently and therefore most reviews are irrelevant to others.

This is the beauty of books.

One who reads of a marriage that plummets and gives a one-star review may have never had a spouse - there was no relation to the feelings and therefore the reader was left unaffected and unattached.

A woman in a 20 year marriage reads the same book and gives a 5-star review.

Reviews should be limited to writing style and technique - sentence structure and use of imagery, etc.
 
I completely disagree. One can do much more than critique a writing style, in fact that may often be the last thing touched upon. Not everyone reads a book in relation to their experience in life. I read lots of Wodehouse for example, and I certainly don't draw comparison with any of those characters or situations, yet still find his books highly enjoyable.

Limiting reviewing of books to writing style and technique would be as to judge the beauty of a building by the machinery used to construct it.

You're reading Brave New World at the moment I see - whilst it's hardly a book lacking imagery, surely it's about ideas - and in its case those which might be engrained in civilisation(s) for millennia. It's about class, culture, freedom, ideals, bondage etc. yet you would review it on style of writing, sentence structure etc?

I have to admit, were I to read books in such a way, I would become quickly depressed.
 
You find his books enjoyable, that's grand. But read a book where the author grabs your emotions and toys with them because last week you met an autistic child who - only after reading this novel - changed your view of life. If you never met an autistic child, this novel would only be "enjoyable".

Reviews are bias. I will not come out of Brave New World with the same insights as you.
Therefore, our reviews will be different.
Therefore, neither of us will have constructed a perfect review.

And a building constructed with excellent and well-maintained machinery will prove to be an exquisite building, with the most modern form. So to judge a building from it's machinery would in turn, be rather accurate.

Only authors should write reviews of their own pieces. And even those are called Foreword's.
 
Your premise is flawed as it would depend on an almost scientific constant to define enjoyability. You state enjoyment of a book must be purely subjective, but who is to say that two people with completely different life experiences won't find a book enjoyable for many of the same reasons. Empathy for a character may arise from the human condition in general, not just because of some specific occurrence relating to a text.

Also - a foreword is generally written by someone other than the author. A preface is usually written by the primary author of the text however.

Everyone should review and give feedback on books, and quite possibly reviews may biased - that's no bad thing. It doesn't mean that it's useless. Your review of a Brave New World might be hugely insightful to me or others based on your description of the text and reason for it. For example - even though I disagree that texts should be primarily judged by their writing style and technique, it doesn't mean that I don't care to read your opinion on the matter. Nor does it mean that I wouldn't read a book you'd recommended because of that.
 
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