On Tuesday this week I was contacted by a friend on Twitter who told me that one of these 'fake' review sites had actually had the gall to copy and paste his review of my book Diamonds & Dust. I decided to re-post this, just in case some of you aren't aware that this scam goes on:
I am posting the above picture as it is evidence of a growing trend on social media. I'd noticed that my book promos were being retweeted by a Kindle tweeter I'd never heard of, so decided to investigate further. This is what I discovered (and yes, I have blocked them).
Before you go all shocked and horrified, bear in mind that like prostitutes, these people wouldn't be in business unless there was a demand for their services. Considerable numbers of writers must be using what they offer - and they are not the only company online - to boost their rankings and give the impression that their books are better written and more popular than they are.
It makes a mockery of Amazon's review feature, where any lay person can leave a review of something they have read. Enough has been written on many blogs, including mine, about the importance of reviews, especially to new or Indie writers who do not have the benefit of a marketing department behind them. To buy fake reviews not only undermines the writing process, but the reviewing one also.
I am becoming more and more convinced that the best and most effective way of selling your book comes from people interacting with you and posting stuff about you on Twitter. Here are a few examples so you can see what I mean:
Donella @DonellaMcNulty
@whatmeworry @carolJhedges ......Starting Carol's books soon......and just so you know I met her for real.....gorgeous lady x
Deborah Swift @swiftstory
Nice Interview with @carolJhedges about her great novel Diamonds & Dust - Dickensian, great atmosphere #recommend https://themitfordsociety.wordpress.com/tag/crooked-cat-publishing/ …
Derek Goldsmith @londondel · May 2
Just read Diamonds and Dust by Carol Hedges.Excellent read,loved it. On to Honour and Obey next. Recommend highly. Try it.
and my all time favourite:
Gloria Mc Breen
#blisstime Husband massaging my feet while I finish reading Honour & Obey by Carol Hedges. @carolJhedges - I didn't see that coming!
See what I mean? On Amazon, you may come across a writer with loads of 5 star reviews. But can you believe what you read? If you haven't heard of them, and on the evidence of what I have discovered, I'm not sure you always can. Is that 5 star review genuine, or bought?
On Twitter, one tweet can reach thousand of people very fast. And it is clearly genuine. I have seen people downloading my books on the basis of a chat or a tweet from an enthusiastic reader. If unscrupulous authors are going to buy fake reviews, I wonder whether this is the new way to go?
Love to have your view... ....
Coincidentally only heard about this a few days ago from a likely crap author who of course thought it was great. It makes a well penned, constructive negative comment all the more important. Bad will out in the end
ReplyDeleteI agree (see later comment) I take ages over reviews (why I don't do many) and write reams...
DeleteI am beginning to believe that getting reviews (bought or genuine) is not the reason we write. For a start, I love to write and when I'm writing, I'm not thinking of anything else. Whether people find, read and enjoy our books seems to be in the lap of the Gods, and I for one, cannot argue with that (or them!)
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm coming to agree with you, Anita. We're continually being told that writing is not going to make us a fortune, and I suspect for most of us, sales are relatively low whatever we do or don't do to encourage them. It's got to be about the writing first. Sometimes, I'm tempted to keep writing and do NO promotion for a while, to see what difference that makes - but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to do that.
DeleteI completely agree - and it makes the 5* reviews that we do get look like brown-nosing. One of my books has nothing but 5* reviews - and none of them paid for or written by my auntie. But I've no way to tell anyone that.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. I had not come across this before. I have been accused of manufacturing some of my 5 star reviews on Amazon (the phrase 'sock puppet' comes up in the USA - I had to ask what it meant). One reviewer said 'the best fiction book ever written', which was is over the top that I erased it, but this does indicate an authenticity issue.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.robinhawdon.com
You can always tell the fake 5 Stars..if they are 'mates' coz they are usually only 2 sentences long....if I review, I focus on: plot, characterization, style, narrative cohesion..ie...several paragraphs.
DeleteNot always. I have a few regular readers who just write one or two sentences, because writing reviews isn't their 'thing', but they want to put something on. The way you can tell them is if they've only reviewed that author's books. But even then it doesn't mean they haven't bought, read and enjoyed it. You focus on those things because you're a writer, not everyone knows about stuff like 'narrative cohesion', they just know if they liked the book or not.
DeleteI get those offers to buy reviews too. Sickening. And a writer friend I usually respect offered to post a review for my book if I sent him the review. I said I'd prefer it if he read it himself. He implied that many writers swap reviews having not read the books which I feel is almost worse than buying reviews!
ReplyDeleteI work hard to get reviews - both writing the book, promoting it, approaching bookbloggers, interacting with readers in facebook groups etc. I know all my own reviews are genuine. I hate to think that on other books which I might fancy buying, some of the reviews may have been bought or written by the author.
Do you think it might be more prevalent in the US?
I have had the 'I'll review yours if you review mine'' thing too. And refused. There is also the idea of tit for tat reviewing..which I don't do. Lost a couple of ''friends'' for posting less than glowing reviews. Tough.
DeleteI agreed to do a book swap with someone a few years back; he posted glowing reviews of my anthologies - I was unable to give him more than 3* for his - and that was being generous. It's not a mistake I would make again.
DeleteOh yes, it's a totally false situation. What a lot of people mean by 'a review swap' is 'you give my book 5* and I'll do the same for you'.
DeleteComfort yourself with the knowledge that anyone who has to resort to doing this is probably a crap writer anyway and won't ever sell many books - but I know, it means so much more than that. It's as bad as the fake review author groups that exist, in which they all agree to buy and 5* review each others' books, without reading them. Makes me furious, and, as you say, undermines the reviewing system. Not only that, though, it wastes the time and money of the reading public, and makes them think that all good Amazon reviews are fake. I have wasted money on books that were well reviewed in the past, though thankfully I have now wised up and look into reviews properly before I buy. Consider this tweeted to the offending parties; scams like these will always work because there are a lot of scumbag people around (and I'm talking about the people who buy them, as well as those who provide the service), but I wonder if it will eventually die out when all those rubbish writers who can't sell their books discover that buying these reviews doesn't make them a bestseller, either. We live in hope!
ReplyDeletewe do...but we also acknowledge that in this crowded market, there will always be people who will use unscrupulous methods to stand out from the crowd.
DeleteThe trouble is new writers set too much store on 5 star reviews. If I'm dithering about buying a book, I'm more likely to look at the 3 star reviews than the 5 star ones, you get a more realistic idea of what the book is about and whether it will appeal. Last week I read a review which said, "Plot OK but way too much sex" and I thought, "Yep, right up my street" - and downloaded it ;-)
ReplyDeleteHaha.... yes, adverse marketing ..love it!
DeleteLouise, you are so right. I read the bad reviews first (if any), then the 3* too. I only read the 5* if they're from what look to be properly considered, balanced ones.
DeleteSomebody called Kindle Review@TisaRase and Amazon Review@Selena Sigmund are retweeting my tweets about reviewing your book in October. On their page it says, Get awesome Amazon Reviews here!
ReplyDeleteBlock ...or it looks as if you (legit reader) are part of their (illigit) team. Nasty tactic!
DeleteBoth blocked.
DeleteThis might be a different thing than I tweeted you about. As I said on Twitter Carol, they favourite my Kindle tweets (I've blocked loads of those Bay Review accounts - so many different names but with the same website and brand). Here's one of the accounts https://twitter.com/AmazonReviews6 but I notice that their website no longer exists ...
ReplyDeleteWhen I originally read their website, the past tense and grammar was horrendous and I thought no-one would want a review based on that but maybe that's just me.
These problems occur regularly and upsetting for the blogging community as it does give us less credibility.
Thanks for sharing.
Shaz
I am really shocked at the unscrupulousness of some writers...mind, why am I? its like any profession, there are honest and dishonest individuals.
DeleteIn the end, it's one of those conscience things; if we know we've written the best book we can, if we know we haven't succumbed to 'following' and buying from these unscrupulous people, if (like Carol) we warn others and name them, then we've done the best we can. It doesn't matter if we only have few reviews as long as they are genuine. There are many different sources we can.try to bring our books to the reading public. I might be working against myself here (for my own novels) but I tend to look out for the genres I like - not how many 5*s they have. This is a great post, Carol, and I'll share it around as much as I can.
ReplyDeleteThanks Judith. Of course it is always the homset new writer, struggling to make some money, who will suffer as the dishonest pay for followers and reviews that will shoot them up the Amazon charts.
DeleteYou're so right, Carol - but the readers call the shots in the end - if they buy a book purely on the number of 5* - and (sorry about this) it's badly written - they won't buy the next book that author's writes. Good authors just have to hang on in there.
DeleteOh....I have so much to learn. I have only recently (last year) started giving my reviews on Amazon. They are no way professional reviews because I just don't know how to do a professional one. When I thoroughly enjoy a book, I want people to know how great it is and also let the author know that I read every word and absorbed every detail and please keep writing because you're brilliant. Also, I'm always afraid of saying too much in case I give the plot away! I have given 5star reviews to a book with bad spelling....but I really enjoyed it and think other people will too. Am I too generous giving 5 stars? Should I learn how to recognize when 4 stars is adequate. You see when I absolutely love the book, I think, "Oh I need to go on Amazon now to give this book 5 stars". If I think it was just good but not great, I'm inclined to not review it at all. And I wouldn't like to insult the author. Yes....I have a lot to learn. I like to read an indept review but I also take notice of simple reviews that I imagine are written by non professionals who just love a good read. I hope to write a non-fiction book in the near future and I would get no satisfaction what so ever by paying for reviews. And buy Twitter followers? I don't get that either. I'm really glad I clicked on this post Carol. (More learning for me)
ReplyDeleteGlad to help and glad it DID help. TBH any rating from 5 - 3 says this is OK..If I give a book a 3 star, I will always elaborate WHY IN MY OPINION AS ONE READER, I thought it just missed the top slot. The Caps are important. There are lots of genres that I personally wouldn't enjoy (horror, etc) but others do.
DeleteGosh! Golly! Really!!? Someone said to me recently that I live in a very innocent corner of the net. I am beginning to think they are right. I would never have imagined that someone could go into business doing this! What's the point of buying a fake review anyway? If someone hasn't read and enjoyed a book, but writes a fake review, they are just deceiving other readers - who will then write a damning review if they feel they've been deceived. It can only hurt the author in the long run and dupe the public. Nobody wins!
ReplyDeleteAgreed... thhe point is that it moves your book up the Amazon gebre list. So if I type in: Barges in Rotterdam, I get the ones with the highest rankings. If your book (which would be the BEST) hasn't got many top reviews, it won't comreup top of the list. People are lazy, they only look at the top 4/5. So you miss the sale.
DeleteOh, I see! What a scam!! I shall check my followers list and root out any evil branches!!
DeleteGreat post, Carol. I will look more closely at my followers in future.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm buying a book on Kindle, unless I KNOW it's one I definitely want to read, I always start with the free sample. That way, I can make up my mind for myself - you can certainly judge style etc in that short piece.
I thought Amazon reviews were more about the Amazon algorithms and visibility, rather than convincing readers directly these days?
They are..and that's why this is dangerous..in that it can move your book higher up the rank, and so insure you get more sales.
DeleteCrikey Carol, I had no idea this was being done so blatantly!! I haven't had any offers to buy reviews, I didn't realise it was a 'thing' but it's decidedly icky in my opinion. It comes across as cheating and I can't imagine those that take up these offers can feel at peace with themselves or their work so more fool them. Many thanks for highlighting the issue though, it's always best to be informed about the less scrupulous goings on in an industry.
ReplyDeleteI know that we have had differing views about the subject of reviews in the past. If a friend asks me to post up a review on their book then I know that the pressure is on for me to be kind, even though this debases the value of the review. I, as you know, don't post up reviews because I've always feared that the whole system was open to abuse. I'm disappointed to read that my fears were justified.
ReplyDeleteYes, you were right and I agree, it is a shame, but as several people have observed, good writing will out in the end.
DeleteCarol, Carol, you know how annoyed I get about all this, too. I think all we can do is keep outing them, and keep writing posts like this. My only hope is this (and I don't think it's an impossible dream!) - that the rubbish writers will realise that buying these reviews doesn't make their books sell, and give up. It won't happen overnight, but I can't believe this is anything more than a phase.
ReplyDeleteSince I've been using Twitter, ie 4 years, I've noticed many writers disappear. Those who, perhaps, found that it wasn't their thing after all (for the desire to do something doesn't necessarily provide the ability), and just packed it all in. Those who thought they were going to be the next big thing, and gave up with it didn't make them any money.
The best way of all to get great reviews is to write good books. People aren't stupid, they can read between the lines of the fake and the diplomatic, and there are plenty who do actually read some of them, rather than just look at the star rating. :)
what I have also found is a US writer (Derek someone) who has a series of blog posts about cheating the rankings by alternating freebies with bought reviews and using Kindle promos to get your book to the top. There is a whole unscrupulous business out there....all of it, as far as I can tell, US generated
DeleteReally? No, surely not...!!
DeleteThere are writers, and then there are internet racketeers... my husband says that we are something so different from the latter that we shouldn't even let it concern us. A bit like comparing proper music with audience, MTV and internet audience orientated bubblegum pop. I can see his point.