I am fairly new to this industry so I am learning on the fly as I go. The first thing I was told you have to get reviews. I understand this philosophy because I am an avid reader. I read about three books a week and I hate to spend my hard-earned money on junk.
I want to know that the book I am purchasing is a complete story with a beginning, a middle, and a conclusive ending. I hate when I invest my time only to find out this is just the beginning of the story and you have to purchase the next three books to get the whole story.
This is where the reviews become so important to me. I want someone to give me a heads up and say this is only part of the story. If the author or the publishing house does not clearly state that the book is a continuation then it makes me angry and I don’t read that author again.
I have also learned to go on a book tour if you want reviews from people unsolicited. I made the mistake of giving a review for a book in order to receive the next book for free. Big mistake the publishing house now sends me lots of books and not necessarily in my genre and I have to unsubscribe to something I didn’t subscribe to because they are bombarding my email. Now lots of publishing houses mysteriously have my email. I want to review a book because I really enjoyed. I also question how honest are the reviews if people are trying to get something free from it. The one and only time I did it I know it tainted my review but I guess the publishing house is betting on that.
I stand behind the books I write. Is it for everyone? No. It is for people who love a good contemporary love story with content besides sex. Yes, it has sex because sex is part of a loving relationship, but it also has a story of overcoming life struggles in one form or another.
The hard part about reviews is they are spread all over the board. People leave reviews from the place the purchased the book and on Goodreads. I am from Canada and if you purchase my books in the United States you can’t see the reviews from Amazon.ca on Amazon.com. Sad really because I could have lots of good reviews but you will never see it.
Be very careful of companies that claim to give you reviews or travel on site like Amazon because I have been taken twice by companies like that. You give them a reviewer’s copy and you never get what they promise.
It is so hard to sell a book. I know I am a grain of sand in a beach. I just want people to read my books so I can continue to write them. I know I am never going to be a millionaire by writing books, there is just too much competition. I would love to get discovered but the likelihood of it happening is slim to none. So, I do what I love and pray that someone somehow finds my books and reads them and loves them enough to write a review.
Everyone keeps telling me reviews are so important to sell books. As a reader I agree, but as an author my experience and sales tell me differently. First and foremost, they have find your book, that is by far the hardest part. If I ever discover the magical recipe to get noticed when you are an independent author without a huge advertising budget. I will let you know. I might have written the best book you have ever read but without exposure it lost in cyber space.
Reviews are important because of the validation that it gives the author for your books content and is greatly appreciated but I would also love some validation in sales.
Anne Marie Citro grew born and raised in the greater Toronto area of Ontario, Canada. She grew up in a large, loving family. Anne Marie is married to a very patient man. He is the love of her life. They have four very cool sons, and the girls they brought into their family that have become daughters of her heart. She has been blessed enough to finally have a beautiful granddaughter after four sons. She has her own personal gaggle of girlfriends, who enrich her life on a daily basis and make her laugh. Caesar Friday is her favorite day of the week. Caesars with the girls and date night with her hubby. She works with special-needs teenagers, that have taught her how to appreciate life and see it through gentler eyes.
Anne Marie was encouraged by her husband to follow her lifelong dream to write. She loves the characters that take over imagination and haunts her dreams. She loves the arts and she has tried her hand at painting, wood sculpting, chainsaw carving, wood burning, metal and wire sculptures. Yes, her husband is a very patient man! Anne Marie is an avid reader and enjoys about three books per week. But nothing makes her happier then riding on the back of her husband's Harley and throwing her arms out and feeling the wind race by. Anne Marie and her husband take a few weeks every year to travel to spectacular destination around the world. Anne Marie is excited and can't wait to see what the next chapter holds for her life.
Q. Are authors allowed to review another author's book?
A. Yes. We very much welcome Customer Reviews from authors. However, if the
author reviewing the book has a personal relationship with the author of the
book they are reviewing, or was involved in the book's creation process (i.e.
as a co-author, editor, illustrator, etc.), that author is not eligible to
write a Customer Review for that book.
Authors can't review books of people they know. How does Amazon verify that? They don't, they
just pull a review if one of their trolls report it.
Q. Can I post a Customer Review on behalf of someone else?
A. No. Customer Reviews are meant to provide customers with feedback from
fellow shoppers. For this reason, you should use the Editorial Reviews section
of your book's detail page to share content that is posted on other sites or
from individuals who do not have an Amazon account. You can update the
Editorial Reviews section of your book's detail page through your Author
Central account.
Gee, I bet that question comes up a lot.
Q. Can I ask my family to write a Customer Review for my book?
A. We do not allow individuals who share a household with the author or close
friends to write Customer Reviews for that author's book. Customer Reviews are
meant to provide unbiased product feedback from fellow shoppers.
Another absurd rule that is unverifiable. Again they just delete the review on the word
of the trolls.
Q. Can I pay for someone to write a Customer Review for my book?
A. No. We do not allow any form of compensation for a Customer Review other
than a free copy of the book provided upfront. If you offer a free copy of the
book in advance, it must be clear that you welcome all feedback, both positive
and negative.
That is unless you buy reviews through an Amazon subsidy,
createspace for $385, then it's OK to buy reviews.
Q. A Customer Review is missing from my book's detail page. What happened?
A. Reviews are removed from Amazon for one of three reasons:
The review did not meet our posted Customer Review Guidelines.
The customer who wrote the review removed it.
We discovered that multiple items were linked together on our website
incorrectly. Reviews that were posted on those pages were removed when the
items were separated on the site.
We can only discuss specific Customer Review removals with the person who
originally posted the review.
Absolute lies, There is no
rhyme or reason to Amazon's policy. I
particularly like the last excuse, absolutely nothing to do with single item
books. Just this last week I was on the
phone with Amazon over a 1-star no read review.
I was told only the reasons above could get a review removed. So I wrote 3 1-star reviews and posted them
on the 1, 2, 3 best-sellers where they would do the least harm.
Since reason three to remove a
review is not applicable, and I, the reviewer didn't remove them, that only
leaves us with it violated the guidelines.
I didn't know the authors, I didn't use profanity, I made no threats,
and I made no racist remarks. So why
were the reviews pulled? Again because
the trolls didn't like them.
Listen here to the phone
conversation where I am told that although the review was made by someone who
admitted they hadn't read the book it didn't violate the guidelines and
couldn't be pulled. Yet mine were
promptly removed. Maybe the fact the
trolls turned the comments into an ongoing personal attack to the turn of 150
comments on each review may have something to do with it. The trolls saw it as a huge victory, but I
expected them to be pulled before I posted them. I have dealt with Amazon in this area before
no actual reason will ever be given for why a review is deleted, just allusions
to their ambiguous guidelines.
I am currently working on an expose' of the way the same trolls on both
Amazon and goodreads have compromised the review process to such a degree,
coupled with Amazon insane policies, they've rendered every review on those
sites worthless. The title, “Suffer Not
A Troll To Live” has already been reported as death threats to Amazon by the
trolls. This book will so outrage the
entrenched trolls they may try to get it banned from Amazon because of the
title although not one of them will admit to being a Troll.
Here's a TV interview I did recently for
the local news.
The situation with online reviews is
appalling. The trolls that infest Amazon
only attack indies and everyone of them are convinced that the self-published
writers only produce trash and every indie book they review gets a 1-star and a
personal attack. I have over 500 forums
posts from Amazon and every one is an insult and a personal attack. I have also done a press release about the
cyber-stalking, cyber-bullying, harassment, and cyber-terrorism rampant
online. All aimed at the indies.
 |
| Rick Carufel |
Here's a few things to think about. How can these trolls seem to be online for up
to twenty hours at a time? Why do they
target only the indies? Who has the most
to gain from the persecution, and that's what it is, of the indie writers?
Traditional Publishing. I suspect the entrenched publishers are going
to hang on as long as they can demeaning the indies to the end as less than
reputable and illegitimate. I wouldn't
put it past the big six to hire trolls to endlessly harass the very people they
wrongly blame for their losses and Amazon is in cahoots with them. Corporatism is out of control and if
governments don't reign them in it is the corporations who will be running
everything real soon. Amazon is a prime
example of the corporate attitude that they are above the law and they can do
as they please. Maybe a cease and desist
order, closing them down until they prove they no longer harbor a gang of
cyber-terrorists operating from their forums, may sober them up.
