I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. I know I did.
Have you heard about the problem with Amazon.com
It all stems from the age ol' issue of free speech. Authors have been giving reviews of other books and signing their reviews with the name of their book. Something like, "author of I Love Bananas." This has been a common practice for many years, from what I understand. Amazon has said that they are going to DELETE these reviews. All of them! If you add the book link (that they supply) and directed it to your own book title's Amazon page, it will be deleted. And from what I understand you could face suspension. Authors have always used this in their signature line. Their book title and a link. What is wrong with that? From what I understand, publishers tell you to do this. Amazon will not notify the author, they will simply delete the review.
Amazon only allows a signature with your name. No links to, or mention of your books whatsoever in the review or signature line. This rule also applies to any comments you leave on a book review.
What say you authors out there in blogosphere? Some of us are prepublished, but we'll be published and will have to deal with this. What happened to free speech? What is so wrong with signing with the title of your book? Isn't Amazon in the business of selling books? And the more books sold, the better for the entire industry? What do y'all think about this? :)
Oh, and if you see my pic next to a comment, and I'm off my horse, don't be frightened, it's me. I know I look scary, but it was the best picture I could take. Waaaaa
Even just as a reader that pisses me off. I always think that it is so cool when an author comments on their Amazon listing page and on others. If I read the review of an author that I liked I think that I would be more inclined to buy the book. And, even the author wasn't well-known, wouldn't most readers think that authors read more so know more about books to suggest? I'd think that it would only help Amazon. Besides, why would Amazon care which book is purchased, they should only care that one was purchased.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, Lauren. What can be done about it. It makes me so mad! Grrrr
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is just plain, well, stupid. Amazon is in the business to make money. What better way to do that than to have cross-promotional links in reviews? Seems weird to me. Very odd.
ReplyDeleteVery odd indeed, Elana. What could be their motive? It seems to me like it will hurt them, maybe they'll change their mind if they get a lot of criticism on the subject.
ReplyDeleteI think your picture looks great!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Amazon does this because it's like free advertising and they want to get the most money out of their authors? Selfish! I don't know, just a thought.
Oh, also, they might do this so that readers don't judge the reviews based on whether or not a published author wrote it. That can play into bias.
Yea, I'm wondering about the motive. Why on earth would they care about such a thing?
ReplyDeleteInteresting info! If you find out more about WHY they are doing this, will you let us know? I just don't get the purpose of it all.
ReplyDeleteGlam, thanks for saying that about my pic. I needed to hear it. I wish I understood their motive. You might be right about the bias.
ReplyDeleteAmy, isn't is it a sad, sad thing?
Tess, yep, if I find out I'll tell y'all, and if you find out you tell me. Because, I just don't get it.
I think maybe they are doing it because sometimes author promotion gets out of hand. I think there are probably authors who are leaving reviews everywhere simply to have their link available on that page, whether they've read the book or not. The reviews are supposed to be just that - recommending or not a book. They shouldn't be an advertisement for another book.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of like MySpace. It seems like nowadays almost every "comment" I get on my MySpace page is an advertisement for someone else.
It probably started out as not a big deal, but my guess is it Amazon is doing this, then it's gotten to the distasteful point.
Hmm,you could be right, P.J.. I never thought of it like that. It's not right to abuse a privilege. Which is what some authors may be doing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Have they released a statement about why?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hoover's take on it. It seems to me some authors must be slapping slipshod reviews on books just so their names are out there. Talk about pathetic. Talk about it.
ReplyDeleteDanyelle, I don't think they have. They should, at least defend what they're doing. But not yet. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to! Tomorrow! Thanks for the idea, Justus. :)
Ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you posted your new picture. It's nice to see you a little more close up! :) You look beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I feel about this. I think I agree that it could lead to better reviews. That's what I hope their intention is. But, there's probably also a money-making scheme behind it. I like Amazon, but I'm trying not to give them 100% of my business. More like 10%, just to spread the wealth.
What about the cool videos authors post about their own books? I love those!
ReplyDeleteDavin, thanks so much for saying that. It made me feel better. What a guy. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't buy a lot from Amazon either. I'm trying to buy local! Spreading the wealth is a good thing.
Angela, I love those videos too. I don't know if this involves them or not. :)
Robyn, I agree with you. I don't understand the point of what amazon is doing, either. And, don't worry, you're picture looks good!
ReplyDeleteThanks Crystal! What a nice thing to say! :)
ReplyDelete