Review Group discussion

Why thank you Rafael. I feel much better now. Best get to cleaning the gore I suppose...

Emma wrote: "Why thank you Rafael. I feel much better now. Best get to cleaning the gore I suppose..."

Thanks so much, Emma, for working so hard to help us all. You are so wonderful!

Why thank you Jonathan, you smooth talking devil. Flattery will get you everywhere.
And yes, I do remember what your book is about!

Haha!

Hey, my book is about being a nice guy!

I know. I think I'm going to buy a few copies and leave them in strategic places....
Now if I can just find one about being a nice girl....

Yeah, unfortunately, this is not a 'service'. It's just a thing we do.

Emma wrote: "I know. I think I'm going to buy a few copies and leave them in strategic places....
Now if I can just find one about being a nice girl...."

Lol!

Hi Emma,
I just want to say thankyou for all your hard work. As a new member, you've certainly helped me a lot as I was very nervous to begin with. I'd very much like to vounteer for a review group in the new year, but am travelling around too much over Christmas to make it possible before. Think of me as being available after 2nd January. Here's wishing you a great Christmas
Siobhan

Each review group lasts 12 weeks, so it's possible to sign up to bag your spot and start reading a little later if you wish. i'm sure your fellow authors will understand.

Festive tidings to you too.

okay, that's great, how do I sign up?

pop along to the reading round folder
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
find a group with 'now forming' in the title that suits you, read the rules and then put your goodreads author and book links in the thread.

Question regarding Review Group Criteria

My preference is to review adult science fiction/fantasy, but my book has some violence, swearing and mild sexual themes.

Would this be acceptable in the Out of this World Group

Thanks in advance

yes.

Apologies if this has been asked before, but what happens if we end up interested in reading a book later that was written by someone who reviewed us? I've seen several books in here that I would read just for pleasure, but I'm guessing I shouldn't review them like I would normally review books I read, so as to avoid the non-reciprocal issue?

Hello Moderators,
I appreciate being a part of this review team. Is it possible to join the 18+ because I write steamy romantic suspense. My latest release is Unholy Alliance by Kathleen Rowland with explicit sex scenes. Thank you.

Keep an eye on the 'Now forming' rounds, they'll be one starting soon.

Great, Emma. Thank you.

I tried to join the Facebook group that corresponds with the Review Group here on Goodreads. Since my Facebook name (Bob Meixner) is different from the pen name (Jonah Gibson) I use on Goodreads, I have not gotten and acceptance or a response. Appreciate any help you guys can provide. Thanks.

Pop a note on this thread https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... about your name(s) and then reapply to the Facebook group. We can then approve you joining

Neil wrote: "Pop a note on this thread https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... about your name(s) and then reapply to the Facebook group. We can then approve you joining"

Thanks, Neil, but it seems that Emma has already let me in. Happened two days ago and I didn't notice because I'm too deep into other stuff to pay proper attention to what's going on around me. Typical, not?

I recognised your lovely lovely face!

Jeez, Em. You are way too kind!

I'm trying to work on my facebook enthusiasm.
Its tough for a Brit.
We are allergic to 'awesome'. The closest we get is 'nice' which doesn't have the same ring to it.

I'm taking fantabulous, awesome sauce lessons.

Nope, still can't do it without a shudder.

I would like to review books as well as submit my latest for review. What's the first step?
Ruth

You have two options, joining a reading round, there are six currently looking for members, and the one for one group.

You have to review a book to get your book on the one for one list. It's useful for people who don't have the time to do a full round, but someone has to choose to review you.

Emma wrote: "You have two options, joining a reading round, there are six currently looking for members, and the one for one group.

You have to review a book to get your book on the one for one list. It's use..."

One for one sounds good. (I'm not sure what a "reading round" entails.) My book is spiritual fiction (for a volunteer reviewer's info).
Thanks.
Ruth

A reading round entails reading and reviewing for allocated books within 12 weeks and receiving 4 non-reciprocal reviews in return.

Hi
Does amazon's 50 dollars rule apply to the reviewers in a group?

Everyone has to be able to post reviews on amazon. Like all groups on social media including goodreads and facebook etc this group is made up of private individuals with no affiliation to the Mighty ZON apart from the fact we use it as a sales channel.
There is no special dispensation from the $50 requirement for authors who want to post reviews.

Emma wrote: "Everyone has to be able to post reviews on amazon. Like all groups on social media including goodreads and facebook etc this group is made up of private individuals with no affiliation to the Might..."

Thanks Emma! I live in a different part of the global village. But it can be done.

It can. And you don't have to spend on amazon.com. You can spend on your local ZON.

Emma wrote: "It can. And you don't have to spend on amazon.com. You can spend on your local ZON."

I am quite new around here. What is ZON? If it is amazon, there is no amazon in Denmark.

Yep, ZON is short way of saying amazon. What version of amazon do you normally buy from?

Emma wrote: "Yep, ZON is short way of saying amazon. What version of amazon do you normally buy from?"
From UK.
I guess they have changed the rules. I had bought in amazon.uk and I was only allowed to post review on UK, not on amazon.com

You can. just sign in with your normal details. Don't try to set up a separate account .com.

I use .uk and I've posted on .com. .ca and .au

This post covers what you need to do.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Emma wrote: "You can. just sign in with your normal details. Don't try to set up a separate account .com.

I use .uk and I've posted on .com. .ca and .au

This post covers what you need to do.
https://www.goodr..."
Thanks! I will try.

I heard from someone in a position to know that Amazon is soon going to eliminate non verified purchase reviews. This is at least partly speculation, but it does seem like the direction they have been heading. What I don't know, nor does my source, is whether that means they will strip out existing reviews that don't comply or just apply the new rules going forward. Also, this might not apply to books in the same way that it applies to other products. Any thoughts or additional information?

As reviews from KU downloaded books aren't 'verified' I'm not sure how or why they would do that with books.

Doing it - the how - would be easy. They could even classify KU downloads as verified purchases for this purpose. The why is of course more problematic in the scheme of things, but it would tend, at least from Amazon's perspective, to elevate the perception of trustworthiness of reviews and star ratings.

I would think that if Amazon gets rid of all but verified reviews as they define verified now, it would only hurt their own sales. In my genre (romance), a lot of authors can't build a following until they play the ARC game for awhile. New authors would never make it over the hurdle of basic credibility without either making their first book free (which makes Amazon no money) or doing a lot of out of pocket marketing, which most first time authors aren't great at. By requiring verified purchases to review, Amazon would be shrinking its own ecosystem.

It wouldn't hurt their sales. it would hurt 'our' sales.

The customer rules as far a as Zon is concerned, authors don't matter to a large extent. I don't think the 'what about the poor low-level indies?' would be an argument that would sway them for second.

If that happened, we'd cope with it on the review group.

The fact that Amazon and Goodreads (an Amazon-owned company) encourage giveaways and arcs will naturally lead to non-verified purchase reviews. I expect this step wouldn't apply to books for this reason but at some point a hard and fast rule needs to be in place from Amazon. Do reviewers mention they received a free copy or not? At the moment if the reviewer says yes in exchange for a review this is in breach of Amazon policy as it is seen as payment for the review. If the reviewer says yes but the review is freely given then it should be okay. But who knows what Amazon really think.

Hi to All!

I just joined, so how does it work?

I am seeking honest reviews for my own books and am looking forward to reading the works of other indie authors.

My interest is Science Fiction and Fantasy.

THANKS!
Susan

Hi Susan,

You can join straight away via the one for one thread (review a book from the list to put your book on the list) or wait for an appropriate 'now forming' reading round.
These start quite frequently, but we only have an 'in this world' available right now.

Post under his name, as long as he doesn't mind of course! Just add the link in the normal way to the one for one thread.

Hi moderators
Some of us are keen to start up a three -way review process while we wait for the full review round to start. Is that okay with you? Is there anything we should do? Is it in the right place?

We do ten people review rounds or the one for one here. That way we ensure honest reviews.
In a three way, you are tiptoeing on the edge of feeling obliged to provide favourable reviews because of the close relationship.
But of course, you can set something up on your own if you wish, as long as you don't involve the group.

Hello, and Happy New Year!

I just joined, and I have a question:
I'd be very interested in participating in the review rounds here.
I am interested in reviewing non-fictional books, i.e. research material on history, mythology, comparative religions, etc. Note that I write books of a semi-dark romance/paranormal and horror nature, and have an older reader/reviewer profile here. I write under a pseudonym, and prefer to keep my two profiles separate, so the reviews that I write would also be separate.

Thanks for having me!

Plenty of people on here review under a different name than their author name. You just need to include the correct links to your review in the relevant thread.

Most review rounds have a specific theme, and books are allocated. You might get some books you prefer to read in a general group and you could submit one of your books. However, you couldn't guarantee you'd be allocated your preferred genre.

in an 'out of this world' or an '18+' you could submit your book, but you'd be allocated similar books to review.

You might want to try the one for one thread, where you pick any book out of the fifty plus available. There are some in your preferred genres, and you'd be able to put your books up in exchange. However, you might have to wait a while, possibly months, to have your book chosen to be reviewed.

Thank you Emma!