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Amazon reviews.
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I tend not to review on Amazon anyway but I may well read a fantasy or romance book and genuinely not enjoy it and feel it is worth a low rating. I wonder if it applies to established authors...

I remember hearing stories last year sometime about Amazon wiping a bunch of reviews because of this, or something very similar.

I know people have had good reviews go as well as bad...

Majorly upset.
The 'same genre' -- how wide is that? In my case, does that mean historical fiction? What, I can't one- or two-star a historical fiction? Excuse?
Since I heard of these policies on Amazon I haven't bothered to try to review there. Because I've had this outlet, Goodreads.
I enjoy to review, I review in-depth, I like to exercise my critical skills, and second only to my fiction, it's a joy to write reviews. Nobody's going to tell me I can't.
There are books I share a subject with and I'm the first to tell you I'm unobjective and I don't comment on them in public, never mind review them. They can trust me for that.
Stop me? This is close to the bone for me, I'm more emotional at this spectre than I was on the day of the Announcement. I have a right to review.
Amazon's statement above is so vague as to tell us nothing but that these things are in their judgement, at their verdict, at their whim. I've never heard a more focused statement from them.

Further, I think authors reviewing is important to both authors in the process. For example, if I were starting in a genre and (not that this would happen much) an established author in my genre posted a review, even a negative one, I'd be thrilled or at least instructed. If the review were abusive, wouldn't it be obvious as abusive whether it was from another author or not?
I recognize they had a sockpuppet problem, but to me that rule is like throwing the baby out with the bath water.


How one decides an author reviewer is reviewing purely to sell his or her book I have no idea. "This book is crap... buy THIS BOOK" I am pretty sure that would get pulled.
But authors are readers as well, and I certainly read in the genre I write in.
I've reviewed a paranormal romance on Amazon, and one of my books is a paranormal romance. Only difference is hers is YA and mine isn't, but it's still the same genre. The review is still there, and there has never been a problem with it. It was four stars, though. I only have limited experience reviewing on Amazon but I think as long as it's not a negative review you can review in your genre. It's weird - you should be able to say a book sucks even if it's in your genre - but I guess they're trying to stop negative reviews where someone is just trying to make their competition look bad.



Sometimes people simply make a mistake in their choice or don't do a little bit of research first and sometimes the book is just not for them, or even in a few cases simply bad;)
Yes I think you should be allowed to write a negative review of a book in the genre you write in, because surely you're not going to like every book in your genre? And naturally that's the genre your most likely to read. It is silly and childish of Amazon to have these rules, but I guess we're stuck with them. And I agree that you can probably tell when a review is written dishonestly.
Besides, readers want to see a mix of reviews on a book - if I see a book on Amazon that's rated all 4 and 5 stars I get bored and look for another one. It makes the book seem fake somehow if EVERYONE likes it, and that it hasn't appealed to a wide variety of readers, or else there would be bad reviews with the good. I prefer it if a book has negative reviews, as weird as that sounds, but obviously I won't likely buy it if it has an average of 2 stars or something. But negative reviews give a book credibility and every successful book has them.
Sorry, I went a bit off topic :)
Besides, readers want to see a mix of reviews on a book - if I see a book on Amazon that's rated all 4 and 5 stars I get bored and look for another one. It makes the book seem fake somehow if EVERYONE likes it, and that it hasn't appealed to a wide variety of readers, or else there would be bad reviews with the good. I prefer it if a book has negative reviews, as weird as that sounds, but obviously I won't likely buy it if it has an average of 2 stars or something. But negative reviews give a book credibility and every successful book has them.
Sorry, I went a bit off topic :)

I somewhat agree, but I also recognize that a book MIGHT be just that good. I would hate to dismiss it just because everyone likes it.
But I also am waiting on some reviewers to review mine and I admit I ALMOST want someone to at least give it a reasonable 3 since right now I have only 4s and 5s. Now THAT is weird, hoping for more of a bell curve on my reviews of my own book.
there's gotta be some fancy schmancy name for that, akin to schaudenfreude -- Maybe starzenfreude where almost hope for a less than stellar review for balance.
lol!
John wrote: "I somewhat agree, but I also recognize that a book MIGHT be just that good. I would hate to dismiss it just because everyone likes it."
You have a point but it's not even a conscious decision for me - as soon as I see a book has all good ratings I just feel bored straight away. Especially if it has about 20 reviews or something. I yawn and can't be bothered.
I suppose if it was a book I was dying to read and the reviews were all positive then I'd still buy it, but I'd like to see some at least 3 star reviews so I can see what's good and bad about the book. It helps me to make my decision if I can get a balanced view.
You have a point but it's not even a conscious decision for me - as soon as I see a book has all good ratings I just feel bored straight away. Especially if it has about 20 reviews or something. I yawn and can't be bothered.
I suppose if it was a book I was dying to read and the reviews were all positive then I'd still buy it, but I'd like to see some at least 3 star reviews so I can see what's good and bad about the book. It helps me to make my decision if I can get a balanced view.

So if a book was universally agreed upon to be the book of the century and no one had a bad thing to say about it - that would just bore you to death?
Strange.


As to Mona's comment about being bored with reading all five-star ratings for a book, I would like to be the author of a book that is the source of your next attack of ennui.

It is a good point.

Any suggestions?

I just realized I'm in the embarrassing and bizarre position of having all positive reviews up to this point. This would mean you'll never read my book! lol.
*runs out to get someone to hate his book*
:)





Plus, GR's reviewer community is so vigilant, I feel like the people who would do such a thing would quickly get themselves banned, thus saving everyone else the trouble.

Writers are usually readers as well. I hope the reviews here stay pretty much as they are. Although half stars would be useful, but I think that has been discussed before.

How do I know - because I know the author and she admitted it to me!
Getting reviews is really hard and open to so much abuse. I'm sure there must be a better way than what's going on at the moment.

SKEDESA SPARTAQUS SISTER ON AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/148255884X
And my new book with poems "POEMS IN ETERNITY"
http://www.amazon.com/Poetry-Poems-et...


Back on topic does anyone know how the borrowed books apply for Amazon? Does it count as a verified purchase?


I emailed KDP support and this is the answer I got. (Whether someone else would get a contrary answer is anyone's guess.)
"I understand you'd like some further clarification on what products authors are allowed to leave reviews on.
Authors are prohibited from submitting reviews on products they have a financial interest in, as well as directly competing products. This means that an author wouldn't be allowed to submit a negative review for a book in the same genre they write in."
So I can't review my sister's book (if she had one) or indeed my own. I think the key word here is NEGATIVE. So it would appear I could leave a positive review for an author in the same genre?
How that will affect reviews here? No idea;)