How to Promote YOUR book on Amazon discussion

AMAZON SYSTEMATICALLY REMOVING OR REFUSING REVIEWS
I got this email this morning from someone who read my book:Good Morning Michael,
"I am not sure what Amazon is up to but I just got this email from one of the reviewers. Her review won't post to Amazon, my review did the same thing. Something is going on with your book that has Amazon removing reviews and I have no idea why."
Has any one else encountered this problem lately? Amazon also just a few days ago took down a five-star review of my book from their site (it had nothing objectionable and been up for weeks) and refused to give me any explanation. If anyone knows what Amazon is up to, please share because the person who sent me this email said she knows other authors who are experiencing the same problem

Yeah, this happens to me routinely and I have no idea why.
Verified Buyer Reviews seem to stay intact, but if that verified buyer changes anything in their account, i.e. credit card #, address, email, those seem to disappear as well...

I have had this happen to me not long after my book published. I have a very reliable person that does offline promotion for me and they told me that several people had come back to them saying that they posted their reviews of the book but they were not published on Amazon. I had this verified when checking my rank one day and saw that I had a new review. My offline promoter said that the name associated was someone he had told about the book. They bought it the first weekend it came out and reviewed it not long after. Their review showed up weeks later. I imagine a few more never will make it to the book page.

There is definitely something to it.

Meanwhile, other books in my category have reviews that are obviously bought or planted along with a little bit of harassment towards those that give authentic reviews (negative) for said books. Hmmmm....

Evidently, in September especially, there were people buying and/or posting fake reviews. Now Amazon states that it will not allow any reviews, from anyone, you has a stake in the product. So, if they assume you have some kind of motive for posting the review they will, nilly willy, take it down. It is very subjective and random. Also, there is "slamming" of books with one star reviews to sabotage authors' works. I think it all sucks. People looking for, giving and getting honest reviews will lose out.

Thank for that Abby. Wow this is crazy. How can Amazon not spot a fake review but I can?

Here is one thing I have isolated. Amazon will only let a reader post one review per day. Check with those to see if they posted more than one.

Johnny wrote: "Here is one thing I have isolated. Amazon will only let a reader post one review per day. Check with those to see if they posted more than one."
Thanks, Johnny. I'll check on that.

This is a common problem, since some readers wait and do many reviews at once. after reading many books

I joined a Book Review CO-OP. 5 for 5 or 10 for 10 reviews. Each member BUYS the book they want to review from the one of the active lists. After they fulfill their review requirements (5 or 10), their book is added to the wait list, then into the active list when a spot opens up (30 on each list, although the 5 for 5 list is new).

Quality and honest reviews by Indie Authors FOR Indie authors. Also, the books show "Verified purchase" on Amazon from the reviewer.

If you are interested, check it out. www.bookreviewcoop.com

Tom, Is this the group that is on FB with Ginger as the moderator? I see a lot of the same names here. Some of the books I've already bought and reviewed, and I'm still waiting.

Thanks,

Ju

Amazon has take steps to prevent intentional running up review ratings on ebooks. In light of the rampant game of posting glowing reviews to up your search grade on Amazon, it seems that Amazon is now tracking IP numbers of Amazon purchaser accounts, posters, uploaders and reviewers. IP is a number that tracks and identifies a particular computer or WIFI location. Websites have used it for years for "cookie" tracking etc. But now Amazon is refusing to let reviews that come from purchasers or reviewers who post multiple reviews for the same product from different accounts that all come from the same computer or web location. It seems they may also be tracking the location of the IP which uploaded the book to Kindle Publishing. They did a good job of preventing reviewing abuse, but also have a side issue of preventing people who, say, use the same coffee house, or library computer or dormitory WiFi from posting reviews for the same book.

Melody wrote: "Amazon has take steps to prevent intentional running up review ratings on ebooks. In light of the rampant game of posting glowing reviews to up your search grade on Amazon, it seems that Amazon is ..."

Great info, Melody.

Thanks, Melody. Very informative. Appreciated

Ju,

Book Review CO-OP is an entirely separate project/website. The mechanism is the same, but the work in and out is even up (10 for 10 or 5 for 5).

I think the overall problem with the Facebook group (and now Google+ page) is that you do five reviews to get ten. That model, while attractive to get members, collapses under its own weight, since there are always twice as many reviews needed to move the list as to get on it. It is starting to show in the pile.

Of course, the authors that did the five to get the ten don't want to miss out on their ten, so rather than do what would be good for the group and alter the payout, they gripe until the status quo stays the same. The "Owed reviews" will eventually max out as new members do the math and figure out they are hundreds of reviews from getting on the active list and its moving at half the speed as the members novels filling up the back end.

I have voiced my concern and it is one of the reasons I used am doing something similar, but sustainable. I also want to expand the offering over time to include other services and partnerships.

I have met a lot of great people in the FB group.

Okay. Well I've done my bit on the other end and now I'm in the waiting phase.

I ran across this thread a few minutes ago and thought I would throw in my two cents worth. I often wonder what yardstick Amazon uses to construct some of its decisions. I know an author who created multiple identities and posted over sixty reviews in one week at his local library. Six months later most of them were taken down. I actually see nothing wrong with swapping reviews as long as both give an honest review of the book. A friend of mine gave me a 5 star review on one of my books and it was taken down because he mentioned in the review that he knew me. Many writers try to grab the attention of some of the top one-hundred reviewers thinking that it will help their book. These reviewers are in a race against their fellows and couldn't possibly be reviewing all of the books they post. It is also likely that you will get a caustic review if you allow one of them to review your novel. I had rather the 'average' reviewer get one of my books and post a review that to have someone rush through it and give me a review that will drive other readers away. There are too many reviewers who let superficial matters bother then when they are review a book. One of the characters in one of my novels had a given name that was spelled somewhat different from the norm. My spellchecker changed the spelling near the middle of the book. Someone reviewing the book caught this one variation of the spelling of her name and stopped reading. He said this, "I was really enjoying you book until I ran across the typo on one of your characters names. I stopped reading. My intention is to give you a one-star review unless you would prefer me not to post this review at all. It is up to you." Some reviewers like to nit-pick and the slightest thing will cause them to send you to the lower reaches of hell. I have never given a writer a bad review and I hope to continue that. If a book is bad I simply don't post a review. I base my review on what the fans of that genre likes or doesn't like and not on my personal preference.

Joe wrote: "I ran across this thread a few minutes ago and thought I would throw in my two cents worth. I often wonder what yardstick Amazon uses to construct some of its decisions. I know an author who create..."

Joe, I agree with everything you wrote here. It's a shame that not many people feel the way you and I do. :)

Joe wrote: "I ran across this thread a few minutes ago and thought I would throw in my two cents worth. I often wonder what yardstick Amazon uses to construct some of its decisions. I know an author who create..."

I also agree with these points. "Sought-after" reviewers are not the ones who take the most trouble over a review, and I have learned to avoid them. They are also sometimes anal about typos and small slips that, for me, will not spoil a book at all if it is good enough. I'd much rather have a sincere review from the sort of person who might buy the book.

I also don't post a bad review, unless I'm obliged to for some reason. As for a review being taken down because the reviewer confessed to knowing the author, aren't they just being honest? If I were Amazon I'd worry about the number of gushing reviews in which that info isn't given...

Joe wrote: "I ran across this thread a few minutes ago and thought I would throw in my two cents worth. I often wonder what yardstick Amazon uses to construct some of its decisions. I know an author who create..."

I too have run into this problem. I have a few readers who have read and reviewed all my books. One is purely a reader, who I didn't know before they became a reader. Amazon took down their last 2 reviews. It makes no sense. Yes, they were good reviews, but I've never met this person. I also have a couple of beta readers, their reviews were removed. I do swap reviews now and again with people I knew from an old writers group. They don't hand out good reviews like candy on Halloween. When I run into something of theirs that I think could use some help, I ask them if they want me to post the review or withhold it. Some ask to post the review no matter the score, some ask to withhold it. I always ask them to post it no matter. Not that I strive for low marks, but when they come along, I think it can add more credibility to your reviews. It took me a long time to appreciate that idea. :) Reviews are hard enough to get without Amazon taking them down for their own reasons. I think readers of reviewers are smart enough to see through some reviews. And lets face it, most ebooks are so cheap now, who cares if you buy one for a few bucks and you end up not reading it past a couple of chapters. Are books now somehow supposed to all be perfect?
Mike

I find it infuriating. If somebody has bought my book then then they have the right to review it. Of course your friends will be biased. But so will your fans. Do they think Stephen Kings readers sir there and say "the new King book is rotten. I found this this and this wrong with it". AnywAy I was asked by a goodreads friend to review his book and they removed it. So I went onto Amazon chat and complained. They said that it just hadn't posted yet which was rubbish because I had already seen it. They then reinstated it.