FREE Poetry Book at Amazon

Having skimmed through the first few pages... I won't be downloading this (clichéd language, bad grammar, odd syntax and off metrical poetry are not my cup of tea). There is probably an audience out there, and I'm hoping one which doesn't notice that the only review (a contrived 5 star review) is done by a personal friend of the author (touch unethical, maybe?); wish your friend good luck with her project from me. I hope she can make a few bob off it.

LawrenceElliott said:

I'm assuming you enjoyed writing such words to get much "needed" attention.

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Not really, I was giving a review of what I read in the first few pages--an honest opinion. There is a market for all manner of thing nowadays, and I wish your friend success with her endeavour; but what and how she writes are not the sort of thing I like nor find particularly engaging. I'm sure she has a few gems in her book (every poet does), perhaps she'd do herself a better service by putting those first where discerning readers opting to choose a preview before purchase or download can see them before the lesser works.

In any case, for those that aren't impressed by the attention I so dearly 'need' (most people, I should imagine): free book! -- Go get a copy and drop an honest review. Anyone who takes the leap to self-publishing relies on reviews to get their work out there. Tell your friends, get as many people to download as you can and help this lady realise her dream (even if in the smallest form); the same dream most of us share.

LawrenceElliott said:

I should have ignored it, but the "unethical" point begged an answer...but not for your ego. For other writers out there who may believe your comments are intelligent...

Having your friends and acquaintances read your work and writing a review is not unethical. Your circle is your first source of word of mouth. Does it make sense to tell them NOT to read it and NOT to write a review, even if they like it?

I'm just a person who's had a FEW things publish...just a FEW...

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Whey-hey for your FEW published pieces--very pleased for you, and I wish you a good FEW more.

I get what you're saying, but the practice is still tainted. I could give someone a 5 star review if I liked them enough; am I being honest? Am I doing a service to potential buyers who might pick it up and notice as I did the convoluted syntax and then be dissatisfied? It's my name, my credibility that I am putting at stake, just to help someone sell a few copies of their own work, regardless of the quality of that work or what an actual audience might think... so let's meet half-way: it's not unethical to hand out 5-star reviews to your buddies, but it is worth a lot less than a genuine consumer review.

LawrenceElliott said:

Having your friends and acquaintances read your work and writing a review is not unethical. Your circle is your first source of word of mouth. Does it make sense to tell them NOT to read it and NOT to write a review, even if they like it?

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I think it's against Amazon's rules to do that.

FWIW, anyone who has had a kindle for long is leery of authors frontloading the reviews for their books with 5-star reviews from friends and relatives. I've talked to many on the Amazon forums who simply refuse to buy a book that has nothing but 5-star reviews.

Other patterns they look for (and I look for too):

1. Ripping on the reviews of anyone who gives less than 5 (sometimes even when people give less than 4!) star reviews.
2. Mischaracterizing any negative (or even neutral) reviews as personal attacks and petitioning Amazon to remove them.
3. Marking as "unhelpful" any negative or neutral reviews so as to move them off the book's first page ASAP.
4. The usual five-star glut comes right about the same time the book is released; even on the same day, suddenly there are 9 five-star reviews.
5. The rave reviewers have only a single review, and it's coincidentally for that one book. Often a cluster of such raves are posted within an hour, or even within minutes of each other of each other -- like the result of robo-reviewers all getting sent the bat signal at once from someone's blog or by cc'd e-mail to hurry up and get a rave review up there.
6. The reviewers are robo-reviewers -- likely part of a paid group or a reciprocal group of reviewers, who post ONLY 5-star reviews (is it even possible to always love everything?) and more likely than not haven't even read the book. Sometimes these groups have dozens or hundreds of reviews up, sometimes dozens in a single day. The system is vulnerable, unfortunately, to the corrupt.
7. The reviews have no substance. "Trust me, this is a great book! Don't wait, put it in your cart now!" or "This book swept me off my feet! I wish I could give six stars!!!"

Gaming the system isn't something that's done a different, unrecognizable way each time. People are used to it by now, and it makes authors look bad.

What's really amazing is when authors start fighting back. Google "author's big mistake." It's a huge mistake.

Lawrence,

Please thank your friend for giving a free copy of her ebook for this limited time.

I downloaded it and read through it. It was not my cup of tea, either. I would be interested in knowing how she does with it.

Thanks.