[Retailer] Amazon

Maybe this is a stupid question but does the reviewer have an Amazon account? Did the reviewer follow Amazon's policy regarding reviews (They do have one. My son tried to review a Kindle app and they rejected it because it didn't follow their guidelines.) I know when my son tried to review that app, I received an email from Amazon, explaining why it was declined. Did they give your reviewer a reason?

Baloo said:

"Detected" as in guessed it has to be because it's too positive/upbeat? It's a third party I have no connection to save I am aware she was asked to look at the book in a detached and professional manner.

Without any payment I might add.

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No, it appears to be an automated system for the most part.

But I agree with the other points, over and over "missing reviews" have also turned out to be, um, well, polite excuses for not having bothered or technical incompetence on the part of the reviewer (as seen on the kdp boards)

Jersey Chick said:

Maybe this is a stupid question but does the reviewer have an Amazon account? Did the reviewer follow Amazon's policy regarding reviews (They do have one. My son tried to review a Kindle app and they rejected it because it didn't follow their guidelines.) I know when my son tried to review that app, I received an email from Amazon, explaining why it was declined. Did they give your reviewer a reason?

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No idea if she has or not. Not sure I'll ever find out what the reason was it got a red flag. It was too glowing I assume. Must have looked bogus or something. I'm now wary of asking anyone else to look at it for review purposes.

Baloo said:

No idea if she has or not. Not sure I'll ever find out what the reason was it got a red flag. It was too glowing I assume. Must have looked bogus or something. I'm now wary of asking anyone else to look at it for review purposes.

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No, really. Please don't assume it was because the review was too positive. That really does you a disservice, in the end, implying that you believe no one could possibly take such a thing seriously!

Also, having had a few dealings with Amazon myself, and knowing somewhat the ways of large web organizations (which Amazon is to a great extent) I can almost assure you that the issue is one of someone not following, to the picayune micro-letter, their guidelines and/or requirements.

I hope you do not lose heart over this. There are a lot of potential pitfalls to the project of getting your work out there and being able to believe in its worth and your own and that another chance will come is pretty crucial, I believe.

Take heart!

And best that you yourself find out precisely what those guidelines for reviews are, so that when you find someone who wants to review your book, you'll know what might snag even the best review.

Baloo said:

No idea if she has or not. Not sure I'll ever find out what the reason was it got a red flag. It was too glowing I assume. Must have looked bogus or something. I'm now wary of asking anyone else to look at it for review purposes.

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I doubt it's because it was too glowing. I've seen plenty of glowing reviews on Amazon (one was puzzling because the reviewer gave the item one star, but the written review was all praise. Weird. )but Amazon is very nitpicky when it comes to their guidelines and it might just be a case of the reviewer not adhering to them.

I agree with Jersey Chick. It was probably due to not adhering to something in the guidelines, which can sometimes be a little confusing. I'd have them do it again, or even call Amazon - they've always been very helpful to me.

Thanks for the tips guy's. Sorry for taking out my frustrations on you. If Amazon post up the review I'll attach a link so you can see what she said, if that happens. I'm sure you will all be rushing to pay your dollar in a mad stampede afterwards!

I'm a writer who reads in the same genre in which I write. Of course I'm going to review books. I just don't do it on Amazon anymore. I review on Goodreads and have backup reviews on my blog. GR is now owned by Amazon, but so far I haven't seen much in the way of them censoring well-meant author reviews of any rating.

Baloo said:

Without any payment I might add.

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(my bolding)

It is my understanding that Amazon is more likely to approve reviews (good or bad) of books from reviewers on books/e-books they actually purchased from Amazon, and verified by an actual sale connected to that reviewer. For example, a friend who is a published Australian author, had to buy her book for me through Amazon, linked to my Amazon user name, so I could post her review on their site, which was approved without fail.

I am *sure* it was not because it was too glowing. Not going to name names, but I can absolutely think of a few books with glowing reviews that *smack* of being written as favors... I'm sure it's not an individual Amazon employee reading every review for nuance, probably one of the reasons mentioned above!

Amazon Woes

This isn't so much advice seeking as it is a space to vent and discuss Amazon's continued thuggery.

My publisher - and another publisher in the niche market I write for - isn't dealing with Amazon anymore, and it's frustrating for me.

A few months ago we put out an anthology I edited, and last night I went to see if any reviews had been posted on Amazon I couldn't find it. So I asked my Publisher about it. Apparently they have no intention of putting it on there. They changed printers because Amazon CreateSpace has "gotten squeamish about adult material" and the new printer doesn't have a direct link to Amazon.

I asked about putting up the ebook. The publisher seemed less than thrilled - he is willing eventually but is worried for the fact that Amazon pulled two of their previous titles (one of which I also edited and receive royalties on), and thus suspects their account is being "watched".

The publisher says that few of their actual sales came from Amazon, must customers either buy at conventions (this pub goes to 9) or get dead tree/digital copies directly from their site. My novella is through this publisher, and I have noted only a few sales came through Amazon each quarter.

A few months ago, I was applying for an editing job with a mainstream small press. They contacted me, frustrated, because they wanted an ebook copy of a book I had edited and couldn't find it on Amazon. Unfortunately, Amazon had removed that book completely, and while I sent an ebook copy to the pub after some delay, I can't help but think it didn't look presentable.

The loss of potential sales irks me, but what upsets me more is how much Amazon is sabotaging everyone else. What is it, a third of books purchased online go through Amazon? Their own e-reader is huge. Not having your catalog on Amazon feels like a losing game as an author. The continued abuse of Hachette (I linked at the top) and their prudish deleting of adult content is a big concern for me.

I write about as adult content as you can get, and am published with 'erotic romance' pubs and have learned that with Amazon you cannot give them an excuse to take you down. I'm wondering if your material got taken down because of sex content, or if there were taboo(according to Amazon) matters. For your publisher to NOT publish on Amazon is crazy sauce, esp if they sell most of their books at conventions which, come on, a convention is a couple days a weekend and no where near the sales you would(presumably) get being on a site where someone can one click you 24/7 365.

Amazon is a strange one when it comes to reviews. They refused to post a review that I left because it wasn't descriptive enough. That's the answer I got when I questioned it. It was a positive review. That's the first time I've ever had that happen. If I feel compelled to write a review now, I stick to Goodreads which is owned by Amazon. I know, I know...

Amazon's 'abuse' of Hachette seems to be at least partly a problem of Hachette's own making...

Amazon Changed Its Review Rules: Account Deletion for even Suspected Exchanges for Review

Apologies in advance if I've posted this in the wrong place; please move as needed.

Does anyone know the truth of this article's subject?

Amazon seems to have changed its review rules. Apparently, you need to spend a certain amount per Amazon site per year to leave a book review.

If even suspected of trading something for reviews, your account is banned without warning or explanation.

Full article: http://annerallen.com/2018/04/amazon-paid-reviews/

Found a bit of info. Scroll to "Eligibility"; it's near the top of the page.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201929730