Amazon Reviews

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Grrarrgh

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Is there any advantage or disadvantage to using a pen name to publish your reviews on Amazon instead of your real name? I swear I'm not writing spammy reviews, I just don't know if I want my real name floating out there. People are weird. :)
 

ChaosTitan

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As long as you aren't using a pen name as a way to review your own books, I don't see that it matters much. If a pen name is what you want to do to, as you said, protect your privacy, then go for it.
 

frimble3

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And only one pen name. Just in case you accidentally review a favourite book six or seven times. Not that you would, of course. :)
 

Miss Plum

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Nothing wrong with using a "handle" on Amazon. You do it here, don't you?;)
 

DreamWeaver

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Is there any advantage or disadvantage to using a pen name to publish your reviews on Amazon instead of your real name? I swear I'm not writing spammy reviews, I just don't know if I want my real name floating out there. People are weird. :)
I'm with you, as far as not wanting my real name floating out there (especially on Amazon). I don't see a problem with a pen or user name--it's pretty easy to tell the well-thought-out reviews from the sock puppet or friend & relation ones.

Of course, that's from someone who pretty much ignores reader reviews, as it's too time-consuming to try to dig out the thoughtful ones from all the dreck.
 

Jehhillenberg

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I sound like an advocate for pen names by now, but I don't use my full real name for writing reviews on Amazon. Paranoid <-- that I am. :) I don't really see great disadvantages to using a pen name writing reviews on Amazon.
 

Grrarrgh

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Thanks, guys!! You've all sort of echoed what I was thinking, I just wanted to be sure. And, no, I won't be reviewing my own books (there aren't any :)) or reviewing a favorite book more than once. Just legit one-per-book reviews. :)
 

Becky Black

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There are ups and downs both ways I think. If you use your pen name you're a writer reviewing fellow writers. If you do a good review then you're accused of kissing up to your writer friends. If you do a bad review you're accused to trying to do down the competition. You also have some genuine conflicts of interest if you are reviewing books that are from your own publisher, or from writers who are your contacts and friends. The pen name also of course links your reviews to your own books on Amazon and that invites possible retaliation for a bad review, from a writer or a crazy fan of theirs.

On the other hand if you use your real name or some other handle, and people figure out you're such and such a writer you'll be accused to trying to hide your identity (by using your real name... :Wha:) so that you can bash the competition without risking having your books bashed in return. And like you say, there are many crazy people on the Internet and if they take offence at one of your reviews they can start all kinds of trouble.

I've pretty much given up reviewing anything in my own genre! It's not worth the potential trouble.
 
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