There have been some alarming reports lately that Amazon reviews of indie authors’ book are being deleted, quite randomly it appears. I first read about it a few weeks ago, and it has since happened to me – a reader contacted me to say they had placed a review of A Life Unpredicted three times, only to see it either removed instantly or not appear at all.
What is going on here? It seems that this is Amazon’s response to the recent ‘sockpuppet’ scandal, where authors were accused of creating false accounts to place 5 star reviews of their own titles, and 1 star reviews for their rivals’ books. Interestingly, so far the only reported removals have been of 4 and 5 star reviews on indie titles only – not reviews of traditionally published books, or suspect 1 star reviews. Amazon’s response when readers have complained has also been quite alarming – reviewers are told that if they complain again more reviews, or even the book itself, may be removed.
Well, Amazon can do what they like, of course – there’s nothing we can do about it here. And some of these 4 and 5 star reviews may indeed have been by friends and family of the authors in question. (Many were not, however, and the removal seems completely arbitrary.) But fair or not, this is damaging rankings for indie authors, and this in turn damages visibility and sales. So, here is my advice for anyone who wants to review a book by their favourite author and reduce the risk of that review being removed:
- First of all, it’s important to build up a range of reviews on your Amazon reviewer profile. If you only review books by one author, Amazon will assume you are that author’s sister/brother/mother etc and delete them. Remember, you don’t have to have bought a book via Amazon to review it, so use this loophole to review lots of previously read titles and build up your credibility.
- Don’t refer to the author by their first name. If you are reviewing one of my books, say for example: ‘Phillips writes with glittering insight’. 😉 Don’t call me Joanne!
- Don’t give every review you write 5 stars. There is this ridiculous situation on Amazon now where books with too many 5 star reviews are being treated with suspicion (!), so sometimes it’s fine, even if you want to support an author, to give 4 stars. And if you find fault with a book for whatever reason, say why and give it 3 stars! Reviews that are honest and varied will stand less chance of being deleted.
- Lastly, spread your reviews. It doesn’t take long to post the same review on Amazon UK, Amazon US & Goodreads. If one is deleted, the others will stand, and your efforts have not been in vain.
- Don’t complain! At the moment, Amazon seem to be highly sensitive to criticism of this policy, and even if you think you are sticking up for the author in question, you might be doing more harm than good.
Related articles
- Joe Konrath: Amazon Deleted My Reviews (huffingtonpost.com)
- Disappearing Amazon Reviews (laurenwaters.net)
November 3, 2012 at 3:44 pm
That’s naughty-they do seem to have some funny ideas but I guess it’s a good idea to police the fraudsters too. I’ve recently started copying across my reviews from Goodreads over to Amazon as an author told me it makes a difference to them. I had no idea. (Just did yours too) !
November 3, 2012 at 4:35 pm
Thanks Lynda, that’s brilliant 🙂
November 3, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Great post Jo. I wasn’t aware this was going on until I saw your article.
And obviously I’m saddened by Amazon’s behaviour, as it seems to have an impact on the more vulnerable authors, the indie ones.
The suggestions you make for people who want to leave reviews are very helpful. Thank you for sharing them.
November 3, 2012 at 4:36 pm
You’re welcome Martina 🙂 xxx
November 3, 2012 at 5:12 pm
Thanks for the heads-up, Joanne. Not very nice of Amazon but as you say, it’s up to them. I am directing my wrath at the idiots who leave 1 star reviews for other authors. I mean, seriously?! What sad little people they must be to engage in such ridiculous behaviour
November 3, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Hi Celina,
I’m with you on that! A couple of authors (trad published ones) came out and plain admitted it too, and there’s another author who was recently targeted – I’ll try to dig out the post for you. Anyway, most people ignore 1 star reviews apparently, particularly if they are ranty or clearly by someone with a grudge. Oh for the days when readers were allowed to just read the blurb and make up their own minds! 🙂 x
November 3, 2012 at 10:43 pm
Good evening 🙂 Although this is a bad thing for someone like you, it is a good thing for readers who want an honest view of what a book is like. I’m fed up of seeing endless five star reviews for really rubbish books (I’ve talked about this in my most recent blog post). And I’m not trying to be mean by saying that, but I would never have bothered buying/downloading that particular book if I had read some honest reviews. What is the point of lying, after all; it only irritates me knowing I’ve wasted my time. There are so many books and so little time.
In reference to the comment above about ‘sad little people’ leaving one star reviews (nice): well if it deserves one star, why not? It is only opinion, after all. How are other readers going to know to avoid a book which would not be right for them if they read a completely fabricated review made by the authors’ best friend? I never used to read reviews to be honest, I still don’t much, but following your blog and journey has made me realise that they are quite important, especially for the Indie’s. So, I think people should be entitled to leave a whatever star review they feel the book deserves, in their opinion, without fear of retribution, as long as they can justify themselves in their choice.
I hope your reviews are safe by the way. Surely Amazon wouldn’t dare touch yours. And sorry if I used your first name in the review (can’t remember), but it would sound weird to call you Phillips. Like being at Hogwarts or something, Potter! 😉
November 4, 2012 at 1:29 pm
Hi Emma 🙂
It is a shame that the system Amazon set up has been so open to abuse – and the whole debacle has devalued reviews across the board. Mind you, how valuable are they individually, really? It’s just one person’s opinion, good or bad – it’s only when there is a consensus across multiple reviews that the system is helpful to new readers. (I think Celina above was referring to the 1 star reviews left maliciously by authors trying to scupper the competition, not to 1 star reviews in general.)
I remember reading someone else’s take on this a while back (can’t remember who it was) who made the interesing point of how weird it is that Amazon (and other retailers) have this review/forum system anyway. It’s like having a shop where you sell stuff, and then inviting customers to put up a big sign saying – Hey, don’t buy this, it’s rubbish!
What bugs me about all of this is that Amazon are only removing indie authors’ reviews – those authors who publish via the KDP platform. What they give us with one hand, they sure know how to take away with the other.
x
November 4, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Oops, sorry Celina! Me being an idiot as usual…
Maybe it’s time for you to publish via a different format? I don’t know anything about self-publishing apart from what you’ve blogged and it all sounds pretty confusing, but can’t you just publish it without being involved in a massive company? Because does it mean that people with a Nook or whatever can’t download your story from Amazon anyway?
Confused.com.
x
November 3, 2012 at 10:49 pm
OMFG this is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!! 😦
I only e re review books on Amazon that I like, so I guess I need to rethink that!
Xx
November 4, 2012 at 1:32 pm
Hi Vikki, I only review books I like too. I used to review under the user name ‘readaholic’ but I recently decided to go transparent and review under my real name. Did you know that Amazon are also removing reviews which are placed by fellow authors? (Only indie, of course.) The whole thing seems to be going crazy. Like suddenly they want to be seen to be policing it – but does it need policing?
Bonkers! 🙂
November 4, 2012 at 8:39 am
As a reader and not a writer I take the reviews seriously when I am thinking of buying. A 5* review makes me think it has been popular and I look at it with more interest. (more fool me for believing the 5*?). What on earth is the point of having star ratings as it seems any number of stars could mean anything that Amazon has deigned (spelling?) to allow.
November 4, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Hi Mary,
Thanks for commenting – more reader opinions needed! I don’t think you need to worry, not all 5 star reviews are worthless. I can say with authority about my reviews (I have over 30 5 star ones) that there is only one I know was written by a friend. And hey, she liked the book! I can’t tell people I know not to review if they genuinely like it 🙂 The vast majority are lovely, touching, generous reviews by folks I’ve never met and I’m grateful for each one. It’s horrible to think 5 stars are being viewed with suspicion.
When I’m buying a book on Amazon, I just read the blurb. I imagine I’m in a book shop and have to make a choice based on the cover, the blurb, and the first few pages. I ignore reviews – shock confession! But I love ’em on my own books because Amazon use them to push a title up the rankings, making it more visible to readers.
Jo x
November 4, 2012 at 9:41 am
I’ve read two news stories recently about authors who were creating phony accounts, giving themselves 5 stars and their competitors in the genre 1 star. I wish I could think of a punishment that fits that crime, but at the moment the only thing that comes to mind is a 2 x 4 upside the head… repeatedly. We, as Indie writers, do not need this negative publicity, especially at this point in our development.
When I review a book, it’s a serious matter. I’m speaking to potential buyers, not the author. The number of stars I assign is honest and my real opinion. I hope none of mine disappears from Amazon. However, if they do, I always cross-post my reviews to any site (Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, etc) the author asks me to do. I also do a blog post of my review which I then share on Google+, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Facebook, and maybe one or two more that are escaping my mind for the moment. So, if Amazon deems my review suspect, at least the author has a few other places to which s/he can direct potential readers.
November 4, 2012 at 1:43 pm
That’s fantastic, you are a model we should all follow. If everyone was this conscientous about reviews they would certainly have more value. Sadly, the nature of Amazon’s system means your considered review gets the same weighting as some of the truly bonkers reviews I’ve read – one that springs to mind was a reviewer who hadn’t read the book at all (and said so in the review) but didn’t like the author’s previous book so had decided not to buy this one. Of course, the reader can ignore this, but the 1 star is still damaging to the author’s overall review percentage.
Oh well, *sighs*. It’s just the way it is.
🙂 x
November 4, 2012 at 10:38 pm
Just to clear up confusion, my ‘sad little people’ remark was, as Joanne said, for those authors who deliberately leave 1 star reviews for other authors, whether or not they’ve even read the book in question or not, in order to drive down their Amazon rankings. Obviously, if the book is total mince, one-star away 🙂
It’s a bit of a facer, because Amazon get criticised for not policing their review system and when they DO police their review system, they get totally flamed!
November 4, 2012 at 11:21 pm
It astounds me that other authors would stoop so low as to sabatge their competition. I have been a victim (that sounds so mellowdramatic) of both having a 5 star removed and having one clearly suspicious 1 star left up. The person who wrote it did so in less than 24 hrs of downloading it for free and one of their complaints was that it was too long, lol!
November 5, 2012 at 5:04 pm
Hi Bridget,
I guess it’s fine if Amazon want to start policing their reviews, but it does seem unfair if they are arbitrarily removing 5 star reviews – with little or no evidence of a review’s lack of credibility – but are not removing 1 star reviews which are also dubious. Has anyone heard of a traditionally published title this has happened to yet?
Jo x
November 5, 2012 at 5:29 pm
What you’ve recommended is what I’ve been doing all along. I’ve got to really love something to give it a 5 star review and I get tough on even blogger/authors who I have a connection with if they don’t match up to my personal standards.
November 22, 2012 at 4:39 am
I have to agree. I only have two five star reviews on my book right now. (I am new to book publishing.) I am afraid of losing them. I met the two reviewers on Goodreads and only asked for a review for a free kindle copy (for one) and a reminder of when the free promotion was for the second reviewer. I am also worried on whether i can review other Christian fiction book. I mean I want to share costumers not steal them.