Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

(I know sometimes we group members miss threads with wonderful information and I thought I would post this comment by Margaret so more folks get to see it.)

I know a few authors who have had success contacting Amazon and asking that their reviews be reinstated. One, in particular, had most of his reviews disappear and was able to get nearly all of them back. If you don't already, I would suggest copying all your reviews when they appear (I keep a word document with mine) so you have a record and can easily figure out which ones are missing. You can then be more specific in asking Amazon to put them back up. I've had a few removed too with no valid reason to do so...they were not purchased, not from friends, etc., so it's frustrating to try to figure out why Amazon does what it does.

(We have a voice, let's us it! Share this with everyone.)

Thank you for posting this 😊 will make backups 😊

In my opinion, Amazon is trying to fight spammers and people who buy reviews.

Amazon has been removing reviews for at least a year. Too many authors are gaming the system and getting friends, family and other authors to leave reviews, or as Cendrine notes, simply buying them. Amazon will delete a review where it detects any association between the author and the reviewer.

Reviews can also disappear if a person deletes their account, all activity with that account will likewise disappear.

If you have genuine reader reviews from organic sales you have nothing to worry about. I certainly won't be stalking my pages copying reviews, I have a book to write.

Cendrine wrote: "In my opinion, Amazon is trying to fight spammers and people who buy reviews."

Yes, that is what they are trying to do, but sometimes the author suffers by losing legitimate reviews. i lost 6 or 7 reviews on my first book forno ggod reason. I just lost a review for the first time on my second book. I have no idea which one it is. Dennis makes a good suggestion to put them all into a word doc and fight to have them reinstated. It's a uphill battle to gain exposure and recognition. We can't afford to lose a single review.

A.W. wrote: "Amazon has been removing reviews for at least a year. Too many authors are gaming the system and getting friends, family and other authors to leave reviews, or as Cendrine notes, simply buying them..."

I agree with you, A.W.! You can have people leave reviews, even if they didn't buy your books, but I feel that the way the reviews are written also plays an important role in Amazon's decision.

I'm not an author, but I am a avid reader and I really admire all you authors and I'm grateful for the awesome books you write :) what I meant with my first comment was that I as a consumer of your books will backup the reviews that I've written. There could be many explanations on why amazon deletes reviews. It can even be that amazon doesn't delete them but that there is a glitch/bug when someone writes a review. Maybe that bug/glitch makes it look like the review was posted but that it really wasn't. Maybe Amazon has a kind of automatic filter system in place that filters out certain words or phrases? It can be like mentioned in a previous post that someone deletes the account the review was written on. Or maybe the reviewer themselves have removed the review. I'll stop before I write a really long post about this. Ps. thank you all again for the books you all write. Keep up the good work! 😁😊

Last year Amazon announced a policy of deleting all reviews of books that weren't either ARCs from Vine or purchased on Amazon.
It's at https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/abpt...

I am a reader. I no longer post reviews to Amazon unless I've legitimately purchased it there.

Books are handled differently than all other products:

"Book authors and publishers may continue to provide free or discounted copies of their books to readers, as long as the author or publisher does not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review."

It's not quite as draconian as it might be.

My reviews are not being deleted and I read at least 4-5 books per week.

Remember to say at the end of your review:

"I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I thank the author for sharing a copy of the book with me."

This solves the two requirements from Amazon. 1) that you are not forced to leave a review in exchange for the copy of the book; and 2) that you disclose you received a free copy.

Dennis wrote: "(I know sometimes we group members miss threads with wonderful information and I thought I would post this comment by Margaret so more folks get to see it.)

I know a few authors who have had succe..."

Great advice. Thanks for sharing this info!

Luci wrote: "I'm not an author, but I am a avid reader and I really admire all you authors and I'm grateful for the awesome books you write :) what I meant with my first comment was that I as a consumer of your..."

You make great points here, Luci. Keep reading! As an author I'm grateful for you and others like you!

Most articles in literary periodicals and books focused upon writing, publishing and marketing emphasize the fact that sales generate book reviews, not the other way around as some believe.

the vast majority of avid readers never post a rating or review. Those that do post do so to share their personal, and therefore subjective, opinion with other readers, not the author.

If an author must obsess over something, he/she should foster an obsession for striving to continuously learn about and improve upon their writing skills and personal style, not upon reviews.

Amazon has deleted reviews for years. Periodically, I would see the number decrease. I could never find which one they eliminated. Someone in the threads said there are various reasons- they are right- some reviews get reported by other reviewers, sometimes people do remove them, and Amazon will take any off they deem to be "fake." If the IP address is is the same, or the books isn't a verified purchase and the reader fails to note they received the book for free. Sometimes I would forget to mention that (an oversight on my part) and they took off the review and told me not to try and reinstate it. Now you have to state that you got the book from the author, but a review was not expected.
Personally, I purchase all my books now, because I didn't like my integrity questioned.
Yes, Jim, I agree that all reviews are subjective to a person's taste, but they do influence sales, imo. Again, you are right, that most readers do not leave reviews. I do find, that if a book has a lot of reviews, readers are more willing to leave reviews. I guess they don't want to stand out.

I've found the following statement on Amazon's customer review help pages:

"When we find unusually high numbers of reviews for a product posted in a short period of time, we may restrict the number of non-Amazon Verified Purchase reviews on that product."

It doesn't cover every issue, but it may explain why some reviews disappear. I hope that's of help.

L.J. wrote: "I've found the following statement on Amazon's customer review help pages:

"When we find unusually high numbers of reviews for a product posted in a short period of time, we may restrict the numbe..."

Actually, L.J. that's not quite correct.
This clause addresses mostly what happens when celebrities' books get released. Most recently: When Ivanka Trump released her latest book, people who did not buy the book on Amazon could not post a review.
Obviously, Amazon did that to hinder thousands of people to make pro-and-con-Trump statements, like it happened when Megyn Kelly published her book.

Luci wrote: "I'm not an author, but I am a avid reader and I really admire all you authors and I'm grateful for the awesome books you write :) what I meant with my first comment was that I as a consumer of your..."

Hello Luci,
Hope this blog helps:
No! I It Does Not Look as if Amazon Spies on Indie Authors in Facebook Groups
http://nakeddetermination.blogspot.co...

I wrote 53 imdependent, unpaid, book reviews this year (26 purchases) and Amazon removed 50 of them last week. I have protested and will delete my Amazon account if they are not reinstated. I think they want to get rid of bloggers leaving reviews and force authors to pay Amazon for reviews through Vine. PM me if you have had any luck fighting Amazon.

Faith wrote: "I wrote 53 imdependent, unpaid, book reviews this year (26 purchases) and Amazon removed 50 of them last week. I have protested and will delete my Amazon account if they are not reinstated. I think..."

Interesting, Faith. What was your ranking before they deleted the reviews?

I am not sure what my ranking was but I had loads of helpful ticks. Amazon have replied to say they are not reinstating my reviews so I've closed my Amazon account. The cruelty of giants.

Faith wrote: "I am not sure what my ranking was but I had loads of helpful ticks. Amazon have replied to say they are not reinstating my reviews so I've closed my Amazon account. The cruelty of giants."

You do know that Amazon also owns Goodreads?

Is that whats going on? I had one review for my novel Noble and the review was removed a few days ago. I asked about it and got a pretty basic answer.

I've done >100 book reviews on the 'Zon, very few of which are for books I bought there. (I mostly buy books at B&N and the local used bookstore.) As far as I can tell, they're all still out there. If the 'Zon is going to turn thumbs-down on one of my reviews, it usually does so right after I submit it; this has happened less than half a dozen times, and I've never been able to figure out why.

I'm not a blogger, and I I've awarded five stars to maybe 4-5 of the books I've reviewed. That may be why the 'Zon hasn't bothered with me yet.

The Just-About-Average Ms M wrote: "To Amazon, book bloggers are often too closely associated with the authors whose books they review. And quite often that is indeed the case.

Reviews of books were originally intended to be by read..."

Tell me about it. I just wrote a book about it. Actually, I first released my book in May 2015, then had to revise said book in 2016, and after Amazon made more changes to their guidelines because of cheaters I had to take that book down, rewrite it completely and published under a new title to avoid confusing readers.

Just talked to a journalist who wanted to feature it; he said, "why did you release so quickly?" We need three months lead time."

I said, "May I quote Bill Gates? - - "Intellectual property has the shelf life of a banana."

That's true for Amazon too.

Gisela wrote: "The Just-About-Average Ms M wrote: "To Amazon, book bloggers are often too closely associated with the authors whose books they review. And quite often that is indeed the case.

Reviews of books we..."

BTW, since I just released the book it's on Give-away here on Goodreads.

Jim wrote: "Most articles in literary periodicals and books focused upon writing, publishing and marketing emphasize the fact that sales generate book reviews, not the other way around as some believe.

the va..."

You're right Jim. I agree with you.

Alicia wrote: "Books are handled differently than all other products:

"Book authors and publishers may continue to provide free or discounted copies of their books to readers, as long as the author or publisher ..."

Hi Alicia. Yes I posted a link to that on a similar discussion on another forum and was told that despite it, they were not showing non verified reviews unless the buyer clicks umpteen links to display them.

Pam wrote: "Alicia wrote: "Books are handled differently than all other products:

"Book authors and publishers may continue to provide free or discounted copies of their books to readers, as long as the autho..."

Hello Pam,
Well, what's worse is that Amazon also registers the reviews of books I read with KU as non verified.
And, no, many consumers don't click that "see all reviews"-link. My Amazon reviewer rank has dropped 600 ranks since February; obviously people do not look click the link.

I'm curious. Does Amazon notify either the reviewer or the author of the book the reviews have been deleted?

I want to echo the person who said she always includes where she got the book if not purchased online. When I leave reviews for others I'll try to say "I purchased this at a book festival/book signing . . . ".

Michael Scott Earl
Just saw where Amazon dumped everything by Michael Scott Earle. Some nonsense about manipulating Kindle Unlimited page reads? But they dumped everything, not just the KU stuff, and in every country? He's not the first. Seems they're targeting Indie authors?

This would really be devastating to Indie authors who rely on Amazon income. Do they have any recourse? Can they switch to Nook Books?

Are they looking to force KU readers to do full purchases? As a senior on a limited budget I rely on KU. I believe some authors are abandoning KU to keep from getting wiped out.

Many authors have found a way to 'stuff' their books with previously published work, increasing the page reads in the KU program. My son and I had over 50 indie published books on KU and noticed once the page reads was instituted, our sales steadily declined. Our part of the 'pot' diminished each month, though our sales remained steady. The bulk of the funds were distributed to people with these 'stuffed' books. I knew something was wrong- but I couldn't put my finger on it. Amazon saw this and chose to allow the small people who played by the rules to die on the vine.
In March of 2017, I removed all our books from KU and moved them to Draft to Digital where they were published on multiple platforms all over the world.

I received an interesting email from Ricardo Fayet at Reedsy about reasons why Amazon are removing reviews. Amongst these, he cites a particular issue re keywords and time stamps in URLs pointed out by Dave Chesson. It's worth checking out: https://kindlepreneur.com/amazon-supe...

One of my coveted 5 reviews on a book in my series was just deleted by Amazon. Down to 4 reviews. They're good reviews, but I was shocked that one was removed. I read Dave Chesson's article and I know about the time stamp URL, but I'm always careful to just include the basic link if I post about one of my books on social media. It's sad that the people who try to trick Amazon for ratings have such a negative impact on the little guy who's trying to be honest.

Yup- I couldn't agree more.

...
Kathleen ... Don't know if this will help, but I messed up and put a Goodreads group link in a review and Amazon bounced it and sent me a TOS notice. It evidently was a timed exclusion as I got an invite to repost without the link. So I just named the group and it posted. Maybe your reviewer can repost and you'll not lose the review?

When you all refer to a book are you not allowed to name it? I'd be likely to check out those reviews.

Thanks for your comment, Persnickety. Unfortunately, I don't know whose review was deleted. It had been awhile since I got any reviews for the book, but I check the numbers each day. I just have to take it as a loss and hope new reviews come in. I've been doing AMS ads and am getting readers, but no new reviews thus far.

Kathleen:

Gee, that's a shame! I understand how tough it can be publishing as an indie author, especially starting out. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to get more reviews because Amazon will probably notice if you ask for them and delete them immediately. But if you're getting more readers now then we can just keep our fingers crossed that someone will offer a review, and a positive one too.

Anyway, good luck! I hope you get more traffic going your way!

A. J. Deschene

A friend of mine told me that amazon only keeps reviews on books that were bought through there, but I don't think that should be the case. I think it ought to be set up where you can leave reviews for books whether you buy them through there or not as amazon is a bigger market for all you authors and that is where readers go that want to buy the books.

I have noticed when reading reviews on amazon that sometimes next to the reviewers name it will say "verified purchase" so amazon is tracking the books being bought through their site.

I was leaving reviews for books that I didn't buy through there, but I haven't checked to see if they have been removed, but they probably have since I didn't buy them through there.

Many legitimate, established literary websites and periodicals note if the book reviewed is a "verified purchase".

This practice came about because, either through ignorance of the regulation or deliberately, some readers who post a review of a book received free in return for the promise of a possible review, in reciprocation for a review of their own work, or in return for some other type of compensation such as a gift card, fail to include that fact in the review itself as is required by a Federal Trade Commission regulation.

One glitch relative to verified purchase.... I'm a budget limited Kindle Unlimited reader. We subscribe, but still pay to read the books.

What Amazon doesn't appear to do, is factor in ratings. You have to leave a review if you want the author to get those well deserved perks?

The good news is that the "Before You Go" reviews publish at Amazon and Goodreads. I've learned to follow both resources.

I haven't worried about this since it became a bigger issue then it originally was. I am however considering I may be worried since I know I need to get some new reviews and I just hope when and if I do that Amazon won't delete them.

Thank you!

yes, I noticed some reviews were missing on me as well. Amazon will keep up the verified purchased reviews, but the unverified reviews come down after a short time. it is hard to get people to repost a review too.

I wonder now that Amazon is running goodreads.com if that trend will trickle down here. They are the 800 lb. gorilla, and they are throwing their weight around -- now in a lawsuit as co-defendents with major publishers for price-fixing.

This is Big Brother stuff. Now, to go on the internet and post an opinion, we must be verified and tracked? It is bad enough that Amazon sells most of the books. Is that not enough data for them to mine? Where does the information on our reading habits go and for what purpose is it used?

Michael J. Scharen
michaelsbookcorner.com

Fight for the Future

I wish sites like this would remain independent but I understand if someone backs a dumptruck full of cash to the door its tough to say no.

If a person wishes to read a book they will purchase a copy or borrow one from the public library. For whatever reason, the vast majority of avid readers choose to never post a rating or review. Those who do are merely expressing their personal, and therefore, subjective opinion. One reader's Best book ever! might very well be another reader's Worst book ever! which is why most astute readers do not allow a review to impact a purchasing decision one way or the other.

Amazon's or any other entity's policy regarding reviews is irrelevant. Authors are better served focusing upon striving to constantly improve upon technical writing, promotional, and marketing knowledge and skills. Sales will then increase. Reviews will follow.

The best possible reviews are unsolicited, from people you don't know. The least best are the ones you buy from sites that provide reviews or from friends who are trying to be helpful by giving it 5 stars and saying stuff like "this is the best book ever written in human history!"

But while its false to say reviews make no difference, they aren't as significant as many authors seem to believe. I've never been swayed from buying a book based exclusively on reviews. I doubt some people even read reviews. I wouldn't sweat it too much.

It's not about whether one is swayed by reviews or not. Most websites, like Amazon, use algorithms that favor reviews. It doesn't even matter if the reviews are good or bad. A review can be as simple as "I enjoyed this" and it will help to boost where your book is placed on search pages. Higher visibility means more sales, which increases your ranking, which puts you even higher on the search pages.
You need reviews for visibility, not for swaying potential readers.

Trish wrote: "It's not about whether one is swayed by reviews or not. Most websites, like Amazon, use algorithms that favor reviews. It doesn't even matter if the reviews are good or bad. A review can be as simp..."

But I believe that actively soliciting reviews, like too many do on Goodreads.com, is the wrong way to get reviews. Most of the time, soliciting reviews will only attract hackers and trolls. Let time and word of mouth do its work and don't expect to become a best-selling author overnight.

Trish wrote: "It's not about whether one is swayed by reviews or not. Most websites, like Amazon, use algorithms that favor reviews. It doesn't even matter if the reviews are good or bad. A review can be as simp..."

I have to agree with Trish. An officer from goodreads.com stated clearly that their algorithms are driven by reviews. The whole point of marketing is to at least get the product seen by potential readers/customers. The algorithms use reviews of works by readers individuals and in aggregate to suggest new books for sale. Authors are here to connect with readers and vice versa, exchange ideas, and critiques. To goodreads.com's credit, the man said they discount authors like Stephen King or JK Rowling because we all know who they are. The algorithms will follow what readers like but actually suggest works they may never have considered -- outside their comfort zone.
I have begun a new group called Authors' Review Exchange where we review each other's work to both improve our writing and to help sales. Less than a week old and already matches are being made. I am reading another author's work already. Time will tell on sales, but I am hopeful. I would rather have a handful of honest reviews than none.

Michael J. Scharen
michaelsbookcorner.com