First off, thank you so much to everyone who shared Monday’s post on the publishing process in GIF form. I seriously did not anticipate that response when I posted it, but it certainly made for an exciting Monday!
Meanwhile, publishing tongues were wagging this week in the wake of a NY Times article about the (apparently very lucrative) world of fake online book reviews:
In the fall of 2010, Mr. Rutherford started a Web site, GettingBookReviews.com. At first, he advertised that he would review a book for $99. But some clients wanted a chorus proclaiming their excellence. So, for $499, Mr. Rutherford would do 20 online reviews. A few people needed a whole orchestra. For $999, he would do 50.
There were immediate complaints in online forums that the service was violating the sacred arm’s-length relationship between reviewer and author. But there were also orders, a lot of them. Before he knew it, he was taking in $28,000 a month.
Some of the responses to this post, including Salon’s, aligned this practice with self-publishing, likely because most of the authors featured in the article, including John Locke, were self-published authors.
Art: The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs by Georges de la Tour
Well…I'm an indie author and I've used paid review services! Don't see anything wrong with it–it's obviously a vanity/paid advertising service, but it's the author's choice when it comes to marketing.
And for the record, i've used
http://www.PennBookReview.com
and they are very helpful, critical, and professional. I fell like I got exactly what I was looking for–reviews and marketing!
Also, I fell that, rather than actually paying for the review–I paid for someone to manage my marketing strategy so that I could write more. & here is the other thing–I didn't get a five star bogus review–I got a thoughtful, creative, and professional one–more useful in my opinion.
Thanks.