Reader Reviews

Wednesday News: Target promises to price match but won’t make it easy; Harsh reviews awarded;

Wednesday News: Target promises to price match but won’t make it easy; Harsh reviews awarded;

Target Pledges to Price Match Amazon Year-Round – Target is pledging to price match Amazon and other online retailers. The catch is that the product must be exact and because Target sells a lot of private label products, it’s not likely to eat into Target’s profit margin. Plus, Mulpuru pointed out, going through the Guest(…)

The perils of paid-for reviews

The perils of paid-for reviews

Despite the regularity and ubiquity with which free speech is invoked in online discussions, it is rarely relevant in the way it is used, as either sword or shield. In the broadest possible sense, our online discussions (at least in the United States) are reflective of the “marketplace of ideas” theory of free speech, but(…)

Do Readers Owe Other Readers to Review?

Do Readers Owe Other Readers to Review?

  As more authors bypass traditional publishing to bring their products directly to the consumer, the greater the risk is to the reader that she wastes her money (albeit a low amount of it) and her time (possibly more precious) on a sub standard product.  The benefit of a book that is published by an(…)

Spoilers in Reviews: Yea or Nay

[poll id="189"] Robin, who cheats on Dear Author by blogging at Access Romance and Romancing the Blog, posted her thoughts about spoilers in reviews.   Robin is for it (and I am too) but we both work hard to have spoiler free reviews. It’s often quite hard, particularly when an element of the story affects how(…)

Would I Lie To You?

more animals Do you remember the movie "Election," with Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick? In the first scene Mr. McAllister asks his high school class about the difference between ethics and morals. Ironically, of course, the one student who eagerly attempts to answer the question is also the one who proceeds to make mincemeat of(…)

A Little Family Spat Plays Itself Out in the Amazon Reviews

Usually when Amazon reviews are penned by the family members, it is done so with the intent to bolster star rankings but maybe the most effective Amazon reviews are ones that generate controversy which in turns stir booksales. According to GalleyCat, Rachel Sontag wrote a memoir, House Rules, about growing up with an emotionally abusive(…)

What is the value of authorial endorsements?

In this political season, the candidates have received endorsements from people that they have had to “reject and denounce*”. The Good, The Bad, and the Unread, featured a promo for the September release of Double Enchantment by Kathleen Kennedy which is the second book in her Relics of Merlin series. Kennedy’s world is set in(…)

Barnes & Noble Engaged in Deleting Reviews

SB Sarah got a heads up from a Janet Evanovich fan that early reviews were disappearing from the Barnes and Noble site. Of course, the only deleted reviews were the negative ones. Google cache which preserves snapshots of past versions of a webpage showed at least two negative reviews that are nowhere to be found(…)