Quote:
Originally Posted by SandySchwab
Amazon reviews are easily manipulated, though. Unfortunately, there are authors who don't believe readers have a right to criticize their books. So, don't like that one-star review? Tell enough people (family, friends, rabid fans) to click "not helpful" or "report this" and the review will be pushed down the page or even disappear.
Want a couple of 5-star reviews? Tell your family and friends and author buddies to write glowing reviews.
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Another problem is people reviewing a book they haven't even read-- in some cases, a book that isn't even out yet (Paolini's
Brisingr comes to mind). One way to avoid this would be to restrict reviews to those who've actually bought the book
from Amazon (because Amazon would have no way of knowing who might have bought the book elsewhere).
But in the case of free downloads, this wouldn't work because someone could download the book and not read it, and then write a review. However, once the price went up over $1, I think the number of spurious reviews would drop dramatically.
Regarding online writer's workshops, usually the MS are distributed by email, but even if they were posted online, access could be (and would need to be) restricted to members of that workshop only.