Authors patting each other's backs...

GraceKrispy · 07-13-2011, 05:37 PM

I recently looked up a book (indie) on Amazon and was amazed to see a pile of 5 star reviews (since I didn't think it was even close to 5 stars). Looking more closely, I realized that every 5 star review was from a fellow author who hocked his or her own book at the bottom of the review (one -liner). Further investigating, I realized that all of the reviews written by these other authors were 5 star books, hocking their own book at that bottom each time. Is this an author "you-pat-my-back-(with 5 stars)-I'll pat-yours" ring? In looking up some of the original author's other books, I'm seeing the same pattern.

Is this like the thing to do? I know Amazon reviews (and actually any reviews, anywhere) have to be taken with a grain of salt or a whisper of caution or whatever, but it's really irritating to see the level of "fake reviewing" going on. It's not that it's difficult to believe several people might have a different take on a book I've read, but if the author has reviewed about 10 other indie books, given each one 5 stars, hocked her book in the bottom line of each review... it starts to look like marketing, eh?

elemenoP · 07-13-2011, 05:42 PM

Doesn't surprise me, and this is nothing new to Amazon. You know those "blurbs" on the front, back, or inside of a paperback? "Scariest book I ever read" - Stephen King. There was a magazine (Spy Magazine, maybe?) that used to trace the trail of blurbs from one author to another. Even if authors don't directly blurb each other's books, they are often from the same publishing house.

eP

elemenoP · 07-13-2011, 05:45 PM

It seems there is a name for it: logrolling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logrolling

eP

mr ploppy · 07-13-2011, 07:08 PM

I don't think the writers being reviewed are all colluding in some sinister plot, I think it's just people using the reviews as a marketing exercise for their own books. If you wrote a book about (say) zombies it would make sense to put the name of your book in front of people looking at other, better known zombie books. The reason for the 5 stars will be fear of retaliation by the writer being reviewed (or the writer's fans).

Frida Fantastic · 07-13-2011, 07:48 PM

I don't think of it much. I just see "Aw, isn't that nice. They're all friends" and read the reviews by real readers. I don't really care who the reviewer is, but if they just say generic nice comments, with no specific praise or criticism, then they're not adding information to the system and their opinion doesn't sway me to check out the book.

abookreader · 07-13-2011, 08:22 PM

I've seen more than a bit of it in the Romance genre. It doesn't seem prevalent amongst the firmly established -- mostly those who are just scratching and begging trying to establish a foothold.

Fbone · 07-13-2011, 10:48 PM

It's one reason I ignore the 5 star reviews.

Hoyt Clagwell · 07-13-2011, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Doesn't surprise me, and this is nothing new to Amazon. You know those "blurbs" on the front, back, or inside of a paperback? "Scariest book I ever read" - Stephen King. There was a magazine (Spy Magazine, maybe?) that used to trace the trail of blurbs from one author to another. Even if authors don't directly blurb each other's books, they are often from the same publishing house.

eP

Correct. For those interested Spy Magazine has been digitized.

http://books.google.com/books?id=AXK..._issues_anchor

dreams · 07-14-2011, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

I recently looked up a book (indie) on Amazon and was amazed to see a pile of 5 star reviews (since I didn't think it was even close to 5 stars). Looking more closely, I realized that every 5 star review was from a fellow author who hocked his or her own book at the bottom of the review (one -liner). Further investigating, I realized that all of the reviews written by these other authors were 5 star books, hocking their own book at that bottom each time. Is this an author "you-pat-my-back-(with 5 stars)-I'll pat-yours" ring? In looking up some of the original author's other books, I'm seeing the same pattern.

Is this like the thing to do? I know Amazon reviews (and actually any reviews, anywhere) have to be taken with a grain of salt or a whisper of caution or whatever, but it's really irritating to see the level of "fake reviewing" going on. It's not that it's difficult to believe several people might have a different take on a book I've read, but if the author has reviewed about 10 other indie books, given each one 5 stars, hocked her book in the bottom line of each review... it starts to look like marketing, eh?

I noticed this a while ago and started to check if the reviewer was an author, then ignored their review of the book, if they were. If the author actually has a line with a link to their own book, I also ignore it. I, also, check to see how many and what other books were reviewed by that person. If I am suspicious, then I also ignore it. (There are a couple of authors that I will pay attention to their comments because they have shown to give a good honest critique of another author's work.)

On Amazon I usually just read the 3 star and below reviews to see what was said, then maybe check some 4 star reviews.

I totally agree with you that it is extremely irritating to see all the mutual 5 star reviewing going on.

More and more, I am starting to not even bother to read Amazon reviews.

I prefer to read comments in the Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading? thread on MR and look for multiple members who make comments about the book. I especially pay attention to any members who have read and liked a lot of the same books I have. Sometimes, I'll do a search of MobileRead to what comments have been made about a book I'm interested in reading. I also check indie book reviewer blogs that I know give honest reviews.

elemenoP · 07-14-2011, 08:14 AM

also have you ever noticed that the reviews on Amazon skew much higher than Goodreads? For pretty much any book, it has a higher rating on Amazon. Is this because of shilling/logrolling? (could it be *that* widespread?) Or is something else going on there?

eP

Frida Fantastic · 07-14-2011, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elemenoP

also have you ever noticed that the reviews on Amazon skew much higher than Goodreads? For pretty much any book, it has a higher rating on Amazon. Is this because of shilling/logrolling? (could it be *that* widespread?) Or is something else going on there?

eP

Naw, it's just that Amazon has a lot of one-off reviewers who don't put that much thought into their star ratings, which is why it's often either five stars or one star. Goodreads attracts avid readers who want to show a consistent review track record to attract the right bookish people to connect with, which is why Goodreads' ratings seem more sane (more often in the 3-4 star range). There are still Goodreads logrolling going on, but not as often, and it's even more obvious because it says (Goodreads Author) beside the username.

patrickt · 07-14-2011, 06:22 PM

I agree. I almost never give a 5-star review and I even more rarely read one.

Uncle Ned · 07-15-2011, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoyt Clagwell

Correct. For those interested Spy Magazine has been digitized.

http://books.google.com/books?id=AXK..._issues_anchor

There's goes my shot at getting any work done today.

issybird · 07-15-2011, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

It's one reason I ignore the 5 star reviews.

Very few books deserve five stars, which makes a plethora of five-star reviews suspect--especially when that's all a book has gotten. You'd think a shiller would be canny enough to throw in a four-star review or two. In any case, a negative review (three stars or worse) is likely to be more helpful to me. Do the criticisms seem valid? Is that the kind of thing that bothers me, too?

jersysman · 07-15-2011, 01:48 PM

I am going to touch on another thing the OP said. If you do see and recognize these 5-star reviews are bogus, do you then click on the link in the reviewers sig hyping their book? That is the probably the only reason they do it - in hopes that a large percentage would click on the link and check out their book. I, for one, do not.

07-13-2011, 05:37 PM	#1
GraceKrispy It's Dr. Penguin now! Posts: 3,909 Karma: 4705733 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: (USA) Device: iPad mini, Samsung Note 3, Sony PRS-650 (rarely used now)	Authors patting each other's backs... I recently looked up a book (indie) on Amazon and was amazed to see a pile of 5 star reviews (since I didn't think it was even close to 5 stars). Looking more closely, I realized that every 5 star review was from a fellow author who hocked his or her own book at the bottom of the review (one -liner). Further investigating, I realized that all of the reviews written by these other authors were 5 star books, hocking their own book at that bottom each time. Is this an author "you-pat-my-back-(with 5 stars)-I'll pat-yours" ring? In looking up some of the original author's other books, I'm seeing the same pattern. Is this like the thing to do? I know Amazon reviews (and actually any reviews, anywhere) have to be taken with a grain of salt or a whisper of caution or whatever, but it's really irritating to see the level of "fake reviewing" going on. It's not that it's difficult to believe several people might have a different take on a book I've read, but if the author has reviewed about 10 other indie books, given each one 5 stars, hocked her book in the bottom line of each review... it starts to look like marketing, eh?

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07-13-2011, 05:42 PM	#2
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	Doesn't surprise me, and this is nothing new to Amazon. You know those "blurbs" on the front, back, or inside of a paperback? "Scariest book I ever read" - Stephen King. There was a magazine (Spy Magazine, maybe?) that used to trace the trail of blurbs from one author to another. Even if authors don't directly blurb each other's books, they are often from the same publishing house. eP

07-13-2011, 05:45 PM	#3
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	It seems there is a name for it: logrolling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logrolling eP

07-13-2011, 07:08 PM	#4
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	I don't think the writers being reviewed are all colluding in some sinister plot, I think it's just people using the reviews as a marketing exercise for their own books. If you wrote a book about (say) zombies it would make sense to put the name of your book in front of people looking at other, better known zombie books. The reason for the 5 stars will be fear of retaliation by the writer being reviewed (or the writer's fans).

07-13-2011, 07:48 PM	#5
Frida Fantastic SF/F book blogger Posts: 270 Karma: 502030 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Kindle 3	I don't think of it much. I just see "Aw, isn't that nice. They're all friends" and read the reviews by real readers. I don't really care who the reviewer is, but if they just say generic nice comments, with no specific praise or criticism, then they're not adding information to the system and their opinion doesn't sway me to check out the book.

07-13-2011, 08:22 PM	#6
abookreader Wizard Posts: 1,516 Karma: 2567610 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD	I've seen more than a bit of it in the Romance genre. It doesn't seem prevalent amongst the firmly established -- mostly those who are just scratching and begging trying to establish a foothold.

07-13-2011, 10:48 PM	#7
Fbone Is that a sandwich? Posts: 8,318 Karma: 103930826 Join Date: Jun 2010 Device: Nook Glowlight Plus	It's one reason I ignore the 5 star reviews.

07-14-2011, 08:14 AM	#10
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	also have you ever noticed that the reviews on Amazon skew much higher than Goodreads? For pretty much any book, it has a higher rating on Amazon. Is this because of shilling/logrolling? (could it be that widespread?) Or is something else going on there? eP

07-14-2011, 06:22 PM	#12
patrickt Wizard Posts: 1,221 Karma: 8381518 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Oaxaca, Mexico Device: Paperwhite 4 X 2	I agree. I almost never give a 5-star review and I even more rarely read one.

07-15-2011, 01:48 PM	#15
jersysman Wizard Posts: 1,747 Karma: 3761220 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Pennsylvania Device: T1 Red, Kindle Fire, Kindle PW, PW2, Nook HD+, Kobo Mini, Aura HD	I am going to touch on another thing the OP said. If you do see and recognize these 5-star reviews are bogus, do you then click on the link in the reviewers sig hyping their book? That is the probably the only reason they do it - in hopes that a large percentage would click on the link and check out their book. I, for one, do not.