23 replies
Two amazon account names review kindle books.

Both have reviewed about 8 books

Out of the 8 books each reviewed, about 4 are the exact same books.

When they have reviewed the same book, they have both written reviews and given 1 star ratings. And within a short time of each other.

Coincidence? Some bizarre alignment if circumstances? Or?
#gangs #kindle
  • Profile picture of the author TinkBD
    Originally Posted by SunilTanna View Post

    Two amazon account names review kindle books.

    Both have reviewed about 8 books

    Out of the 8 books each reviewed, about 4 are the exact same books.

    When they have reviewed the same book, they have both written reviews and given 1 star ratings. And within a short time of each other.

    Coincidence? Some bizarre alignment if circumstances? Or?
    I personally know of at least one group organized to do this type of things. <shakes head> Sooooo shortsighted...
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    More like a mob than a gang.

    I've noticed this in a few different niches. One or two usually, sometimes three reviewers write flaming reviews with one star ratings, and suddenly the acolytes of those reviewers step on each other to add their own negative review. Some of those will even admit that they haven't read the book in question, but if "Joe Smackdown" says it's bad, they won't have to waste their money.

    I thought I left high school almost 40 years ago...
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  • Profile picture of the author seobro
    Hi John:
    I do agree. There is one lady that likes to give bad me poor reviews. Despite the different accounts I can tell it is her due to her abnormal grammar. What can we say. Life goes on. Still, your sales will be affected by reviews. Perhaps we can create our own gang.

    Here are typical sales for one of my books which were increasing. Then came the bad review gang. Quite an effect tactic we may say.

    4
    8
    4
    15
    18
    23
    28
    15
    19
    10
    8
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Bratcher
    Short-sighted indeed. While wasting time giving their "competitorss" bad reviews, they could have been working to make more money on their own. With this method they aren't earning more money, they are simply taking sales form you. If they only spent this time working for themselves, they would earn more sales while not stealing your sales. The IM niche is wide open and those viewing your book may have very well bought there's also later.
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  • Profile picture of the author madasamonkey
    I've had some stinkers. I'm pretty wary of FB groups now (apart from the Kindling ones). I suspect that's where mine came from, though I could be wrong - maybe they just didn't like it? When you get a 1* "I wish I could have given it less", then look back through their other reviews and find the same repeated over and over, then a 5* "Amazing!" (presumably to a friend), well, it looks a bit sus to me, but who knows. I also get suspicious where they say something along the lines of "I hate to slate a writer before I've finished the book" [but I'm going to, naturally ]. That also smacks of it coming from another writer. I think they vote up each other's reviews. There are a heck of a lot of people on FB pushing their ebooks. I joined a group on there and I'm nearly up to a thousand friends now, almost all at their request. And you can get some great advice, but at the end of the day, you don't know them from Adam.

    Conversely though, as a purchaser on Amazon, I'm suspicious if a book has straight 5* reviews. Nobody wants 1*s and 2*s, but the reality is, if bestsellers are getting them we will too. I'm not sure how damaging it is, nothing to measure it by, but I've bought 1* (overall!) books because they've been in a very specific niche I wanted to read about (nothing kinky) and there weren't a lot of books on the subject. And, actually, I was happy with my purchase. Thinking about it, I probably ought to head over there now and leave a review

    Free days I saw a flurry of nasties, then later the nice ones trickling through. I'm over it now, just concentrating on writing more. I had steam coming out of my nostrils when I first saw them, but now I just keep calm and carry on. If you don't do that then at the end of the day, they've won.

    I came across an old thread on here the other day where an author had gone postal at a reviewer. It was a few years ago. She'd criticised his criticism on his own blog and was subsequently blasted out of the water by his followers. I see that the book he originally reviewed has been taken down, but all her subsequent titles had received 1* and 2*. Folks openly stated in those reviews that they hadn't read the book, but referred to the original incident with the reviewer. I'll never react, even where it's downright abusive. The internet has a looooooong memory.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      There are a heck of a lot of people on FB pushing their ebooks.
      Yes - and they are promoting (pushing, shoving) the ebooks at people whose idea of "reading" is spending hours on Facebook daily.
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      • Profile picture of the author madasamonkey
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        Yes - and they are promoting (pushing, shoving) the ebooks at people whose idea of "reading" is spending hours on Facebook daily.
        I'm not knocking it At the end of the day, we all want to get our books read. I've pushed my books on there. But then when you get a load of bad reviews within a few hours of you advertising a freebie, you have to ask yourself whether it was worth it?

        I still think if you're offering a decent product, it will balance out. I could live quite happily without the bad reviews but there's naff all you can do once they're there, except keep promoting and gathering good ones. I think a 1* review with the comment "The only good thing about this is that it was free" versus a 5* where the reviewer goes into detail about the characters and plot kind of speaks for itself.
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        • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
          Originally Posted by Jeremy Bratcher View Post

          Short-sighted indeed. While wasting time giving their "competitorss" bad reviews, they could have been working to make more money on their own. With this method they aren't earning more money, they are simply taking sales form you. If they only spent this time working for themselves, they would earn more sales while not stealing your sales. The IM niche is wide open and those viewing your book may have very well bought there's also later.
          Why do you assume these negative reviewers are competitors?

          Many of the worst reviewers offer nothing of their own, and 'build their brand' among the other bullies by spewing ever-fouler venom. And the bitter, self-hating zombies who follow them like little yip dogs cheer every time one of the bullies "takes that smartass writer down a peg."

          Whether it's the Kindle marketplace, high school, or just 'that' neighborhood you want to vacate before dark, you're watching the dregs that should have been 'naturally selected' right out of the gene pool long ago...
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  • Profile picture of the author JoeMack
    Hi...

    I have noticed the same thing personally. I had one title that I had glowing feedback previously (when I was offering it via a different format).

    But then I get 2 negatives back to back, both going out of their way to be EXCESSIVELY negative, even going so far as criticizing my disclaimer page.

    I hope that Amazon eventually finds a way to prevent these false negatives in the future.

    Much Success,

    JoeMack

    P.S. I know for a fact that there are Warriors that participate in this practice. Damn low lifes. Can't succeed with hard work and creating a great product. They have to stoop to posting negative reviews in a way to bring others down.
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  • Profile picture of the author jungl
    There's no question that there are people using accounts (often bought or created by themselves) to bring down competing authors books, but it hasn't happened to me yet. IMO there's enough evidence with what you've presented but try to see if those accounts have any legitimate activity, and if not you can report them to Amazon (but it's a pain in the butt to do)...
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  • Profile picture of the author Marc Rodill
    Is it just me, or is this a good argument for NOT selling your ebooks on these types of marketplaces, and instead selling through your own personal channels?

    Marc
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    • Profile picture of the author TinkBD
      Originally Posted by Marc Rodill View Post

      Is it just me, or is this a good argument for NOT selling your ebooks on these types of marketplaces, and instead selling through your own personal channels?

      Marc

      Nope.

      At least, not for Fiction... ;-)

      The opportunities for fiction sales are sooooo huge -- depending on sub-genre, quality, and name recognition...

      Read the bad reviews and act on them -- meaning fix what is criticized, if appropriate, then ignore the others. Keep your Butt in Chair and write on.

      I want to grow up to be CJ Lyons -- from July 2012 - Nov 2012 she sold over 100,000 books per month... that's books sold, not dollars earned -- and most of her books are priced at $3.99 and $4.99

      Bad reviews are part of the process... and I am sure that eventually the bozos posting hating reviews will get theirs.

      Just sayin'

      PS - No offense intended to any clowns ;-)
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      • Profile picture of the author Marc Rodill
        Originally Posted by TinkBD View Post

        Nope.

        At least, not for Fiction... ;-)

        The opportunities for fiction sales are sooooo huge -- depending on sub-genre, quality, and name recognition...
        Okay that's a good point. I agree with you. You're right about that. People are crushing it in the fiction niches. And reviewers are probably less directly competitive.

        So that begs the question, is everyone above competing in non-fiction, information marketing niches?

        Marc
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        • Profile picture of the author madasamonkey
          Originally Posted by Marc Rodill View Post

          Okay that's a good point. I agree with you. You're right about that. People are crushing it in the fiction niches. And reviewers are probably less directly competitive.

          So that begs the question, is everyone above competing in non-fiction, information marketing niches?

          Marc
          I write fiction and, from the little I've seen, completely agree with Tink. However, if I were writing non-fiction, say on internet marketing, well if I were an internet marketing guru I'm sure I could find better ways (or additional ones - you'd just have to keep it off KDP select).
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  • Profile picture of the author madasamonkey
    I think it depends on the book. Say you were selling a book on internet marketing, probably you could do as well on your own. If you're selling fiction though... I'm sticking with it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Danny Cutts
    so why doesnt amazon just let people who have actually bought the book leave a review?

    Danny
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    • Profile picture of the author wordwizard
      Originally Posted by Danny Cutts View Post

      so why doesnt amazon just let people who have actually bought the book leave a review?

      Danny

      It MIGHT help... a little. But with the low prices of many of these books, I don't believe that'll stop them. In fact, as verified purchasers of the product, their reviews will have more credibility, and that might be a bad thing...
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    • Profile picture of the author SunilTanna
      Originally Posted by Danny Cutts View Post

      so why doesnt amazon just let people who have actually bought the book leave a review?

      Danny
      I could be wrong, but I believe that in the case of a KDP book, a free download (like on the free promotion days) would count as a "verified purchase" by Amazon. In other words, a review by somebody who paid would be indistinguishable from somebody who got a free promotional copy.
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  • So is there a way to complain to Amazon to remove bogus reviews written by competitors? Will Amazon act on it if you can prove it to them?
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    • Profile picture of the author TinkBD
      Originally Posted by marktheonlinesurfer View Post

      So is there a way to complain to Amazon to remove bogus reviews written by competitors? Will Amazon act on it if you can prove it to them?
      Yes, you can. Yes, they will... at least in some instances. I haven't done it but from what I've heard, taking a patience pill before starting the process may be a good idea. ;-)


      Amazon.com Help: Customer Reviews


      Who do I contact for issues with customer reviews?

      Please click the Contact Us button on any Help page to reach Amazon Customer Service via phone or e-mail.
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  • Profile picture of the author madasamonkey
    ^That. As I've already complained, numerous times ( ) that's where my baddies came from. However...

    I am now paranoid about FB. But I have to say, the first free days I launched were promoted on there (free), and I got nearly 13,000 downloads (and some git trying to sell my book on a file sharing site, however, I digress...). I ran a free day recently without promoting it (unpaid) on FB. 300 downloads.

    Now, the first time around may have been a fluke. I don't know. I have next to no experience. I had some pretty viscious feedback within 24 hours (and it's a 90,000 word novel - many openly admitted to only having read the first few pages (doesn't mean to say they weren't genuine though - hey - maybe they just got fed up of me).

    But I would reiterate, after the free days, the initial slap in the face, I've had some quality reviews. I had three today, all five star. I think if you're going all out to create a quality product, sure, you're not going to be everyone's cup of tea. But I do think quality rises to the top of the barrel. Negative reviews come in quick. The positive ones follow much later. You have to have patience and just keep slugging away.
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  • Profile picture of the author marketingva
    madasamonkey,

    Your first time wasn't a fluke. Amazon changed the rules in March and many people who were promoting free e-books stopped cold. The number of places you can advertise a free e-book on have definitely shrunk.

    Bonnie
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    • Profile picture of the author madasamonkey
      I'm not sure whether to be happy about that or sad But you know, even in that initial phase, even with some terrible reviews, I was still selling books. This time around (after admittedly just one free day, but still), I haven't sold one, and my free rankings were appalling.

      Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea... I think I'll just stick my neck out and suck up a few negatives and go with what seems to sell books.
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