Saturday, April 30, 2011

Trouble in Paradise or Author Beware

Actually, trouble in the Alter World of Slipstream.

In my rush to see a posted review of my work online, I googled for "review services" and came up with several sites that offered free reviews. I bit and now I wish I hadn't.

One company, Reader Views, advertised free reviews and for an extra fee, offered several other services that promised to post your review online and basically get your work "out there." I checked the wait list for free reviews and saw that some had been sitting on their site for over three months. It wasn't a stretch to come to the conclusion that it would be best to take advantage of their "Express" service, a free review and posting to the net for $95.00. Seemed good enough until I came to the clause that they would not guarantee a good review and if you got a bad one, tough luck. They'd post it anyway.

Before I continue, check out the thread I set up on Amazon for the whole picture:

http://forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/thread.jspa?threadID=14032&tstart=0

Needless to say, my book review came back not only negative, but vindictive as well. Marty Shaw, the reviewer is no New York Times reviewer but he came across as a wannabe.

What bothered me the most was their policy of not refraining from posting bad reviews and I got the feeling that they were angling for more money when it was suggested that I get a good editor. BTW, they do editing for an undisclosed fee.

Right about then I felt ripped off. I proceeded to post my concerns on the Amazon KDP forum and asked for a refund from Paypal. It's going to be rough but I need to pursue Reader Views for what I feel is bad business policy.

For those of you who would like to help, there's a way to get Amazon to take down Marty's review. Go to the review: http://www.amazon.com/Slipstream-1-Robert-Larrison/product-reviews/1460973062/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 and click "NO" at the bottom where it asks "Was this review helpful to you." They will take it down if enough people say "No."

My conclusion?  I've come to realize that the "pay for review" services are not the way to go. Wait for your sales to increase and watch the honest reviews post.

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