5 ms·

We know exactly why he got so many good reviews on Amazon. He sent early copies of the book to a ton of people and asked them to review it on Amazon. This isn'

by staunch 16y ago

We know exactly why he got so many good reviews on Amazon. He sent early copies of the book to a ton of people and asked them to review it on Amazon. This isn't an unusual practice I don't think, as in everything Ferris is just more successful than most at exploiting borderline unethical behavior.

bilch 16y ago
How exactly is that different from the usual publishers' practice of sending early copies of the book to a ton of reviewers and ask them to, well, review it in newspapers and magazines?
- staunch 16y ago
  1) Professional critics are not usually the friends and acquaintances of the author. They have reputations and rules (enforced by their publication) that govern their behavior. 2) Amazon reviews are intended for customers who have paid for the book. Not for friends of the author that received it for free with the expectation that they would review it on Amazon. It's Amazon's failing that they don't protect against this. If you did the same thing on HN the anti-voting ring software would kill the submission.
  - Alex3917 16y ago
    The vast majority of books on Amazon would have zero reviews if they only let you review a book after purchasing it on Amazon. Yes, it does suck that Amazon won't delete reviews even when the person admits they haven't read the book, or when they are just complaining that the Kindle version doesn't have a long enough free chapter. But other than that I have no problem with anyone writing a review as long as they've read it. Reading the book takes several hours, so the vast majority of people aren't going to sit there cranking out reviews just to get free books. There are people who do that, but it's really only a couple dozen on all of Amazon.
    - jacques_chester 16y ago
      > The vast majority of books on Amazon would have zero reviews if they only let you review a book after purchasing it on Amazon. A little optional badge to indicate that the user purchased the book from Amazon wouldn't go astray.
      - joshkaufman 16y ago
        Amazon recently added this. I just published a book, which is why I noticed. You can see "Amazon Verified Purchase" on this review, under the name: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3VSS8V2NFX1NB/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1591843529&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode= http://www.amazon.com/review/R3VSS8V2NFX1NB/ref=cm_cr_pr_per...
        jacques_chester 16y ago
        Great minds, and now me!
- patio11 16y ago
  It avoids gatekeepers, which makes gatekeepers kind of peevish.
- rdl 16y ago
  I think there is some assumption that Amazon reviews are representative of a large population of users, so if there are 10 great reviews and 5 good reviews and 1 bad review, it's representative of how a much larger population of users feels. If you're writing a review commercially, with limited space, it only makes sense to write a review if: * It is very positive and leads to purchases * Negative reviews of popular/well known products (or, from big/well known companies -- a negative review of the Apple Cube is quite popular) * It is part of a review of a class of products (either "top 10 devices of CES" or "all digicams compared") There is no incentive to publish negative reviews of obscure products
acangiano 16y ago
Based on my experience with AnyNewBooks.com, I can tell you that pastors are phenomenal at this. It's stunning how many books by evangelical preachers have dozens of 5 star reviews the very day their book is published.
- whatusername 16y ago
  In Australia for a number of years -- the largest mega-church Hillsong would have the nationwide no. 1 CD for one week every year. Essentially -- they had a massive conference and launched a new cd there. The sales where enough to top the charts. Just to be clear -- this is the overall charts - not just the religious ones.

by staunch 16y ago

bilch 16y ago

How exactly is that different from the usual publishers' practice of sending early copies of the book to a ton of reviewers and ask them to, well, review it in newspapers and magazines?

staunch 16y ago
1) Professional critics are not usually the friends and acquaintances of the author. They have reputations and rules (enforced by their publication) that govern their behavior. 2) Amazon reviews are intended for customers who have paid for the book. Not for friends of the author that received it for free with the expectation that they would review it on Amazon. It's Amazon's failing that they don't protect against this. If you did the same thing on HN the anti-voting ring software would kill the submission.
- Alex3917 16y ago
  The vast majority of books on Amazon would have zero reviews if they only let you review a book after purchasing it on Amazon. Yes, it does suck that Amazon won't delete reviews even when the person admits they haven't read the book, or when they are just complaining that the Kindle version doesn't have a long enough free chapter. But other than that I have no problem with anyone writing a review as long as they've read it. Reading the book takes several hours, so the vast majority of people aren't going to sit there cranking out reviews just to get free books. There are people who do that, but it's really only a couple dozen on all of Amazon.
  - jacques_chester 16y ago
    > The vast majority of books on Amazon would have zero reviews if they only let you review a book after purchasing it on Amazon. A little optional badge to indicate that the user purchased the book from Amazon wouldn't go astray.
    - joshkaufman 16y ago
      Amazon recently added this. I just published a book, which is why I noticed. You can see "Amazon Verified Purchase" on this review, under the name: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3VSS8V2NFX1NB/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1591843529&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode= http://www.amazon.com/review/R3VSS8V2NFX1NB/ref=cm_cr_pr_per...
      - jacques_chester 16y ago
        Great minds, and now me!
patio11 16y ago
It avoids gatekeepers, which makes gatekeepers kind of peevish.
rdl 16y ago
I think there is some assumption that Amazon reviews are representative of a large population of users, so if there are 10 great reviews and 5 good reviews and 1 bad review, it's representative of how a much larger population of users feels. If you're writing a review commercially, with limited space, it only makes sense to write a review if: * It is very positive and leads to purchases * Negative reviews of popular/well known products (or, from big/well known companies -- a negative review of the Apple Cube is quite popular) * It is part of a review of a class of products (either "top 10 devices of CES" or "all digicams compared") There is no incentive to publish negative reviews of obscure products

acangiano 16y ago

Based on my experience with AnyNewBooks.com, I can tell you that pastors are phenomenal at this. It's stunning how many books by evangelical preachers have dozens of 5 star reviews the very day their book is published.

whatusername 16y ago
In Australia for a number of years -- the largest mega-church Hillsong would have the nationwide no. 1 CD for one week every year. Essentially -- they had a massive conference and launched a new cd there. The sales where enough to top the charts. Just to be clear -- this is the overall charts - not just the religious ones.