3 ms·

Slightly off topic, but is it shady? There highly respected magazines dedicated to reviewing books. This is just shifting it into a different medium. I suppose

Slightly off topic, but is it shady? There highly respected magazines dedicated to reviewing books. This is just shifting it into a different medium. I suppose pretending they are all a person is on the shady side, but if that's the only option Amazon gives, I can understand why it's like that. If the reviews are adding value (and according to the OP they seem to be), is it much shadier than the Paris Review or the New York Review of Books?

zzzeek 4y ago
it's shady because they are pretending to be a specific person writing something, which they are not. I would not be surprised if the picture shown has nothing to do with who actually writes those reviews. > If the reviews are adding value (and according to the OP they seem to be), is it much shadier than the Paris Review or the New York Review of Books? yes because the source producing the review is bogus in this case. Reading book reviews from your (assumed to be a non-famous literary critic!) brother in law vs. a famous book reviewer are two different kinds of value add.
- stinkytaco 4y ago
  Now straying far off the topic, how about when this goes the other way around? When authors attach their names to books they do not write (e.g. James Patterson with <name in much smaller type>) or who might not even be alive (V.C. Andrews or Robert Ludlum)? This actually reminds me of "Richard Bachman" which was Steven King using a pen name and fake picture which I think was striving for the opposite effect.
  - neodypsis 4y ago
    Would an NLP model be able to write a book or reviews of books?
    - stinkytaco 4y ago
      It would not at all surprise me it if it was revealed James Patterson or V.C. Andrews were NLP models all along.
  - zzzeek 4y ago
    > When authors attach their names to books they do not write (e.g. James Patterson with <name in much smaller type>) or who might not even be alive (V.C. Andrews or Robert Ludlum)? I would say that is lame, but the actual writer's name is still there. it's not untraceable like a random profile on the internet. When we see these celebrity books that are written by someone else, I dont think there's any confusion among those who actually care to know, that "book X was written by a ghost writer". if celebrity X is claiming, "I wrote that book myself!" when they didn't, they are lying, and yes that is bad.

zzzeek 4y ago

it's shady because they are pretending to be a specific person writing something, which they are not. I would not be surprised if the picture shown has nothing to do with who actually writes those reviews. > If the reviews are adding value (and according to the OP they seem to be), is it much shadier than the Paris Review or the New York Review of Books? yes because the source producing the review is bogus in this case. Reading book reviews from your (assumed to be a non-famous literary critic!) brother in law vs. a famous book reviewer are two different kinds of value add.

stinkytaco 4y ago
Now straying far off the topic, how about when this goes the other way around? When authors attach their names to books they do not write (e.g. James Patterson with <name in much smaller type>) or who might not even be alive (V.C. Andrews or Robert Ludlum)? This actually reminds me of "Richard Bachman" which was Steven King using a pen name and fake picture which I think was striving for the opposite effect.
- neodypsis 4y ago
  Would an NLP model be able to write a book or reviews of books?
  - stinkytaco 4y ago
    It would not at all surprise me it if it was revealed James Patterson or V.C. Andrews were NLP models all along.
- zzzeek 4y ago
  > When authors attach their names to books they do not write (e.g. James Patterson with <name in much smaller type>) or who might not even be alive (V.C. Andrews or Robert Ludlum)? I would say that is lame, but the actual writer's name is still there. it's not untraceable like a random profile on the internet. When we see these celebrity books that are written by someone else, I dont think there's any confusion among those who actually care to know, that "book X was written by a ghost writer". if celebrity X is claiming, "I wrote that book myself!" when they didn't, they are lying, and yes that is bad.