Why I Don't Care for Amazon--the Home of Death Threats and Fake Reviews

It seems morality and fair play are dead and gone in the publishing world. Here are some articles and blog postings that have come to my attention lately to show you why I'm feeling blue. I've included my comments as well.

Anne Rice signs petition to protest bullying of authors on Amazon

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/04/anne-rice-protests-bullying-amazon-petition

I'm glad that no one pays attention to my books on Amazon now! Death threats aren't funny, and Amazon has a lot to answer for allowing posters anonymity which only protects the bullies and the fake book reviewers.

I haz a sad... Writers are gaming Amazon 
 

Here's a comment I made after reading The Lover of Books blog posting called "I haz a sad..." (link since taken down/blocked) about how an unnamed but well-known author sends out emails saying that (s)he'll give out free books to readers in exchange for 5 star reviews on Amazon. If you want to give her/his book anything less than 5 stars, please don't post it there but email the review to the author directly instead so (s)he can "discuss it" (and not post it) with you the reader. Here's my comment on this blog:

This is why you can't trust Amazon's "5 star" book reviews. A lot of them are fakes. Some authors buy them from so-called "beta readers" with free books/giveaways and others just outright pay cash for the reviews. (There's a web site link I won't post since I don't want other buying 5 star reviews). If you see a book on Amazon with lots of 5 stars alongside poorly written reviews, just assume these are paid reviews and not the real deal. The "reviewer" may not have even read the book. It's cheating and it makes all authors look bad. (At least I can honestly say that I have never paid for reviews--and I currently have zero at Amazon. Go figure!)

In reply to the latest way to "pay your way to reviews on Amazon":

http://bestsellerlabs.com/how-to-get-more-amazon-reviews/#comment-37877

I can’t say I agree with this method at all. This is coming from the viewpoint of a book reviewer, editor, and author. To give away free books or to pay cash for reviews up front is basically the same thing. How can you be sure you’re receiving an “objective” review when you’re essentially encouraging the reader to give you a good review or none at all? Are they going to say anything “bad” about their “new friend’s book” and especially to your face via Skype, etc. as you write up "their" review for them? I think not. The review is worthless and is essentially a “fake”.

That’s why I tell people to not depend on their friends and family members to give their writing an honest critique. Those who care about you don’t want to hurt your feelings. And just like those poor tone-deaf people who get on American Idol and then get laughed at and ridiculed by millions because they carry a tune in a bucket (and they don’t know they can’t sing), you’ll have millions of “authors” who need to take a decent writing course and join a critique group before trying to publish their books and they won’t do so because their “new reviewer friends” tell them their work is perfect as is. There’s no room to improve on perfection, is there? More “not-ready-for-primetime” stuff to clutter up the ‘net! (And why would Amazon care as long as they’re making money off it?)

If you want to gain some useful writing tips I formulated after working over a decade and a half in the publishing industry, try my funny how-to guide Defeating the Slushpile Monster now at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1452834946

After my public commentary, I expect a load of hate email and bullying on Amazon any day now! Please leave a comment below on how you see this present crisis of confidence playing out at the online book-selling monopoly's web site and share this blog link with others who may be feeling similarly down about Amazon. Perhaps they'll clean up their act one day? We can only hope!

The response to "Archon Hear a Who"

To keep the Doctor Who fans I wrote about in my last posting abreast of what's happening with our suggesting a Doctor Who media guest to attend a future Archon, here is a reply on an open St. Louis SF fandom email list from the media guest liaison:

Yes, for those of you who missed all the Facebook fun, this blog was absolutely innaccurate. Obviously the writer decided she had a great hook with the 'Horton Hears a Who' tie in, without really bothering to do any research to see if anything she wrote was actually TRUE.

No, we (Archon) have not been contacted by anyone at BBC America, these guests, or their representation. And as Van so aptly pointed out, seriously, if they were calling us saying 'can we please come' what do you think would be happening? It sure as heck wouldn't be Archon saying, 'yeah, thanks but no, we're good'.

Could we get a Dr Who guest in future? Sure, maybe we can work that out. If anyone would have come to me and said, 'Hey, we'd love a Dr. Who guest, and maybe we can even work out some fundraising to help support it' I'd have been their new best friend. I love Dr. Who. But this was handled SO badly that it honestly makes me want to not look too hard into it in the near future because I don't want to encourage this kind of attrocious behavior by anyone else.

Not saying that I WON'T look into it, just saying that this whole mess has put a bad taste in my mouth about the idea. I'll probably be over it before we go hunting for a guest next year. :)

Mary
Archon Media Guest Liaison

Here was my response on this same email list:

Thank you, Katrina, for your fair assessment of the events. My blog posting was never meant as a personal attack against any individual involved with Archon. It was a call to Doctor Who fans to make our voices heard. I believe this is an exercise of freedom of speech. If we are bullied into keeping quiet because it contradicts another person's opinion, then who benefits?

If you read the piece, you'd see I know of persons with direct contacts within  the BBC that live in the St. Louis area. I see now why they were shy about making their points known to the general Archon community--they would be accused of being "liars" as well. I did not once mention Ms. Stadter's name in the blog
article (I had no clue who or what group is in charge of media guests), and I never once insinuated that what she said was not "true". Yet I open my email digest today and see that I'm being called essentially a liar. I only wrote about what I was told on good authority. It is my personal blog and my friends are allowed to talk to me if they so desire. I write on topics when I feel like
it could be of help to my friends. Please don't malign the messenger if you don't care for the message.

I do not appreciate being told I am trying to start controversy within STL  fandom. It is beyond my comprehension why anyone would take a blog posting so seriously. I will not take such unfounded accusations as a personal attack from the Archon board members. But I will sincerely appreciate if the personal attacks cease and desist forthwith. Nobody wins in these situations.

That's all I'm going to say on the matter. In the many years I've been a SF fan,  I've never met a fan I didn't like. I think the general Archon community would say the same. I hate to painted as being a "not-so-nice Doctor Who fan" for future reference to people who don't really know me as a human being. There is enough hatred and hate speech in the world nowadays. Let's try to keep fandom a
happy and supportive place for all to share their thoughts and opinions without fear of bullying or maligning of character.

Thank you for listening.

And that's all I'm going to write on the matter. Yes, it leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. I've always been a great supporter of Archon and fandom in general, but obviously I'm not to everyone's tastes. So be it. You can't please everyone, so they will have to learn to live with me and move on. 

I have more important things on my plate. We're going out of state to visit my mother this weekend and see how she is doing in her new assisted living apartment. I had thought about writing some more about coping with a loved one with cancer, but thought I could use a break and take some time to write on lighter topics for a while. Obviously, my beloved Doctor Who is not a light enough topic. Go figure!


Your kind wishes, comments and prayers on my and my mother's behalf are always welcome. Let's try to build each other up in this life: I think we all realize just how short it is and what really matters.