Amazon Book Reviews Deleted in a Purge Aimed at Manipulation

…from the annals of e-reviewing, self-promotion, gaming book sales on Amazon…debate simmers on blogs & Amazon…prompting our caveat to readers, writers and their (too) helpful family, friends, fans and supportive writing circles...

Feriss, by Drew Kelly, NYT

Giving raves to family members is no longer acceptable. Neither is writers’ reviewing other writers. But showering five stars on a book you admittedly have not read is fine.

After several well-publicized cases involving writers buying or manipulating their reviews, Amazon is cracking down. Writers say thousands of reviews have been deleted from the shopping site in recent months.

Is a review merely a gesture of enthusiasm or should it be held to a higher standard? Should writers be allowed to pass judgment on peers the way they have always done offline or are they competitors whose reviews should be banned? Does a groundswell of raves for a new book mean anything if the author is soliciting the comments?

Timothy Ferriss marshaled his social media followers for favorable reviews of “The 4-Hour Chef.” Harriet Klausner now has over 25,000 reviews on Amazon. “You ever read a Harlequin romance?” she said. “You can finish it in one hour.”

Read the rest of Amazon Book Reviews Deleted in a Purge Aimed at Manipulation - NYTimes.com. Readers also shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (391)