Censored!


I've recently published a short story entitled The Search for Trisha Campbell on Amazon. My husband, wanting to support me, decided he'd buy the story, read it and leave me a review. I told him to be honest - that was all I wanted. Even if it meant leaving me a one star review.

Well, he read it and liked it and gave me four stars. However, to his disbelief and frustration, Amazon would not post his review.

He contacted them and asked why his review was not yet posted. Their reply was that he is related to me. Hmmm, so does that mean none of my relatives, be they cousins, siblings, parents, etc. cannot leave a review on any of my work? Does this extend to friends as well?

The strange thing is that we have different last names and email accounts. Sounds like Big Brother is watching and monitoring us at Amazon.

Not sure I like that. What do you all think? I call it censorship. I never pay for reviews nor do I expect anyone who knows me to automatically give me a five star rating.

I'm curious about other writer's thoughts as well as readers.


Comments

  1. Anna TanSeptember 26, 2013 at 11:43 PM

    Huh. That's really strange.
    So it's alright to have paid reviews but not alright to have family reviews? :/

    I agree with you - it's censorship!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Susan Helene GottfriedSeptember 27, 2013 at 3:40 AM

    This isn't a new policy, you know. Tell your husband to leave reviews at places that haven't instituted it -- like B&N. Everyone's so fast to dismiss B&N, but it seems to me that, being less Big Brother-ish, they are a valuable resource.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jeanne BannonSeptember 28, 2013 at 7:18 PM

    Thanks for commenting, ladies. My husband wrote to Amazon again explaining that he still had concerns. He received a response, a rather vague and unhelpful response that stated his concerns will be looked at. Sounds like he's getting the brush off. Doubt he'll ever hear back.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Writing Process Blog Hop

Image
I would like to thank my friend, Tina D.C. Hayes for tagging me for the Writing Process Blog Hop. 1. What are you currently working on? I have three works in progress, however, one is more “done” than the others. It’s a romantic thriller titled, Love, Lies and Deception (the title has been changed from Undercover Hero ). The tagline for the novel is, “What’s a girl to do when she falls in love with the man whose mission it is to bring her down?” My other two novels are paranormal thrillers which is my usual genre and the genre I’m most comfortable writing in. 2. How does your work differ from others in the genre?   I don’t think Love, Lies and Deception is much different than other works in that genre. It has all the typical elements of a romance, but I do bring in aspects of the paranormal into everything I write. So, even though LL & D is, at its essence, a romance, it definitely has a touch of the paranormal. 3. Why do you write what you do? ...
Read more

When a Review is not a Review

Image
After receiving plenty of great reviews and ratings for Invisible , yesterday, I went through a rite of passage, I got my first ever one-star review from a reviewer on Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/278254425 . It's okay, really, I'm fine with it. After all, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But what really got to me was the reason why! There is a gay character in my novel. Her name is Charlie and I love her. I think she adds dimension and depth to my novel, but the reviewer hated her. The reviewer's stated "I don't do gay." So I ask, is this really a review or an opportunity for the reviewer to tout her so-called Christian values? All I ask is for a fair review. Review the book as a whole. A one-star review is fine by me, especially when it comes from a narrowminded individual. I would have thought in this day and age that such prejudice and hatred would not be so prevalent.
Read more