If any of you haven’t been following the brouhaha regarding Ryan T. Anderson’s marriage book, here’s a link and some screenshots describing what happened to it in the Amazon bookstore (and yes, as you’ve probably already guessed, it has to do with trolls swarming on a book and leaving nasty one-star reviews without even having read the material):
The good news? Amazon has finally removed the offending reviews.
Now, STGRB doesn’t take a public stance on current marriage laws. We consider that to be a personal and private decision. What we are against is bully reviews that are meant to attack the author and that are posted online in ignorance (meaning that the reviewer isn’t informed on the book because she or he never read it.) We feel this was a good decision on Amazon’s part and a step in the right direction.
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Thank you STGRB! Let’s keep at these vigilantes! I want to clarify again for the record, genuine negative views are absolutely encouraged. If you buy a book, read it and don’t like it, of course you should leave a negative review. The bullies got it backwards. They search out books for the sole purpose of giving them bad reviews. It’s crazy! If an author is targeted by this bunch, they will spread the word and give negative reviews to books they’ve never read, never intend to read, would never consider reading and books that would never normally come into their book searches. Then, to punctuate their nastiness, they ‘upvote’ each others’ negative reviews so that the bad reviews will rise to the top. Seriously, this is their hobby!
Well said Maggie!
Maggie, I agree, and I think you’ve done a beautiful job of stating the case. And we must remember that Amazon encourages and invites its customers to report abuse when they see it. As many know, the biggest abusers congregate in the Top Reviewers Forum where they violate the posted guidelines daily as they malign, defame, and libel their targets. —- I advise all concerned Amazon customers to report this kind of abuse when they see it. Take the time. Use the “Contact Us” button to email Amazon directly and provide links to abusive fake reviews, out and out attacks on authors, and vicious spiteful posts in the Forums. And remember, fellow reviewers and authors: never, never post in the Forums yourselves! (Lurking there to see what these people are up to can be an eye opener, but never post!). They’ll go after you like hornets out of Hell. They just love it when an author or a reviewer comes into the Forum, believing he or she will find intelligent thoughtful discussion of review matters, and they can pounce! —- I can tell you personally that I have been successful of late in having abusive Forum posts removed and attack reviews. — It takes diligent reporting with clear references to how the guidelines are being ignored and violated. —– I am optimistic. I continue to believe when Amazon realizes what goes on in the Top Reviewers Forum, it will shut these abusers down, and possibly even the TRF itself. Amazon is evolving and invites feedback from its customers all the time.