I was just followed, on Twitter, by one of those "Buy Amazon reviews!" services.
I blocked them and reported them as spam. And the only reason I didn’t do more than that is that the "Crotch-punch poster over the Internet" attachment I ordered is out of stock.
Let me be clear. Authors rely on reviews. Word of mouth sells more than anything, and reviews are–and generate–word of mouth.
But that only works as long as readers believe that at least the majority of reviews are honest/accurate, at least where the reviewer is concerned. "Services" like this? They’re not helping you. It becomes real obvious, real quick, if a book is paying for good reviews. All you’re doing is damaging the readers’ trust–and not just of you, but of all reviews, and by extension, of all authors.
So, to the folks at the "service" who followed me–briefly–and to the folks at all other, similar services, and to the authors who use them…
Kindly piss the hell off, and stay there.
No love–and sadly, no ability to crotch-punch you via the internet,
Ari
