- This subject comes up from time to time, batches,
large batches of Amazon reviews get removed
from the Amazon site.
Stick around and I've got tips to help you
keep your honest, hard-earned reviews safe.
(upbeat music)
Hey, I'm Julie the Book Broad with BookLaunchers.com,
a fantastic company that works with nonfiction authors
to write, publish, and sell a book
that will build their business,
explode their career, make money,
and possibly even make them famous.
Yeah, we're that good. (laughs)
Alright, so, Amazon reviews disappearing.
This subject comes up time and time again.
Reviews matter a lot in buying decisions
and you need good, honest reviews.
You don't want Amazon to be gamed easily.
So, these purges aren't necessarily a bad thing,
but as with any sort of systemized approach
to cleaning up a system, some good gets killed with the bad
like antibiotics, right?
They get rid of the good and bad bacteria in the system
to make you healthy.
In the latest purge, l, l, l, l, l
legit, love that song.
♪ Too legit to quit ♪
(beep)
But in the latest purge, legit reviews were taken down
but after complaints and review by Amazon,
many were put back.
In a few cases, legit reviews were pulled and not put back
because Amazon decided there was some sort of a violation.
It's a good time to refresh yourself on Amazon's policy.
Check the link below if you're not sure how to do that.
Now, here's something most of you may not
have thought of or realized.
Amazon does not want your friends
and family to review your book.
Friends and family are bias
but how does Amazon know who are your friends
and who is a family member?
I mean, seriously, if you have a last name
like Young or Smith, there is a lot of those folks out there
and they might not be related to you.
So, they can't just go by last name
but here's something to pay attention to.
Amazon might be figuring out who you are friends with
via Facebook.
They own Goodreads after all
and one of the main ways to sign into Goodreads
is via Facebook.
So, here' the tip of the day:
Don't be lazy, create your own login
and disconnect it from Facebook.
If you connect the two, it's entirely possible
that data sharing allows them to figure out
who your Facebook friends are.
Disconnect Twitter, disconnect Facebook from Goodreads.
There have also been a lot of reports
of people who give gift cards to folks
to buy a copy of their book for review
having those reviews removed.
Also, make sure you coach your reviewers
if they get a free copy to add a disclaimer.
Amazon can't confirm that a person bought that book
which gives the verified purchase review
which means it's a good bet that a non-verified purchase
could be flagged, not necessarily removed,
but flagged for review.
In those cases, get reviewers to add a simple disclaimer
line that says something like
I received a complimentary copy of this book
in exchange for an honest review.
Additional guidelines for custom reviews
straight from Amazon.
They can only include URLs or links to other products
sold on Amazon, customers in the same household
may not post multiple reviews of the same product,
do not try to review somebody's book
and then get your husband to review
and then your kid to review, doesn't work.
Also, Amazon explicitly says, you may not manipulate
the Amazon verified purchase badge
by offering special pricing to reviewers
or reimbursing reviewers.
To learn more about Amazon verified purchase reviews,
refer to the Amazon verified purchase review section.
Rest assured, if you're hustling to get reviews
like you should be, and you're not paying people
to write good reviews and you're not trying
to game the system in any way,
your legitimate reviews will likely stick.
But take that extra step of not connecting
anything to Goodreads or anything else
Amazon might have their hands on.
Reviews are essential to the Amazon business model
and you better believe they're doing everything they can
to protect them.
Like this video.
Smash that thumbs up button.
Seriously, do that right now, smash it.
It feels good and it makes me happy.
The only thing that actually makes me happier
than when you smash that like button
is when you subscribe to the channel
and leave a comment below.
When you do that, well, we'll become besties, right?
Kay Wheeler books, Artemis Craig, Bay State Studios,
Belly Dancer Diaries, we're besties now, right?
Seriously, comments are always appreciated
and most are responded to
but if you comment on the video the day it comes out,
new videos every Friday, you'll be entered to win
some awesome Book Launcher swag.
See ya next time.
(upbeat music)