Time to Freep Amazon.com reviews of Conservative bashing books? (Barf Alert)

Amazon.com ^ | Various | Various

[UncleWes]

Reviews Of Noam Chomsky Book

Reviews Of Michael Moore Book

[UncleWes]

I'm wondering if you'd like to join me in Freeping some of the ultra-left reviews of Conservative bashing books.

There are two ways to do it, one to simply read the reviews and vote "No", if you don't like the review. The second way is to write a review and give the book no stars to bring down the rating.

To be effective, our negative reviews should be well written, thoughtful and to the point.

[Exnihilo]

If you haven't read the book, DO NOT REVIEW OR RATE IT. People that do that crap should be taken out and beaten.

[gcruse]

There's a third way. You can do what I did: close down your account with Amazon.com and send their customer service an email explaining why you did it.

[GSWarrior]

You closed your Amazon account because they allow the open exchange of opinions?

[Carry_Okie]

The high probability of lurking greenies bashing my book without reading it is one reason I don't sell it at Amazon.

[gcruse]

I closed it in response to the way they delete positive reviews of conservative books. The particular incident involved the Horowitz (?) book brouhaha. I don't remember cuz it was a couple of months ago.

[truenospinzone]

So you believe that any opinions you find personally offensive should be censored by Amazon?

[GSWarrior]

I don't know. I've seen a lot of negative reviews of liberal books, and vice versa. I wasn't aware that they selectively post reviews. One thing though. It's usually obvious which customer reviewers have read the book in question and those which have not.

[WillaJohns]

I went to Amazon last night to read the reviews of the Carville/Begalla book. There are excerpts from the book at Amazon, quite a few pages in fact, which I read. The book is the most inane, shallow tripe I've ever read. However, the reviews were glowing. I'm torn wondering if anyone with a brain would even read the book which is why there are no reviews dissing it, or if there is a conscious bias on the part of Amazon. In this case, I'm tending to believe that no one with a brain would even read it which is why the reviews are so glowing.

[Carry_Okie]

If you were a major publisher with an expensive book to push, how much would it cost to keep a few starving writers on tap to submit reviews to Amazon?

On the other hand, if you were a major activist group with an a very profitable agenda to push (such as idiot environmentalism profiting major corporations), how much would it cost to keep a few brainwashed volunteers on tap to submit reviews to Amazon?

Fergeddaboutit.

[gcruse]

Is that what I said?

[WillaJohns]

I know you're right about this. But after reading the excerpts of that Carville/Begala book, it's just impossible to believe anybody with a brain would buy it much less read it. It is a scam, I do realize that. However, no matter what, I think if you've written a book, you should submit it to any venue that will sell it.

[Carry_Okie]

I think if you've written a book, you should submit it to any venue that will sell it.

Wellll let's just say you haven't yet had the great pleasure of dealing with distribution. Take Ingram or Baker & Taylor. They want you to sell them books at a 60% discount and if they don't sell them you get them back. You pay the shipping, both ways. If the book is returned, you get the cover. If the books cost 20% of the sale price to print and ship in bulk, that means you are left with 20% for writing and coming up with the $25 grand to publish it. On a low volume run of say 5,000 books, does that look like a good deal to you in return for three years of tireless work?

(They also want you to bear the cost of promotion.)

Now Amazon graciously pays 45% of the cover price, but they really lean on you for that big discount they offer. They will take a total of 6 books in stock and only reorder when they are out. That leaves your customers in backorder.

Such a deal.

On the other hand, if I sell books I publish at a speech, it's full price, cash or credit card. I get paid for travel and a speaking fee, there is no shipping, and I take 80% of that margin. If they buy it off my website, it's the same deal except for the order processing which my kids will soon gladly do in return for a lesson in accounting and management. That costs me but $25 per month. The kids cost a bit to tote around but they are getting a great education (because I homeschool them) and I get wonderful hugs for free.

Going into distribution is an irreversible decision. It is only when I have sold enough to cover my costs and the process and volume of distribution is too much of a pain to deal with that I would bother with taking the hit. The only other reason might be some collusive arrangement between university book stores and distributors that I can't imagine not getting around. Maybe you should learn something about the business before making such pronouncements?

[WillaJohns]

Thank you for all that information. You are certainly informed. Good luck on your book.

Maybe you should learn something about the business before making such pronouncements?

Apparently so. I sure wish you had ended your post one sentence earlier. Good luck!

[southern rock]

BUMP!!

Check out this customer "review" of David Brock's "Blinded by the Right":

Link to page

44 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

(5 stars) Entertaining as hell, March 5, 2002 Reviewer: Brian Moore (see more about me) from California, US
Man, I've been waiting to read this book since I read Brock's fit of apologia in Esquire in 1997. It's a good window into the fevered swamp of the conservative movement, it provides plate upon plate of good dish on various conservatives (although if you're an eeeeevvill lib-rul elitist like me, the claims that the righty ranks are full of anti-semites, homophobes and a therapist's dream assortment of various obsessions and complexes won't come as a surprise) and Brock seems sincere enough in its pages. True, he may have lied in print to serve The Party, but unlike slimebaugh, he admits it, and I have no reason to doubt him now.
Although it's not a book that'll be a cornerstone of progressivism, for liberals like me it's damn entertaining, and will undoubtedly send the slack-jawed armada of "freepers" into fits. If nothing else, "Blinded" is certainly illustrative of just how far off the rails rightists have gone. Brock's a pretty good writer, too, and the book's hardly boring.

Ooooooohhhh! Hey, Brian Moore , go back to your little Freud books. What a twerp.!!

[southern rock]

Bump! See #16. This is the kind of stuff Amazon puts on their pages.

[gcruse]

Thank you for the ping. As you may know, I have been around the block with Amazon.com already on this issue, resulting in me pulling my account and letting them know why.

[southern rock]

No problem. Just browsing their site, I am really starting to see what you mean. The one review I posted here really P'd me off because it mentions Freepers. I know it's a customer review, but doesn't management approve those before putting them up on the site???

[FreedomFighter86]

As someone mentioned earlier- we should NOT post reviews of books we have not read...it is just plain wrong.