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FRAUDULENT WEB SITE MAKING ACCUSATIONS - LOTS OF YOU ARE ON IT

50K views 127 replies 79 participants last post by  Paul Draker 
#1 ·
Tom Harris, a fellow SF author (I think he is on KB) pointed this out to me.

http://zonalert.wordpress.com/2013/09/21/the-fiverr-report-on-melissa-foster-fake-reviews-fake-awards-fake-everything/comment-page-1/#comment-6

It lists many KBers claiming they bought packs of 500 fake reviews.

Here is an excerpt, along with all the names listed:

What about all the other writers who bought reviews from GettingBookReviews.com, Fiverr.com, and the many other paid-review companies? Tracking the paid-review accounts leads to some surprising names, like Ilona Andrews( fantasy author), R J Palacio (children's author), J A Konrath (mystery writer), Brandon Sanderson (fantasy author), Erin Hunter (fantasy author), and James Dean (children's author). Some predictable names too who purchased 500 or more reviews:

Debora Geary
Jasinda Wilder
Gail McHugh
Jessica Sorensen
Jillian Dodd
Rebecca Forster
Mary Campisi
Amanda Hocking
B V Larson
Blake Crouch
Aaron Pogue
Hugh Howey
Erica Stevens
Matthew Mather
Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Ryk Brown
Daniel Arenson
M R Mathias
David A Wells
T R Harris
Jay Allan
Mallory Monroe
Edie Claire
Stephanie Lisa Tara
K Bromberg
Tarryn Fisher
Cassia Leo
Michael G Manning
Emma Chase
H M Ward
J S Scott
A Meredith Walters
Bella Forrest

This is clearly a slanderous situation that needs to be dealt with. I know I have never even heard of this site. I barely even have 500 reviews total.
 
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#103 ·
Melissa - I'd love to kick in some $$ for the fees to expose this person and see what other actions can be taken. Email me offsite and let me know what your plans are. I'm sure I'm not the only named author in that fiverr report who'd love to have some tax write-offs for taking this bully down. If people just stand by and let this kind of thing go unpunished, it's setting a dangerous precedent. It just makes you wonder what kind of idiot would smear a bunch of rich authors with the means to make their life a living hell.
 
#104 ·
Melissa Foster said:
If you want to jump on board, just email me.
I'm in.

From the little I know about libel tort, we'll need to show proof that the libelous statements have been read by others. So take screenshots of your Twitter and Facebook pages where people are writing about this, and also the actual posts because they'll no doubt be removed soon.

Lying about authors is cowardly. Lying about authors who make millions of dollars a year is just plain stupid.
 
#105 ·
Jack Kilborn said:
I'm in.

From the little I know about libel tort, we'll need to show proof that the libelous statements have been read by others. So take screenshots of your Twitter and Facebook pages where people are writing about this, and also the actual posts because they'll no doubt be removed soon.

Lying about authors is cowardly. Lying about authors who make millions of dollars a year is just plain stupid.
If it helps the "read by others" part, I blogged about this yesterday. Figured a "report" like this this would quickly make the rounds, and even a quick glance at the authors listed made it clear the accusations were bogus.
 
#106 ·
Jack Kilborn said:
Lying about authors is cowardly. Lying about authors who make millions of dollars a year is just plain stupid.
The guy/gal who did this would have been safer putting people like me on the list. :D I would just gnash my teeth and wring my hands, but I'm not rich enough to do anything about it. Of course, he/she was going for the publicity of having big names on the list.

I hope you guys get whoever it is. It'll be fun to watch.

 
#108 ·
Blake I have you on the email list now. Thank you.

Mary, most authors would do that and many are. I want to stop him from hurting others. I'm used to being attacked (that sounds so wrong!), but you know what I mean. A target.

Yes with Libel we need screenshots, which I have and hopefully everyone is collecting. I also have the initial threat sent using the Goodreads private message system
 
#110 ·
KristenDaRay said:
Amanda had a following because of fictionn (at least I think it was fiction) she posted before on her blog. She had a big blog following which helped with her visibility. Plus she dominated and published 3 books in less than a month. She never needed reviews they just came to her.
Umm...

Amanda Hocking doesn't really need defending because her origins are a matter of public record on these boards.

Yes, I believe her career launch pre-existed Fivvr or whatever it's called.

I do not find evidence on her blog of her posting her novels there before they were published. So I'm not sure where you get that idea. The first time she posted fiction to her board was in 2010's Zombiepalooza event, and I think all of that was flash fiction by other authors she wanted to help out. (I was one of the fortunate 30!) By the time Zombiepalooza 2010 happened, Amanda was already a Big Deal, though not quite as big a deal as she eventually became.

Amanda got her start the hard, honest way: she sent review copies to individual book bloggers, one blogger at a time, and hoped for the best. She worked her tail off. I'm pretty sure she only published one book a month, though.... but she had, like, six books out in 6-7 months.

Also, I call highly suspect this guy's claim that Amanda "bought" 500 reviews, because most of her early, pre-Big 6 Publishing books don't even have that many reviews.

Except My Blood Approves, which is her first and oldest novel, and has a 3.8-star average (not good enough for review blogs that demand a 4.0-or-better rating) and has had over three years to accumulate that many reviews. There's no way the accusation against Amanda is legit.

Some of this is hard to follow because the Trylle books were republished so the date on those has changed on Amazon but here's her timeline:

March 17, 2010: My Blood Approves
April 25, 2010: Fate (MBA 2)
May 25, 2010: Flutter (MBA 3)
July 20, 2010: Switched (Trylle 1)
August 22, 2010: Wisdom (MBA 4)
October 05, 2010: Hollowland
November 15, 2010: Torn (Trylle 2)
December 19, 2010: Letters to Elise (MBA 4.5)
January 13, 2011: Ascend (Trylle 3)

I got an approximation of the original Trylle dates by scanning Amanda's blog.

Nine books in 11 months: And I'm sorry, but there was no "three books in a month" incident. Her first three books came out between March 17 and May 25, so that's three books in 10 weeks... still impressive, but hardly "in a month."

This is what helped Amanda Hocking launch her career and land her a Big 6 publishing contract.

Oh, and just an historical note: Amanda WAS the first indie to reach 1M ebook sales. John Locke came just a bit later, but Amazon poured a ton of PR behind him because he achieved 1M sales on Kindle-only, whereas Amanda did it across all platforms, and extensively blogged about her results, documenting those sales with screenshots.

Amanda hit 1M on Kindle-only shortly after Locke, but Amazon never did her the PR favors they did for Locke.
 
#112 ·
You know, this reminds me of a scandal from a couple months ago.

Anyone remember that "anonymous" blog by some piece of pooh who claimed to work for a Big 6 Publisher and set up a blog to write a single post called something like, "Sorry, but all indie books are still crap."

Called himself Panzer General Grammar Nazi or something idiotic like that.

This?

Has the same smell to it. Wonder if it's the same idiot...

If he/she follows pattern, expect the blog to disappear completely... probably by early October... the same way that other one did.
 
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#113 ·
vrabinec said:
The ones who HAVEN'T bought any reviews could sue for libel. Hopefully, it's someone who makes decent money or a minor whose parents are loded. Might pay for some cover art and editing that way.
Did my remark sound like the authors whose reputations were called into question shouldn't take legal recourse?

Certainly didn't mean it that way. I meant that it was obvious what was going on.

Sorry.
 
#114 ·
#115 ·
Melissa Foster said:
Blake I have you on the email list now. Thank you.

Mary, most authors would do that and many are. I want to stop him from hurting others. I'm used to being attacked (that sounds so wrong!), but you know what I mean. A target.

Yes with Libel we need screenshots, which I have and hopefully everyone is collecting. I also have the initial threat sent using the Goodreads private message system
Melissa, I know we were all wronged, but I just spoke with an attorney friend and this will take a lot of time and money, and it's a longshot.

It's smarter just to drop it and get on with our lives. This anonymous blogger has already hurt us enough. Do you really want to waste thousands of dollars, and lots of energy, just to get revenge?

With time the anger will fade. Let's all go back to writing books and stop worrying about all the mean people on the Internet.

Just sayin'. ;)
 
#116 ·
Jack Kilborn said:
Melissa, I know we were all wronged, but I just spoke with an attorney friend and this will take a lot of time and money, and it's a longshot.

It's smarter just to drop it and get on with our lives. This anonymous blogger has already hurt us enough. Do you really want to waste thousands of dollars, and lots of energy, just to get revenge?

With time the anger will fade. Let's all go back to writing books and stop worrying about all the mean people on the Internet.

Just sayin'. ;)
Wise words, as always, Joe.

People falsely accused, like Blake, Amanda, you, and so many others... their reps won't be hurt for long because you all have truth on your side.

Meantime, all this troll would get is attention... the very thing he/she wants.

Real writers write. :)
 
#117 ·
Jack Kilborn said:
Melissa, I know we were all wronged, but I just spoke with an attorney friend and this will take a lot of time and money, and it's a longshot.

It's smarter just to drop it and get on with our lives. This anonymous blogger has already hurt us enough. Do you really want to waste thousands of dollars, and lots of energy, just to get revenge?

With time the anger will fade. Let's all go back to writing books and stop worrying about all the mean people on the Internet.

Just sayin'. ;)
It's been a long few days here in the cyber world and I have to say that I'm right on your heels, Joe. I need to concentrate on my writing. I've already lost 3 days to this crap. Thanks for giving me the courage to back out :-*
 
#118 ·
CraigInTwinCities said:
Umm...

Amanda Hocking doesn't really need defending because her origins are a matter of public record on these boards.
Soooo... how come you just posted ten paragraphs defending her?

;) Sorry--couldn't help but poke you about that :)
 
#119 ·
Anne Victory said:
Soooo... how come you just posted ten paragraphs defending her?

;) Sorry--couldn't help but poke you about that :)
For the newbies, m'dear. For the noobs.

Also, a bit of hometown pride.

See, Amanda and I grew up separated by only about 8 miles. Though I was/am about 18 years older than her.

But we're both from a "nowhere" county in Minnesota, so I do what I can for a fellow "Mower County, MN" native who made something of themselves. :)

In fact, I interviewed her in the summer that she was revving up to be the big deal she became. It's probably the longest interview anyone's ever done with her. I divided it into seven parts and ran it in October 2010, though we conducted the interview in August or so. (Before her trip to Chicago.)

You can still find the epic interview we did via email here: http://www.scriptsuperhero.com/2010/10/page/2/

Then, because I had a journalism background, I contacted radio stations, TV stations, and newspapers from the southern Minnesota area where we're both from, and put a buzz in their ear about what a big deal she was becoming. I helped get the ball rolling locally, just a pinch, in terms of local coverage of her.

My contribution was minor, but I did what I could for her.

Still tend to, when I see her misrepresented. Again: home county pride.
 
#123 ·
I knew I wanted to say something about this but was struggling to narrow it down to what I think really matters. The I got an email letting me know about a paid advertising opportunity which lead me here: http://thecheapebook.com/live/fake-ebook-reviews-and-how-to-stop-them/

Maybe the following particularly, but also other things: -

1.) I assert no review EVER made a reader change his or her mind about a book AFTER they themselves read it.

I didn't like 50 Shades of Gray. I tried to read it on three separate occasions with the sample downloaded to my Kindle, and no dice. I didn't even get to the sexy parts, I found the main character boring. Therefore, I deleted the sample. At no time did it matter to me that other readers thought the book was 5 stars or not, or even if they read the book. I didn't like it based on the book's merits and my personal tastes. Now, is there an argument that I only tried that book because of the press it received because of the reviews? Mmmmm, maybe, but who cares? Other books I hear about because someone paid thousands to put the ad in a magazine. Either way IF reviews were paid for (and I have no proof for that specific book), it's just that, advertising dollars. Unless I personally know the person making a recommendation, I always wonder if an endorsement is paid.
 
#125 ·
This entire thing makes my stomach turn.  At best it's a sensationalist way to get attention, at worst it's a thinly-veiled attempt to stab at certain folks in particular.  I know that it's caused undo stress to folk who don't deserve it (I know a few people on that list and I'm surprised my jaw didn't dent my floor when it dropped seeing their names on it).  Authors are getting hate mail from folks because of something someone not brave enough to put their name on had to say?  IMHO this is no better than bathroom graffiti slander.  And while I understand that it's better for everyone to just step around the drama llama droppings and continue on - this will be forgotten about about as fast as it popped up, I hope - it still makes me very grumpy.  :mad:
 
#126 ·
Freebooksy_Taylor said:
This is awful. I want to go hug Melissa. And all of you on the list.

To quote the esteemed Ms Foster, #GoTeamNice.

<3 to you, Melissa!
**Waves** Hi Taylor. Nice to "see" you. Thank you for your support xox
 
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