Fake reviews on Amazon?

No, probably not fake. Amazon would feel the heat if these were not real. However, I suspect they were bought and paid for by the publisher or the author.

I say that based on an experience a company producing bank software that I worked for in the 1980's. A well known publisher of reviews of bank related software raved about various software packages, but never mentioned our company. The President called to find out if the author had reviewed our software. The answer was "No, but I will for $10,000.". We didn't pay, and never got written up in the publication.

So, I suspect a majority of book reviews are purchased in one way or another.

Paul

I can offer several suggestions. First all of the reviews seem to be good, and if some one relied on the positive reviews and thought the book really sucked they could write a negative review. This may help in determining the credibility of the Amazon reviews.

You can check the book out of the library for free, and risk no money.

You can buy a used copy cheap and risk very little if the book sucks.

You can look at the recommended reading list on Bob Brinker's web site:

(My personal opinion is that Brinker is a sharp cookie and a straight shooter FWIW)

Good luck

The Atlantic magazine had a small article a couple of years ago about false positive book reviews. The essence of the article is that there are a small number of writers and reviewers and they most definitely give positive reviews to marginal books and authors.

This is exactly what I suspect.

Maybe not the majority, but it does seem fishy in this case. I mean, come on, the book is obviously garbage.

Many Amazon "customer" reviews are written by the author(s) under an assumed name.

Notice that the first three reviews were posted within one day of each other; they're written with multiple screamers (three or four exclamation points in a row); and there are no other reviews on Amazon by those individuals. Those are giveaways.

As for the editorial "review," that's book-jacket flak, written on contract for the publisher. I wrote one of those myself, for a book jacket. (However, in that case, there were enough independent, legitimate reviews that Amazon didn't have to revert to the PR or jacket copy.)

-- Ed Huntress

I clicked on more than half of the "See all my reviews" to see the reviewers other reviews. Author seems to have a lot of people that have reviewed only one book.

I don't know where the author lives but it seem that we can smell it in New Jersey and in Michigan.

Why am I not shocked that a get rich book is a scam?

Wes

Friends and family account for the different styles. This is a common and well-known thing in the publishing business.

That's not to say that they're all fakes, but get-rich books are similar to self-help books in that they tend toward gushing enthusiasm on the part of readers, and their authors seem to need an extra edge to promote them.

Sheer penetrating insight and acumen on your part, Wes.

-- Ed Huntress

Jersey and in

My guess is that the author gives a free seminar or something like that, for a positive review. In other words, the reviews are not genuinely written as a unsolicited expression of opinion, but they are written by real people (who are rather stupid to begin with), and not by one person with many accounts registered.

Darn, I thought it was because I'm a bit of a cynic. ;)

Can a cynic be a pragmatist?

Wes

------------- What all of these books are selling is the idea of "hope" and the dream of a better life, more of the instant gratification of a lottery ticket [even a losing one until the drawing] than slow and steady work/accumulation over a lifetime.

Its a scam only if you buy it expecting to actually get rich. The same thing applies to books that will help you get thin, to have the perfect golf swing, or to become a master chef.

In many cases people that buy these books have bookcases filled with them, but never pay any attention to what they actually say, particularly when this involves long term commitment, practice-practice-practice, delayed gratification, and results [far] in the indefinite future.

Unka' George [George McDuffee]

------------------------------------------- He that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils: for Time is the greatest innovator: and if Time, of course, alter things to the worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better, what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman. Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).

Of course. But you'll have to turn in your Cato and Heritage Foundation membership cards.

-- Ed Huntress

I suggest that the "reviews" may have accomplished exactly what it was intended to do - it got 15 individuals to look at the page and comment on it in this group alone.

Cheers,

Bruce (bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Funny you mentioned them, two org's I tend to like. You must know me ;)

WEs

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Gosh, I never would have guessed...heh, heh...

My son tried to get an internship with Cato Institute for the spring, but his college has odd-length terms and it didn't work. So he's working for a health care lobbying firm for the term. d8-)

And he's trying hard to get into Treasury for the summer. The kid is a glutton for punishment, but he likes to be where the action is, I guess.

-- Ed Huntress

Did I miss a positive one? ;)