Posting negative review in Amazon

[Evangeline Han]

I recently accepted an eBook from a PR company to review. After accepting the eBook, I was requested not to post my review on Amazon if the book receives a rating of less than 4 stars from me as it will not "benefit the author". I have not yet written my review, but it will definitely be a mainly negative review. I can't believe how incoherent the story was in the beginning...

I checked the Amazon page for the book, and all I see are 4-star ratings. It's unbelievable since this is one of the worst books I've had to review. I have not yet replied to the email from the publicist. But what should I do? The reviews on Amazon are giving a false impression of the book. Personally, I don't know why, but I don't feel right not posting my review in Amazon... What should I do? If this were you, how would you reply the publicist?

[Naty Matos]

Tell the truth. I would write the review in a constructive matter, but it's your review. Tell the publicist what you thought and write your honest review

[Tracee]

I work for a PR company and I would NEVER dictate to someone where they should or should not post their review.  Not sure who you were dealing with but I would tell the publicist that you may be willing to withhold the review on your blog (although I wouldn't do that but it might appease them) but that you would post it to other sites.  Hope this helps a little. I've had bad reviews as part of book tours I have coordinated and I just deal with them with the author.  It's all part of it.

[BookNut 101]

I think, Evangeline, that their policy of not adding reviews that have a rating of less than 4 stars is horrible! I mean, this way, people will only hear a biased, one-sided view. I would reply that they are dealing unethically, by not sharing a rounded view of the ebook with the public. I know from personal experience that when checking out a book, I take into account the comments. It would be terrible if readers were being deceived in such a manner. Good on you! Telling the truth about the matter is the way to go!

 

BookNut

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[Joseph Arellano]

Unless you signed some type of written contract with the publicist in question (which I'll assume you did not), you're free to post whatever you want to post at Amazon and elsewhere.  Best, Joseph  http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/