tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post2289118138285148567..comments2024-03-28T12:59:05.739-07:00Comments on Iron Tongue of Midnight: Caveat Lector 2Lisa Hirschhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-21824413101968285232012-12-29T00:42:55.991-08:002012-12-29T00:42:55.991-08:00Wow, thank you. That is a great report! Wow, thank you. That is a great report! Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8957911.post-27207922239511790532012-12-28T22:58:53.932-08:002012-12-28T22:58:53.932-08:00I made an interesting discovery about a certain su...I made an interesting discovery about a certain subset of Amazon book reviews last year. During a discussion/argument/flame war about religion at an online forum, someone on the pro-religious side said everyone should read a certain book and as well as others by a certain author. I was curious about exactly what sort of author and books they were, so looked up the author and books on Amazon, and started reading reviews. A startling number were incredibly favorable, in light of the somewhat controversial content. But I figured, oh, well, who would read this stuff except those already favorably inclined?<br /><br />But then I noticed that virtually all of the reviews had a little disclaimer saying the reviewer's copy was provided by some kind of book club or such. It took some sleuthing, but I finally found out that the publisher (specializing in fundamentalist evangelical Christian authors like Billy Graham) was sending out free copies of the book in exchange for reviews and blog entries, as a sort of "book club" that had a different name than the publisher (which, by the way, was bought by some Rupert Murdoch entity about a year ago, if I remember correctly). Naturally, only people inclined to be favorable are going to be signing up for the club, I would think.<br /><br />I should have notified Amazon, I suppose, but figured at the time that they wouldn't care.OTOHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09140888668762055063noreply@blogger.com