Hi Angela:

There is a New York Times report on how Michael Jackson fans who had not read a book by Randall Sullivan about Michael Jackson effectively sank the book’s sales by attacking it in Amazon’s so-called “Reviews.”

This once again illustrates my two biggest concerns about Amazon’s “reviews.”

1) If a retailer has accepted to partner with a publisher and author, then the retailer has a duty to both publisher and author to promote sales of the product. If the retailer thinks the product is not worthy of being sold, the retailer should not partner with the publisher.

2) Reviewing books is a professional activity. When Tom, Dick and Harry post online comments that are not professional reviews, Amazon should not call their comments “reviews.”

Scott Rose
Death in Hawaii
Mr. David Cooper’s Happy Suicide