There have been a LOT of rumblings this week about plagiarism (I’m not pointing to anyone in this instance) and then this morning I saw this: How much does a 5-star review cost?.
In response to this I feel that I must restate how things work at Hott Books.
1 – Hott Synopsis: I write a synopsis of the book when I’m about 1/3 of the way into the book. I do it then so that there aren’t any spoilers. Occasionally, I will use the synopsis from Goodreads but I always change the title from ‘Hott’ Synopsis to ‘Goodreads’ or ‘Author’s’ Synopsis.
2 – Hott Reviews: The review is my own. Completely. I try to find the best parts of every book because that’s just the kind of person I am. If you’d like to know more about how I felt, check out the grade. A grades are books that I keep on my physical book shelf. B grades are books that I’d pay money for. C grades are books that were ok but I won’t read again. D grades are books that I just didn’t enjoy. DNF grades are grades when I just could not finish the book.
3 – The Price of my Reviews: My reviews are free of charge. Yes, authors request my reviews and occasionally I grant them but all I receive from these authors are a copy of the book. I prefer to use Netgalley mostly because those books are lent to me and I can chose what I like without a deadline.
4 – More: The only things I use that others have done are my Sunday laughs when I pull in the forwards that I receive from my friends – mostly Cheryl – but I always let you know that I received it in an email.
If you believe that I ever use my blog in a way unbefitting our community, please, let me know. I don’t want to offend anyone.
Please, also note that I do not post my reviews to Goodreads. This is only because I’ve found too many instances of reviews/synopses that were a bit too close for comfort when I did. (Besides, if you look closely, what you post there can be used without your knowledge or consent. Sort of like Facebook 🙂 )
Great post.
Thanks for bringing that article to my attention.
I had no idea.
Sounds sickening, but completely plausible. It happened more than once that a poorly written book I received for review had nothing but 5 stars on Amazon, and much lower ratings on Goodreads…
Oh my!
The snark in me wants to say it will cost you 1 Billion Dollars for a 5 star review or otherwise you can wait to see what I really think about the book 🙂
I just can’t believe that a) authors would pay for that or b) that reviewers would actually do that.
Craziness—I like living in my happy little bubble where none of this stuff goes on.
Gina: Thank you for bringing this to our attention. It both angers and saddens me. But I guess the saying is true about bad apples. There are so many fantastic, honest, credible, professional book bloggers that review with integrity. And those that aren’t, get paid, my opinion. I can honestly say that I do not make my choices regarding what books go on my tbr and/or wishlist from sites mentioned. It’s from the bloggers’ reviews, that I have stated above, and whom I have followed for the past 2+ years, such as yourself. Fantastic post!!!! Thank you.
Awful. But, of course, there are always those who are going to play the system. I hadn’t thought about the Goodreads issue. But there’s way too many already posted to worry about it now. I just enjoy when others comment on what I’ve had to say.
Yes, It’s been a sad week but, alas, there are wonderful, awesome, authentic bloggers — & luckily I call them friends!
LOL — AWESOME…
Cheryl told me about this post when I sent her one about plagiarism. A few bad apples really hurt all of us. Reviews should not be paid for ever. I receive the books which 90% of the are given away to my followers.
I can’t say it has been a sad week because I became a grandma for the second time on Tuesday but these are very sad actions by bloggers!!
They really do hurt all of us. It’s terribly sad.
I did see those wonderful pics of your newest addition. I couldn’t help but laugh because only a week ago I got myself a new nephew, so yes, it’s been sad on some counts but wonderful in others.