Amazon Strikes Back: The Sock Puppet Saga continues

These days more and more books are bought, sold, and recommended on-line, and the health of this exciting new ecosystem depends entirely on free and honest conversation among readers. But some writers are misusing these new channels in ways that are fraudulent and damaging to publishing at large. British author Stephen Leather recently admitted that he used fake identities online to promote his work. The American bestseller John Locke has revealed he has paid for reviews of his books. The British author RJ Ellory has now confessed to posting flattering reviews of his own work and to using assumed names to attack other authors perceived to be his rivals. No Sock Puppets Please

“Sock puppet” accounts, in the context of online book reviews, are fake forum, customer review or Twitter accounts that an author creates to promote his or her book under a different name.

Author Joe Konrath has attacked the No Sock Puppets Here movement with a vitrolic post on his blog - "Congratulations, NSPHP signatories. Because of your concerns about Amazon's review policy and your ridiculous little petition, and the resulting media witch hunt, thousands of legitimate reviews have now been deleted", Konrath wrote and you can see the full post HERE


Yep, the Sock Puppet saga continues and it really is too important an issue to ignore here on The Archive - Amazon were recently stung by the sock puppet scandal and they have replied by removing many reviews from their website. Author Joe Konrath, finding that Amazon have removed many  book reviews, both for his own work and for writer friends in his network sent off a letter of mild complaint to Amazon. Check out his post HERE - and once again commentators on his blog are attacking him for what many see as his incredible stance that posting fake reviews is perfectly good and proper. Of course Konrath recently posted many fake reviews himself, commenting on them in this POST, but many saw this as an attempt to cover up his own sock puppet antics.

He also attacks many of the household names who signed the NO SOCK PUPPETS PLEASE petition, calling them a bunch of holier-than-thou authors. When one commentator made positive remarks about the petition Joe responded with - "Creating and signing that petition was a hasty, short-sighted, and foolish thing to do, and I said as much at the time. I also warned against innocent people being hurt.I was right. But I suppose its easier to defend your actions and take pokes at me than it is to perhaps consider the NSPHP letter set into motion unfortunate consequences.Hopefully next time a group of authors get together to incite moral panic, they'll let common sense override the heat of the moment, and perhaps thing about the potential ramifications of publicly whining in the media."

Amazon responded in an email to another reviewer who questioned their actions: " I'm sorry for any previous concerns regarding your reviews on our site. We do not allow reviews on behalf of a person or company with a financial interest in the product or a directly competing product. This includes authors, artists, publishers, manufacturers, or third-party merchants selling the product.

We have removed your reviews as they are in violation of our guidelines.  We will not be able to go into further detail about our research.

I understand that you are upset, and I regret that we have not been able to address your concerns to your satisfaction. However, we will not be able to offer any additional insight or action on this matter."  More on this HERE


If Konrath is to be believed then the following authors, all of whom have signed the petition against fake reviews, are inciting a moral outrage -  Linwood Barclay, Tom Bale, Mark Billingham, Christopher Brookmyre, Declan Burke, Ramsey Campbell, Tania Carver, Lee Child, John Connolly, Michael Connelly, N.J. Cooper, David Corbett, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Stella Duffy, Jeremy Duns, Mark Edwards, Chris Ewan, Helen FitzGerald, Meg Gardiner, Lee Goldberg, Gordon Harries, Joanne Harris, Mo Hayder, David Hewson, Charlie Higson, Susan Hill, Peter James, Paul Johnston, Graham Joyce, Laura Lippman, Stuart MacBride, Val McDermid, Roger McGough, Denise Mina, Steve Mosby, Stuart Neville, Jo Nesbo, Ayo Onatade, SJ Parris, Tony Parsons, Sarah Pinborough, Ian Rankin, Shoo Rayner, John Rickards, Peter Robinson, Stav Sherez, Karin Slaughter, Andrew Taylor, Luca Veste, Louise Voss, Martyn Waites, Tim Weaver, Neil White, Laura Wilson.

The sock puppet crisis was sparked off earlier this year when author Stephen Leather said during a panel on eBooks at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. -  "I’ll go onto several forums, from the well-known forums, and post there, under my own name and under various other names and various other characters. You build this whole network of characters who talk about your books and sometimes have conversations with yourself. And then I’ve got enough fans."
 When Leather was asked if his readers knew about this, he said  - "Well, I think that everyone … well, are the readers aware of it? No … But they’re not buying it because of the sock puppet. What you’re trying to do is create a buzz. And it’s very hard, one person, surrounded by a hundred thousand other writers, to create a buzz. I mean, that’s one of the things that publishers do. They create a buzz. One person on their own, difficult to create a buzz. If you’ve got 10 friends, and they’ve got friends, and you can get them all as one creating a buzz, then hopefully you’ll be all right." 

There’s an excellent account of the whole sorry mess on the blog of respected crime writer, Steve Mosby 

Personally I'm one of the authors who signed the petition - as well as being published traditionally I have also seen several titles out as eBooks and, like many writers, find that good Amazon reviews help sell books which in turn helps us make a living at our work, which is why I found myself turning against Konrath, a writer who I once admired. He is very visible and his comments that fake reviews are okay could damage the integrity of all online reviews. It's the same with John Locke and Stephen Leather and I will never again buy anything by these guys, but at least these guys are remaining silent on the subject while Konrath continues to shout loud and proud that there is nothing wrong with sock puppetry.

Time to pull your socks up, Joe.

Self publishing - the big sellers and how they did it!

Joe Konrath could be called one of the superstars of self publishing - he's shifted a lot of books and he continues to do so. He runs a great blog, The Newbies Guide to Publishing which no doubt helps to sell his books - and so it should, there's a lot of interesting and helpful information there. But the way he seems to gain his following is by using shock jock tactics. He goes all out for controversy in post after post, in which he goes for the traditional publishing model like a bull who has spent far too long in the sun. And he's at it again in this POST by attacking Stephen King. Now it's obvious that the author is trying to stir things up, hoping that the media will run with his comments in which he offers to congratulate Stephen King for being one of the few bestselling writers to advocate eBook piracy. How did King do this? Well he didn't really but Konrath decided that a statement that King's new novel for Hardcase Crime will be available in paperback only, was an open invitation to piracy. This sort of approach may not work for everyone, and the more faint hearted will balk at the idea of attacking publishers, booksellers and other authors for being too dumb to understand just what is happening with this new digital medium. But it sure works for Joe.

John Locke on the other hand is much more gentle but none less effective in his marketing - more so really seeing as how Locke was the first self published author to sell a million eBooks with Amazon. Locke does however make a big deal of using social media and he is very active on Facebook and Twitter - not so much with his blog though which doesn't seem to have been updated for weeks. Locke's eBook, How I sold 1 million eBooks in 5 Months is well worth reading as he details the way he used social media to shift so many books. Locke is a great believer in building up a mailing list of fans. He seems to have created a system for marketing his books that works so well it’s infuriating. He cracked the code. His success is pre-meditated.  "My success came from the friends and authors I met on Twitter and through blogging, emailing, and selling books one person at a time." John Locke

Two very different authors and two very different approaches, but they both have something in common and that is that they both produce extremely readable books. And that is the single most important factor for success so whatever method one uses to get their work noticed, they have to produce good work in the first place.

And so in the spirit of experimentation I am going to try and get you all to buy my novel, The Rhondda Ripper by copying the methods of the two big guys, and what's more I'm going to do it here and now:

Firstly in Joe Konrath mode -  Buy my book The Rhondda Ripper by Gary M. Dobbs and prove all those scummy, gatekeeping, tosspot publishers who didn't publish it wrong. I am the digital guru and you need to follow my example but first buy my book.

And now in John Locke mode - Please buy my book The Rhondda Ripper by Gary M. Dobbs. Go on pretty please all my Twitter and Facebook friends whom I know intimately, each and every one of you. I'll have you all around for tea and biscuits next weekend but for now buy my book, please friends.

Or then again maybe I'll just tell you that I think I've written a bloody good book and leave you with some of the reviews.

Gary Dobbs partners up Parade and Buffalo Bill making for an enjoyable detecting duo. He does a fine job of bringing the famous Wild West showman to life and his descriptions of Pontypridd, the era, and people sparkle. I'm hoping Mr. Dobbs doesn't leave Frank Parade on the sidelines too long because I'm betting there are more adventures in him. Or, maybe Bill Cody -- there's an idea worth exploring -- Buffalo Bill as a world-traveling crime-solver. The Education of a Pulp Writer

Gary Dobbs (AKA Jack Martin) continues his string of fast paced books with "A Policeman's Lot." Not a western per se, as are his Jack Martin books, "Policeman's Lot" still has some of that western sensibility and it even features Buffalo Bill Cody and his Wild West show on a visit to England, Wales in particular.

The story takes place a number of years after the Whitechapel murders but ties back to those murders in a most interesting way. I won't give more away because the twist at the end is original and took me well by surprise. Yet, it made perfect sense within the storyline of the book. Mack Captures Crime

One word: Wow. This is a good book.

The story begins slowly, a man's morning routine as he gets ready for duty and faces the possibility of a busy day, but he has no idea how "busy" it's going to get! Throw in Buffalo Bill, a Wild West show, murders that may or may not be connected to Jack The Ripper, and you have a really hot read. I don't want to say too much for fear of giving something away, but it's a well-written yarn and you will get hooked right away. It's also, for me, a nice change of pace from the modern urban hard-boiled junk I've been digesting lately. Brian Drake 

HOW HE SOLD 1 MILLION EBOOKS IN FIVE MONTHS

I like John Locke as a writer - I think his work is unpretentious, pacey and above all bloody good fun, so I was eager to read his, How I sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 months. Would the book enable me to emulate Locke's success? Will it turn anyone who reads it into a bestseller? Not really - no book can do that and the only way to find success is through bloody hard work.

That said this book does give some useful information, especially regarding marketing. Locke's system for using Twitter is very well explained and should prove useful to anyone wanting to build a following via the social network site. Though I thought the advice he gives about blogging is a load of bollocks. The author claims that the way to build and keep a blog audience is to only blog once in a  blue moon and too keep posts short, concise and to the point. I read blogs daily and anything that isn't updated regularly is soon forgotten about.  But as previously mentioned Locke's advice on the use of Twitter is worth the price of this book alone.

The writer comes across as more of a businessman than author, and his books as products rather than artistic works, but this is kind of refreshing. And Locke's certainly sold a lot of books so I would most certainly recommend this title to anyone wanting to market a book. The book doesn't set out to make you a better writer but instead tries to develop your business skills.

John Locke signs with Simon and Schuster

First it was Amanda Hocking and now we hear that author, John Locke has signed with a major publisher -
Simon & Schuster issued a statement on Monday that the indie author has signed with them to publish only the physical copies of his Donovan Creed thrillers (The Love You Crave, Lethal People).

Locke recently made news as an international best seller, joining the likes of James Patterson, in selling one million ebooks world wide. Locke is self-published through this own company, John Locke Books.  With this contract, Locke will continue to indie publish his ebooks, maintaining control of the story, cover, and editing. But Simon & Schuster will have distribution rights for all hard cover and paperback sales.

Lock is certain to recieve criticism from the indie community, just as Amanda Hocking did before him, but the point is that these two authors have built their brand to the point where the are desirable to traditional publishers.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST 99cent AUTHOR JOINS THE MILLION CLUB

Archive friend, John Locke has just become the first SELF PUBLISHED author to sell a million titles on the Amazon Kindle platform. This week several of the British dailies have featured the author which is considerably widening his profile - indeed he is in danger of becoming an household name.

Locke's books typically retail for $0.99 cents when more established author, ie traditionally published writer's books cost ten times more - "I put them in the position of having to prove their books were 10 times better than mine," says Locke.

The Archive is delighted with the author's success particularly as he's recently started working in the western genre. Remember, the western - it's that genre that conventional publishing, with very few exceptions, has long considered dead.

The Archive spoke to Mr Locke HERE

Congratulations John Locke from all at The Tainted Archive.

Those wanting to emulate Mr Locke would do well to follow his advice here - "Write the types of books you like to read. Build your books around memorable scenes. Write your dialogue the way people actually talk, instead of the way they’re supposed to talk. I always give authors the same advice: don't take yourself too seriously. Write the types of books you like to read. I offer my readers a fun, breezy read. If I can give them some chuckles and hold their interest for a few hours, I feel I've earned my 99 cents. I know I'm on the right track if I laugh out loud when I'm writing a scene. And if I don't laugh out loud several times while writing a book, I don't publish it."

THE WORLD'S GREATEST 99cent AUTHOR- JOHN LOCKE INTERVIEW

UPDATE - Since this interview took place it has emerged that John Locke paid for positive reviews of his books on Amazon. He decided against putting this information in his HOW TO eBook and so some of the answers in this interview should be taken with a pinch of salt.


Author, John Locke seems to have come out of nowhere - from obscurity to bestsellerdom in an instant - "My background is niche marketing, where I built a successful business selling specialty insurance, and then another one, investing in specialty real estate. So the first time I saw the business model for selling eBooks on Kindle, my eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas. Why? Because Kindle doesn’t just level the playing field for self-published authors, it actually slants it in our favour."

Wanting to know more about the writer the Archive pinned him down for a brief question/answer session.


"Specifically, I saw that a self-published book could be offered on Kindle for 99 cents, and still turn a 35 cent profit. I was stunned! I walked around in a daze for, well, days, trying to explain to people what that meant. No one seemed impressed. To me it was like receiving the keys to the kingdom, and I immediately set a goal to become the world’s greatest 99-cent author." JOHN LOCKE

TA:Every 7 seconds, 24 hours a day, a John Locke novel is downloaded somewhere in the world – How does a new writer get noticed amongst all the other eBooks out there?

JL: For me it was a full year of trying everything, and building a loyal support team one email at a time. I used social media to build a network of friends, and they spread the word, and my blogs attracted large numbers of readers, who also spread the word. It was grassroots all the way.

JOHN LOCKE

TA. I loved your western, Follow the Stone. Why did you suddenly switch to the western genre after the success of your Donovan Creed novels?

JL: I didn’t switch to the western genre, I added it. The Donovan Creed audience is deeper than it is wide. People either love my books or hate them, so once I had as many fans as I could find on my own, I had to come up with a new method of gaining fans. Western readers usually don’t look for the types of books I write, but I felt if they like my westerns, they might give my Creed books a try. I also expect a number of Creed fans to try my westerns. Writing the different genres is like a palate cleanser for my brain, and allows me to come back to either series with a fresh, energized outlook.

TA. I understand you’re close to finishing a follow-up, so can we expect more westerns?

JL: Absolutely! I love writing westerns. I’m writing not just a western series, but a western serial! The story of Emmett and Gentry that began in Follow the Stone will continue from book to book, in sequence. The new book is titled, Don’t Poke the Bear! and it’s a hoot! It should be out before mid-May.

TA: Self-publishing, which you’ve scored a remarkable success with has lost the stigma of old, but from the retailers’ point of view how can we be sure we are going to get a professional product?

JL I pay a professional editor to edit my books. Still, even with books published by traditional publishers, mistakes can occur. When a reader contacts my website to report an error or formatting issue, my publisher gives me instant service, correcting the problem within hours, in most cases.

TA. Self-publicity must be paramount in self-publishing. Any tips?

JL: I used Twitter to build a friendship circle, and attracted others to my personal blog site to expose them to my style of writing. I have also done a number of high-profile guest blogs.

TA. Tell us a little about Donovan Creed? Who is he?

JL:Donovan Creed is a former CIA hit man who kills suspected terrorists for the government, and performs free lance hits for the mob. He’s a smart-aleck tough guy with a heart of bronze. Creed is not a typical hero, who often says and does the wrong thing, has a penchant for call girls, and is almost completely clueless about women. But he has an endearing way about him. He’s like the oversized dog you adopt from the pound against your better judgment that drives you crazy and constantly misbehaves. But just when you’re about to take him back, he saves your life, or surprises you by doing something so unexpected or endearing, he wins you over. So that’s Donovan Creed. He’s the kind of guy women WANT to love and the kind of guy men want to BE.

TA Your books have scores of good reviews on Amazon – you can’t get a following like this without first writing a good book? Any tips for new writers?

JL:Write the types of books you like to read. Build your books around memorable scenes. Write your dialogue the way people actually talk, instead of the way they’re supposed to talk. I always give authors the same advice: don't take yourself too seriously. Write the types of books you like to read. I offer my readers a fun, breezy read. If I can give them some chuckles and hold their interest for a few hours, I feel I've earned my 99 cents. I know I'm on the right track if I laugh out loud when I'm writing a scene. And if I don't laugh out loud several times while writing a book, I don't publish it.










JOHN LOCKE WEBSITE

And the current most successful western writer in the world is...

Every 7 seconds, 24 hours a day, a John Locke novel is downloaded somewhere in the world.

Those who say the western genre has no chops should be eating humble pie now because one the strongest selling eBooks at the moment is a western, Follow the Stone by John Locke - granted it doesn't look like a traditional western and is not marketed as such, but it is fairly traditional none the less.


International best-selling author John Locke (Saving Rachel, Wish List, Now & Then, Lethal People, Lethal Experiment) tackles a new genre, with hilarious results.



"I love the idea of westerns. It’s a simple dynamic: a man or woman overcoming hardship to carve out a meaningful life in a savage land, while maintaining their integrity." John Locke

Follow the Stone (An Irreverent Western Adventure) is a good-hearted, rollicking story about a former gunslinger and his crablike scout, who journey West with a mail order bride, a witch, and a wagon full of prostitutes!


Expect a full review and interview with the author, soon.