Recently, there have been many conversations about authors paying bloggers to review their book. . . and give it a good review. And I just feel I need to say this; No one can pay me to post a false review. I cannot be bribed, tricked or forced to do it.
Let me tell you right now, my entire life goal, - if nothing else- is to help Authors! Indie, Traditional, un-published entirely! It doesn't matter. So, if I give a book a five star review, it is because in my eyes and by my measurements, it deserved five stars.
If I give a book three stars, it is because I believe it deserved three stars. Not because it is a bad book, in fact by my measurements, that is quite good.
Why do you rarely see bad reviews on this blog? Because MY LIFE GOAL IS TO HELP AUTHORS. So if an author asks me to review their book, and I read the book and don't like it, I tell the author first and let them decide whether or not I post the review.
This is not because I only want the best of the best on my blog. It is because I do not want my personal opinion of a book to affect the sales. Just because I hate a book, doesn't make it a bad book. And just because I like a book, doesn't make it a good book. It just means that I personally did or did not like it, enjoy it, or find it enjoyable for whatever reason.
For instance, I personally did not LOVE Divergent. Yes, it was a good read, Yes I finished it, Yes I will read the second book. NO, I wouldn't give it five stars. It just isn't my favorite thing.
I LOVE Once Upon A Marigold and yet, I have only ever met ONE person who knew what book I was talking about when I mentioned it. Would I give it five stars? Absolutely. In fact, I will post my review of it and Divergent on the blog within the next couple weeks!
So YES, most of the reviews posted on my blog rank high. NO, none of the reviews are fake.
And while we're talking about reviews, check out my newest blog, dedicated to Reviews and Book Blog Tours! CLICK HERE! (I started this blog with my friend so we will be doing it together. But stop by, say hi, feel free to follow and if you have a book and you're looking for reviews, send us one!)