book recs, author services, general badassery
  • Blog
    • Free Romance Reads
    • Our Thoughts
    • 1-Click Wonders
    • Author on Authors
    • Chattin' with Authors
    • So You're New To...
  • Book Recs
  • Reviews
    • 5-Star Reads
    • Contemporary Romance
    • Historical Romance
    • New Adult Romance
    • Paranormal Romance
    • Romantic Comedy
    • Romantic Erotica
    • Romantic Suspense
    • Teen Young Adult
    • Hall of Shame
  • About
    • Contact
    • Review Policy
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Advertising on Romance Rehab
  • For Authors
    • Romance novel blurb help
    • Referral Program
    • Romance Remedy
    • Romance Author Services
    • Online Writer's Resources
    • Proofreading Test >
      • Proofreading Test Answers
  • Blog
    • Free Romance Reads
    • Our Thoughts
    • 1-Click Wonders
    • Author on Authors
    • Chattin' with Authors
    • So You're New To...
  • Book Recs
  • Reviews
    • 5-Star Reads
    • Contemporary Romance
    • Historical Romance
    • New Adult Romance
    • Paranormal Romance
    • Romantic Comedy
    • Romantic Erotica
    • Romantic Suspense
    • Teen Young Adult
    • Hall of Shame
  • About
    • Contact
    • Review Policy
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Advertising on Romance Rehab
  • For Authors
    • Romance novel blurb help
    • Referral Program
    • Romance Remedy
    • Romance Author Services
    • Online Writer's Resources
    • Proofreading Test >
      • Proofreading Test Answers
Picture

How Facebook and Amazon ruined my ability to find new books

2/4/2019

1 Comment

 
How Facebook and Amazon ruined my ability to find new books
Back in the good old days, I found 99% of new reads either 1) on Facebook, or 2) In the “also boughts” on Amazon. When I found an author I liked, I followed them on Facebook and got notified whenever the author posted about a new release. I was also able to go to Amazon and find out what other books readers were picking up that were like the one(s) I’d just enjoyed. It was truly a golden age of reading. Well, those days are OVER. Why? Because Facebook and Jeff Bezos completely wrecked the golden age. Here’s how:
What do you mean I don’t get to hear from people I’ve SAID I want to hear from?
So, I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but not too long ago, Facebook decided that I only wanted to hear from my friends and family. (And apparently from clickbait feel-good videos and people with recipes, for some reason. I don’t cook, by the way. Like, ever. But I digress...) That decision that was made completely unilaterally by Facebook (Thanks a lot, Zuckerberg) means that author pages I’ve liked and SAID I want to hear from get bumped way, way down in my news feed—and that’s IF they even decide to show them to me at all. Now, sure, there’s a way I can go in and manually tell Facebook AGAIN which pages I want to see, but I’ve been liking stuff for YEARS. I can’t possibly go in and manually mark all those pages so they show up. All this means that I’m missing out on LOTS of author updates, because Facebook has decided that those aren’t important to me. That’s taken a HUGE chunk out of my TBR list, and I’m not at all happy about it. Not. At. All. 

Now, all that also means that as a blogger, only about half (if I’m lucky) of the people who’ve liked the Romance Rehab page and SAID they want to see updates from us actually get to see anything we say. So, not only did Facebook take away my ability to find new books, they also robbed me of my ability to TELL anyone about the books I’ve read and enjoyed. (Unless I want to pay them, of course) The result? Fewer book sales all around. Great job, Facebook. Thanks alot.

via GIPHY


​Where are my “also boughts”??
Around the same time Zuckerberg decided to spit in my face, Jeff Bezos decided to shove the information about books that are often bought by people just like me down—way, way down—under a bunch of “sponsored products.” In case you’re wondering, “sponsored products” are just paid ads. What’s worse, they try to tell me that these “sponsored products” are actually related to whatever I’m searching for on Amazon. That’s a DIRTY LIE. I can attest to that fact. Because when I’m searching for a new paranormal romance to read, 98% of the “sponsored products” that show up have absolutely nothing to do with paranormal romance. I can find everything from new adult, to contemporary, to taboo romance and historical romance. If I really keep digging, I might get to some paranormal romance. But by that time, I’ve usually given up and just decide to re-read one of my old favorites that I found back in the golden age when finding a new book was as easy as glancing at my phone.
Alexa is no help
Reviews??
Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, they decided to add insult to injury by “cracking down” on fake reviews. I’m all for Amazon getting their review system under control and getting rid of fake reviews. However, instead of having humans problem-solve the issue, Bezos assigned his bots to the task. The result? Some fake reviews got taken down. But then so did tons of legitimate reviews. Apparently the bots have trouble determining the good reviews from the fake reviews. And if you’ve liked an author on social media, the bots assume that you’re a friend or family member of the author and that you’re trying to scam the system by leaving a biased review. (Hey, Bezos... Pssst...here’s a tidbit of info for you: readers like to follow their favorite authors on social media. We like to interact with them. That doesn’t make us incapable of leaving an unbiased review. Can you explain that to your bots who remove our reviews every day?)

But the biggest result of this crackdown? I have no faith left in the Amazon review system. There goes yet another resource I could’ve utilized to find new reads. So much for that…

via GIPHY

That’s my story, y’all. That’s why I cuss out Facebook on a daily basis and maintain a love-hate relationship with Amazon. (I do love me some Amazon Prime. I’m only human!) So, if you have any good book recommendations, please let me know, because God knows I’ll have trouble finding any on Amazon or Facebook.

And since Bezos and Zuckerberg don’t give a crap about what I have to say, all I can tell them is:

via GIPHY


​NOTE: If you want to make sure you keep seeing Romance Rehab posts (or any of your favorite author posts) on Facebook, go to your “News Feed” tab on your homepage and click on “Edit Preferences”. It’ll let you choose who you see first in your news feed from there.   ​

More thoughts on Amazon and reviews

Picture
If you're a Kindle Unlimited subscriber you NEED to read this​
Picture
Hey Mr. Bezos, can we talk about Kindle Unlimited for a minute?​
Picture
The reader's guide to knowing which online book reviews to ignore​
Picture
1 Comment
Bella Jeanisse link
2/4/2019 01:48:12 pm

Thanks for this. You are absolutely right! We need a way to get this remedied!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Romance Rehab newsletter sign up

    FOLLOW US 
    Reedsy Top Book Reviewer 2019

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

Picture

BLOG
FREE Romance books
​Book Recommendations

Our Thoughts
1-Click Wonders
5-Star Reads
Authors on Authors
Chattin' with Authors
So You're New To...
What Not to Read
REVIEWS
​
Contemporary Romance
Historical Romance
New Adult Romance
Paranormal Romance
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Erotica
Romantic Suspense
Teen/Young Adult
ABOUT
Contact
Review Policy
Guest Post Guidelines
Advertising on
​Romance Rehab

​
FOR AUTHORS
Online Writer's Resources
Proofreading Test
ROMANCE AUTHOR SERVICES 
Romance novel blurb help
Romance Remedy program

Referral program

Romance author services
  • Book cover critique
  • Animated book covers and social media graphics
  • Beta reading
FREE Romance Rehab newsletter: ​Subscribe here
KnockinBooks LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
​© 2020 KnockinBooks LLC