The Perks of Being a Reviewer

[silverscreenselect]

To get things on a brighter note at the end of the year (and I know I'm responsible for yesterday's political rant), I'm finally getting some rewards out of being an Amazon reviewer. I've gradually worked my way up the list into the top 5,000, and people are actually contacting me to use their products. I've got a $30 backpack coming and I've recently reviewed a couple of other freebies as well. I did turn down the chance to review the Lego Ice Cube Maker (the cubes look like Lego Bob) and a couple of other products that I didn't think I'd be using. And that's in addition to the free books that the authors and publishers send me (the next four books in my reading list are review copies from authors).

Plus, and I think this is the most valuable perk of all, I've struck up an acquaintance with several published authors, including our own esteemed Vandal, most of whom are now following me on one of my social media platforms as well. One guy is actually a member of the MPAA and is currently working on his nominations for Best Director and Screenwriter (members get to nominate Best Picture and those categories in which they qualify, so actors nominate actors, and cinematographers nominate cinematographers). I've suggested he check out some of my reviews before making up his mind.

I do think my website and the material on there helped get me this job (the guy who interviewed me specifically commented on that).

And coming very early in 2015, I'll have my blog up and running.

It's going to be a good year, and I wish everyone else here a Happy New Year.

[Bob Juch]

Thanks for mentioning the Lego ice cube trays. I just ordered a set (one bricks, one figures) for my wife and daughter. They have a mini-fridge so they don't have to come upstairs to the kitchen. They'll love them; both build stuff with Legos.

Side note: On Christmas my wife mentioned she'd like to learn how to play the violin. My daughter said she wanted to learn how to play the piano (when ever has a ten-year-old said they wanted to take piano lessons?!). I ordered both and they arrived yesterday. They're happier than clams and I'm happy they're in the basement.

[MarleysGh0st]

How does someone become a top Amazon reviewer? Is it by the number of reviews or does someone review the quality of the reviews?

[ghostjmf]

The beginner piano practise is going to sound a lot better than the beginner violin practise, but give it time. I wish I could learn to play the violin. But before anyone sends me one, I think with me its the "learn" part that is the obstacle, not the absence of a violin.

[silverscreenselect]

How does someone become a top Amazon reviewer? Is it by the number of reviews or does someone review the quality of the reviews?

Their rating system is based on the number of reviews, how recently you've written reviews, and the number and percentage of reviews that Amazon customers say are "helpful." After each review, customers are asked whether they find the review helpful or not and they can vote accordingly. Good reviewers generally get 80-90% "helpful" (mine is at 83% right now). Amazon puts a "badge" beside the name of its top reviewers, so you can see if someone is is Number One, Top Ten, Top 100, and Top 1000 (obviously, those rankings change from week to week as they are updated). People can also look up and see more detailed information about the top 10,000 reviewers. As a point of reference, I've seen a review by someone who was ranked 13 million, so there's a lot of people worldwide who have submitted at least one review at one time or another.

Most of my reviews get either zero or one vote. The most I've had for any review is 43 of 49 helpful. However, if a reviewer writes a good review of a best selling book, he can get hundreds of votes. The top reviews for each book, in terms of number of votes, show up at the top of the reviews list on the book page. So, once you get to the top, everyone thinking of buying the book will see your review and you can easily get a lot more. The top reviewer of Fifty Shades of Grey, a two-star review, has over 24,000 helpful votes (I've got 366 right now for all my reviews).

Here's a link to their top reviewer page: http://www.amazon.com/review/top-reviewers

And the page where I'm currently listed: http://www.amazon.com/review/top-review ... 8&page=486

FYI, the "Fan Voters" column on the right is not a good column. Amazon keeps track of customers who post a disproportionate number of helpful votes for a particular reviewer and factors them out. So, reviewers supposedly can't set up alternate profiles or get their friends to mass vote for them to boost their rankings (I don't have any Fan Voters).

My apologies for not answering earlier. I didn't see this post before today.

[MarleysGh0st]

My apologies for not answering earlier. I didn't see this post before today.

Not a problem, SSS. We're in the holiday season, after all!

And if the Bored that this feature, I'd give your post a "helpful" vote.

[earendel]

The beginner piano practise is going to sound a lot better than the beginner violin practise, but give it time. I wish I could learn to play the violin. But before anyone sends me one, I think with me its the "learn" part that is the obstacle, not the absence of a violin.

I played the viola in junior high school. I wasn't very good at it, but our "orchestra" needed violists, so I was "second chair". I've mused about taking it up again - our church orchestra needs violists and the conductor actually offered to rent one for me, but "old dogs, new tricks" (or in this case, "old tricks") and all that. elwing also played the viola but she also declined the offer.