Entry tags:

books/authors, person: neo_prodigy, reviews

What's worse than getting a negative review on Amazon?
Getting caught leaving a positive review under a sockpuppet, of course!

Author Dennis R. Upkin Jr. reviews his own book under a sock account and is outed by Amazon.com's credit card verification system. ETA: Review's been removed, but here's a screencap from the sf_drama post.

Copy and pasted text of the four star review, left by "Roz Torres":

I heard about this novel on an online podcast and after constantly forgetting to pick up the book, I finally got a copy and read it.

The story is intense. It's got a lot going on. With the paranormal elements and the real world commentary. Upkins pulls no punches tackling racism and homophobia, but really surprised me was the interesting cast of women. I loved Ruby and Cassidy and it was nice to see women of color be shown in a light you rarely see. But my favorite character hands down was Neely. I wish there were more characters like her in the media. And I say this as a fellow bisexual woman. The little representation we have, most of it isn't good. Good story. And I'll definitely re-read again to see what I missed the first time.

ETA 2: Dennis R. Upkins, Jr. is also known as neo_prodigy on livejournal, and is known for wankiness already. (Link goes to unfunny_fandom.)

ETA 3: Someone on fail_fandomanon has pointed out that it is possible to get an Amazon-verified account with a phony name, although a "Rosalyn Torres" also left a positive rating on goodreads earlier this month (thanks for the link, sakanagi). Also, while the Amazon review is gone, but the account that posted it is still up, so you can see the real name verification for yourself.

(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

littlemousling
2011-08-30 04:04 am UTC (link)

It's one thing to sockpuppet, and honestly I can understand why an author would, especially a self/vanity-published author.

But.

It's a whole other thing to sockpuppet as a queer woman when you know very well that you've been accused, time and again, of misogyny and erasure of queer women. Even if he doesn't believe that those accusations have merit, it just boggles the mind that he doesn't take enough notice of them to think "maybe sockpuppeting as a bi lady is a bad idea."

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	cmdr_zoom 2011-08-30 05:11 am UTC (link)
	When he needs a woman for something, he can just make one up. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littlemousling 2011-08-30 05:28 am UTC (link)
	And then make up a beloved teacher character to repeatedly slut-shame her! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	life_on_mars 2011-08-31 09:40 pm UTC (link)
	It's one thing to sockpuppet, and honestly I can understand why an author would, especially a self/vanity-published author. I can't. I honestly can't. What good could it possibly do? And ... I was going to say it's incredibly undignified, but I guess in this case that particular ship sailed a while ago. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littlemousling 2011-09-01 12:20 am UTC (link)
	It's hard to get a foothold in a crowded market; if you can't get anyone to read the book until there are reviews, I understand wanting to make reviews happen. I'm not saying it's particularly ethical or admirable, just understandable. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	evanwaters 2011-09-01 07:31 am UTC (link)
	I venture that's WHY he masqueraded as a woman. "See? Women get my work! I'm not misogynist!" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	littlemousling 2011-09-01 03:49 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, that's DEFINITELY why. It's just incredibly, incredibly poor judgment. (Reply to this)(Parent)

(Read comments) -