SwiftVets.com

phantom1 · Seaman Recruit Joined: 21 Aug 2004 Posts: 3

I have been a member of Amazon for several years and familiar with their reviews. Many reviews of the book were in fact removed and were reposted after they received numerous complaints.

Amazon has now altered their policy on posting reviews for this book, which I think is unfair. This is posted on their site above the reviews now:

"Important note from Amazon.com: We've decided to suspend our normal customer review policies and rules for this title. For example, we usually prohibit ad hominem attacks. That policy in particular seems to be incompatible with presidential election year politics. Therefore, short of obscenities, reviews on this book are now a free-for-all. We take no responsibility for the following discussion. Aren't presidential election years great? Have fun!"

As for the info on the other site, I have no idea.

truecons · Seaman Recruit Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Posts: 9

Some observations on the reviews follow, but first it should be restated why it's important. Obviously partisans on both sides will either strongly agree or disagree with certain reviews, and they will not affect their buying decisions. But many who read the reviews will be undecided about whether they will buy the book, and for them, the reviews could persuade them to buy. With that in mind:

There is a significant difference in the reviews between B&N and Amazon. The average rating on B&N is 4.5, while on Amazon it is 3. This is statistically huge, like the difference between 90% and 60%. The number of reviews should be sufficient to result in much closer results. This indicates intentional skewing. IMHO the most likely reason is that opponents are intentionally focusing on Amazon.

The solution? Be sure to post your own review to Amazon and encourage all your contacts to do the same. The current score makes it look like there are as many opponents as supporters, which to the potential buyer could look like a wash. If we could up that number to 4.5 it would be a strong recommendation. That alone could make a difference of thousands of sales. We will need every book out there possible to maximize our chances of success.

Also, there is an interesting correlation on Amazon between high rating of the book and high rating of the review. Of the last 10 reviews, ALL of the positive reviews were rated helpful by over half of the readers, and ALL of the negative reviews were rated helpful by half or less. (This may change slightly depending on when you view, but I've checked it several times, and it is generally true.) It would appear the consensus of the readers of the reviews is that the higher the rating, the more useful the review. This could be because supporters are using facts and opponents are just spouting personal attacks and liberal illogic. Regardless, it contributes to the credibility of the book.

While we have many ways to distribute the swiftees information, the book remains the fountainhead in terms of research. The more copies are distributed and the longer it remains at #1, the harder it will be for the liberal media to minimize its impact. So please consider contributing a review if you have not already.

Fight On! Very Happy