# Red Headed Book Lover (MERGED)



## StephenBrennan (Dec 21, 2012)

I invested in a book-related service recently, and the result is somewhat dubious to me. Don't want to publicly deride it yet, but I do want some savvy second opinions. PM me if you're curious, and have discretion.

_Edited to alter thread title. Drop me a PM if you have any questions. - Becca_


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

Did you research it to see if there's already a thread on the forums (easier to do a web search with name and add kboards to the terms)? If not, you probably should have. Folks here are pretty savvy about companies providing "services" to authors, and a little time looking around might save you money and wasted effort in the future.

Hopefully someone will PM you and advise on the question. If you've gotten into something not so great, it would be nice to share your experience -- according to Forum Decorum -- so others may avoid issues.


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## StephenBrennan (Dec 21, 2012)

she-la-ti-da said:


> Did you research it to see if there's already a thread on the forums (easier to do a web search with name and add kboards to the terms)? If not, you probably should have. Folks here are pretty savvy about companies providing "services" to authors, and a little time looking around might save you money and wasted effort in the future.
> 
> Hopefully someone will PM you and advise on the question. If you've gotten into something not so great, it would be nice to share your experience -- according to Forum Decorum -- so others may avoid issues.


I did search the forum, though not with Google. I did a broader internet search looking for any bad mention of this service, but I didn't find one. Someone pm'd to help me out the other day, my suspicions were confirmed.

As for discussing it publicly, I noted at least one other forum member who used the same service, so I don't feel it's my place to tear them down. My advice to anyone reading this is to ignore any and all email solicitations, even if their site looks legitimate, even if you can't find any dirt on them. Whatever they're offering you, you can get it somewhere else.


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## ImaWriter (Aug 12, 2015)

StephenBrennan said:


> I did search the forum, though not with Google. I did a broader internet search looking for any bad mention of this service, but I didn't find one. Someone pm'd to help me out the other day, my suspicions were confirmed.
> 
> As for discussing it publicly, I noted at least one other forum member who used the same service, so I don't feel it's my place to tear them down. My advice to anyone reading this is to ignore any and all email solicitations, even if their site looks legitimate, even if you can't find any dirt on them. Whatever they're offering you, you can get it somewhere else.


How would you be tearing someone down by saying YOU had a bad experience with X? The experiences are independent of each other, and what you would be doing is providing others with another data point that could help in their decision making process.

Telling people to ignore all emails is not the answer, because we often do get legit solicitations. What everyone really needs to do is some due diligence. You adding your experience aids them in doing that.


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## StephenBrennan (Dec 21, 2012)

ImaWriter said:


> How would you be tearing someone down by saying YOU had a bad experience with X? The experiences are independent of each other, and what you would be doing is providing others with another data point that could help in their decision making process.
> 
> Telling people to ignore all emails is not the answer, because we often do get legit solicitations. What everyone really needs to do is some due diligence. You adding your experience aids them in doing that.


*Sigh* Fine. If only because somebody else will wind up doing it eventually. The culprit is "Red Headed Book Lover Blog". On the surface it really did look legitimate, so when she offered to review my book for a fee, and I couldn't find any negative comments anywhere online, I decided to chance it.

To be clear, the expectation was not "pay a fee, get a positive review". She claimed to have already read the Amazon preview and liked what she saw, and I have confidence in the quality of my work, so I anticipated that whatever she came up with would be reasonably positive.

The person was highly communicative and enthusiastic, so I didn't have much cause for suspicion. Unfortunately, when she finally posted the review, it was painfully obvious that she never read the damned book  It was a few paragraphs of gushing compliments and shallow tidbits of information easily obtained from the Amazon page. Also, my dashboard didn't register any sales during the period when she would have downloaded it.

In all honesty, somebody who didn't know my book might be fooled. I could probably dangle that review in front of some people and get a few sales out of it. But it would be a scam, and I'd know it. So I consider the whole thing unusable.

Anyway, the Kboard member who pm'd me thought to Google search the whole blog, and found that the blogger re-uses the same lines over and over in different reviews. So basically anybody who paid for one probably got taken, and hence the reason I wasn't eager to be the bearer of bad news. Sorry for any hurt feelings this may cause.


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## ImaWriter (Aug 12, 2015)

StephenBrennan said:


> *Sigh* Fine. If only because somebody else will wind up doing it eventually.


I could actually hear that begrudging sigh. 

Thanks for sharing. I'm sure it will be helpful to others. One thing, though. I strongly recommend you remove the link. Just strip out the http://. No point in giving them some Google juice by linking to them.


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## StephenBrennan (Dec 21, 2012)

ImaWriter said:


> I could actually hear that begrudging sigh.
> 
> Thanks for sharing. I'm sure it will be helpful to others. One thing, though. I strongly recommend you remove the link. Just strip out the http://. No point in giving them some Google juice by linking to them.


Good point. Done.


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## Moe D (Dec 6, 2017)

Writer Beware posted something on Facebook and I wonder who else has been contacted by her? She contacted me months ago but I already had heard about her from my writer friends. Her M.O. Is always the same. She loves your unnamed book and would love to review it. If you bite, she suddenly remember she charges you $75 (or whatever she feels like that day).

She's also a prolific reviewer! Sometimes dozens of books a day!

The story is always the same. Just my opinion, but stay away.


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## Moe D (Dec 6, 2017)

[Glad] I named her blog.

My PSA for the day.

_Edited. Drop me a PM if you have any questions. - Becca_


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## Talia Vines (Sep 2, 2017)

Hey, thanks for the deets, StephenBrennan.  As a newbie, I really appreciate heads up on specific scams as well as getting a general sense of what kind of things to be wary about.  Thank you!


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## unkownwriter (Jun 22, 2011)

> My advice to anyone reading this is to ignore any and all email solicitations, even if their site looks legitimate, even if you can't find any dirt on them.


Yeah, I never have anything to do with sites that contact me. I don't think I've seen a single one that was legit, or if legit, was of any use.

The thing is, if someone is having a bad experience with a site, it helps no one to keep it secret. If they don't answer emails, or don't provide the service, or don't meet their promises, or in some other way are not a good service provider, it's okay to ask about it. You don't blast them as a scam, or whatever, but you can explain what's happening and ask for opinions publicly.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

I've combined two threads here. Sorry for any confusion.

ETA: I did a site-specific Google search for the blog in question and didn't find any older threads. The way you do that sort of thing, BTW, is to go to Google and type in _site:www.kboards.com Red Headed Book Lover_, or whatever it is you want to search for. The forum software's native search function isn't the greatest, unfortunately.


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## ImaWriter (Aug 12, 2015)

she-la-ti-da said:


> Yeah, I never have anything to do with sites that contact me. I don't think I've seen a single one that was legit, or if legit, was of any use.


When I wrote the above, I was thinking specifically about those who have had emails from Podium. I would imagine they'd have been pretty upset with themselves if they had just rejected the offer out of hand, without doing any due diligence. So yes, for the most part, solicitation emails can be ignored, but...


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## Gareth K Pengelly (Aug 25, 2012)

I also had an email from her not too long ago. I remember the email was something along the lines of 'I read the preview and the cover intrigued me and I'd love to review your book.'

Then when I replied, she came out with 'oh, I've been so busy being a housewife/mum/general day-to-day stuff that I forgot to mention I charge $75 per review.'

Needless to say, alarm bells started ringing.


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## 98368 (Sep 4, 2017)

I got this just yesterday, wrote back to her, and she replied with something along the lines of "you didn't mention the fee, so I guess you don't realize I charge $75."  I felt pretty had, since I'd been so pleased that someone was soliciting me for a review for a change and that alone had brightened up my morning. Nevertheless, I wrote back and said no thanks.

It's often difficult to find reviews of specific services. For example, is Happy Book Reviews legit? I've found it impossible to figure out if it's (a) okay by Amazon and (b) worth it to use their services. I've got a list of several other places as well, including SPR (Self-Publishing Review)  that I can't find out anything about other than their own website. And I'm a pretty good Internet researcher. These sites remain in my Questionable Services tab.

Stephen--I'm sorry you took the bait, but I can understand why you did. And thank you so much for posting, because I think that people are kind of hesitant to post experiences like these on kboards since the responses can be a bit tough. Tough enough to be writing, launching a hoped-for career, spending money on covers, etc., getting crappy reviews, few sales, etc., without also being pounced on by fellow authors. I'm not referring to anyone in this thread or anyone in particular.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

RTW said:


> I got this just yesterday, wrote back to her, and she replied with something along the lines of "you didn't mention the fee, so I guess you don't realize I charge $75." I felt pretty had, since I'd been so pleased that someone was soliciting me for a review for a change and that alone had brightened up my morning. Nevertheless, I wrote back and said no thanks.
> 
> It's often difficult to find reviews of specific services. For example, is Happy Book Reviews legit? I've found it impossible to figure out if it's (a) okay by Amazon and (b) worth it to use their services. I've got a list of several other places as well, including SPR (Self-Publishing Review) that I can't find out anything about other than their own website. And I'm a pretty good Internet researcher. These sites remain in my Questionable Services tab.
> 
> Stephen--I'm sorry you took the bait, but I can understand why you did. And thank you so much for posting, because I think that people are kind of hesitant to post experiences like these on kboards since the responses can be a bit tough. Tough enough to be writing, launching a hoped-for career, spending money on covers, etc., getting crappy reviews, few sales, etc., without also being pounced on by fellow authors. I'm not referring to anyone in this thread or anyone in particular.


You can always begin threads asking for people's experiences with particular services, RTW. Yes, you might get folks telling you they think paying for editorial reviews is a waste of money -- that's their view, and they want to warn other authors away from what they see as a mistake. But if constructive disagreement edges over into anything resembling be "pounced on" or badgered, or if the thread seems to be turning into an argument over the larger issue, please use the _report to moderator_ link at the bottom of the relevant post to let us know. That should not happen.

I've never heard of Happy Book Reviews, but SPR is a member here and has a listing in our Yellow Pages. Looks like they haven't dropped by in more than a year, though. I don't have experience with either of these reviewers, but some other members might.


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## 98368 (Sep 4, 2017)

Thanks, Becca.

I'm pretty hesitant to ask about anything like this here on kboards. Only the very bravest author would admit to using a paid-for service of this kind since apparently one is just supposed to have the reviews appear "organically" and have created a mailing list of hundreds of subscribers by some unknown-to-me method!


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

RTW said:


> Thanks, Becca.
> 
> I'm pretty hesitant to ask about anything like this here on kboards. Only the very bravest author would admit to using a paid-for service of this kind since apparently one is just supposed to have the reviews appear "organically" and have created a mailing list of hundreds of subscribers by some unknown-to-me method!


Well, some people do feel strongly that paying for editorial reviews is a waste of money that would be better spent elsewhere. But it's not against the rules. Organic reviews are going to be customer reviews, and any paid reviews would be editorial reviews, so they're different beasts, and both are allowed. You can see the debates about this stuff if you look for threads on Kirkus, which is the most recognized of the paid review services. Here's a recent one: https://www.kboards.com/index.php?topic=234056.0 Most posters in that thread think it's not worth it, but a couple are more positive.


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## Pacman (Dec 18, 2016)

StephenBrennan said:


> *Sigh* Fine. If only because somebody else will wind up doing it eventually. The culprit is "Red Headed Book Lover Blog". On the surface it really did look legitimate, so when she offered to review my book for a fee, and I couldn't find any negative comments anywhere online, I decided to chance it.
> 
> To be clear, the expectation was not "pay a fee, get a positive review". She claimed to have already read the Amazon preview and liked what she saw, and I have confidence in the quality of my work, so I anticipated that whatever she came up with would be reasonably positive.
> 
> ...


that's a "ditto" from my experience.


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## StephenBrennan (Dec 21, 2012)

RTW said:


> I got this just yesterday, wrote back to her, and she replied with something along the lines of "you didn't mention the fee, so I guess you don't realize I charge $75." I felt pretty had, since I'd been so pleased that someone was soliciting me for a review for a change and that alone had brightened up my morning. Nevertheless, I wrote back and said no thanks.
> 
> It's often difficult to find reviews of specific services. For example, is Happy Book Reviews legit? I've found it impossible to figure out if it's (a) okay by Amazon and (b) worth it to use their services. I've got a list of several other places as well, including SPR (Self-Publishing Review) that I can't find out anything about other than their own website. And I'm a pretty good Internet researcher. These sites remain in my Questionable Services tab.
> 
> Stephen--I'm sorry you took the bait, but I can understand why you did. And thank you so much for posting, because I think that people are kind of hesitant to post experiences like these on kboards since the responses can be a bit tough. Tough enough to be writing, launching a hoped-for career, spending money on covers, etc., getting crappy reviews, few sales, etc., without also being pounced on by fellow authors. I'm not referring to anyone in this thread or anyone in particular.


Thanks. Yeah, getting exposure by traditional methods isn't easy. The internet is saturated with people looking for the very same thing, and many are more than willing to use black hat methods to get it. If redheadedblookloverblog had been real then I would have considered it a bargain when compared with Kirkus reviews, and something worthy of trying.

Alas, when something looks too good to be true, there's usually a hand in your back pocket.


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## StephenBrennan (Dec 21, 2012)

Pacman said:


> that's a "ditto" from my experience.


Sorry to hear that. Hopefully it spurs some ideas for your next strategy.


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## Escapee (Jan 31, 2014)

Just received an email from this person as well. She didn't want to 'bombard me with information about her service' in the email (by telling me she charges $75 or whatever her fees are) and directed me to check out her website  After having a good laugh that she thinks I'm going to click on any links to an unknown website, I deleted the message.


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## Kay7979 (Aug 20, 2016)

She’s been busy. I just got the email too!


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## kathrynoh (Oct 17, 2012)

StephenBrennan said:


> Thanks. Yeah, getting exposure by traditional methods isn't easy. The internet is saturated with people looking for the very same thing, and many are more than willing to use black hat methods to get it. If redheadedblookloverblog had been real then I would have considered it a bargain when compared with Kirkus reviews, and something worthy of trying.
> 
> Alas, when something looks too good to be true, there's usually a hand in your back pocket.


For around that price, you could use a blog tour company to set up a review tour which would not just get you more than one review but would build relationships with honest bloggers. You could also use a review service like Hidden Gems. I think she's counting on new writers not knowing about these alternatives.


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## Blerg et al. (Mar 27, 2015)

I've gotten a number of emails from this person through my contact form. Getting kind of annoying.


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## Doctor Barbara (Aug 17, 2010)

This is very helpful that you all posted this and that I just found this thread.

So.....sure enough, said individual emailed me yesterday through my website. She promises great things, although the results she promises I already have without her!

As they say....buyer beware. She's got a nice little work-at-home scam going on there and I'm not going to be one of her fall guys.

Thanks again!


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## Christa_Tomlinson (Nov 29, 2017)

She's also making her way through the m/m romance crowd. I received the form email from her this weekend and I know several other m/m authors who have as well. I reported it as spam.


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## JB Rowley (Jan 29, 2012)

I got an email from this lady today. Found this thread very useful. Many thanks to the OP for starting it.


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## Selah J Tay-Song (Oct 28, 2016)

So glad I found this thread. I got the email as well, and did click through to the site. What tipped me off was the lengthy testimonials. Something about them seemed off to me, like maybe they were written by the same person? And if not, sad how many people have been scammed. I did some googling and found a blog post about her scam with a link to this thread. I will report the email as spam. Grateful to the OP for bringing this to people's attention.


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## AliceS (Dec 28, 2014)

I got one, too. It happened right after a promo, so maybe she's signed up to all the newsletters and uses them as a starting point.


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## DanielGibbs (Mar 14, 2018)

So I got an email out of the blue from https://redheadedbookloverblog.com/ today on my author email address, offering paid review services on her blog. (Nothing TOS violating for Amazon, the reviews are only present on the blog). I checked out the website, and while it does appear to be kept in good repair, and get a decent amount of traffic, I'm curious to know if anyone else here has used the service, and if so, did you get any positive sales traffic out of it that justified the investment? I'm kind of wary of that sort of thing just based on comments I've read here from other authors.

v/r

Daniel


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## Blerg et al. (Mar 27, 2015)

DanielGibbs said:


> So I got an email out of the blue from https://redheadedbookloverblog.com/ today on my author email address, offering paid review services on her blog. (Nothing TOS violating for Amazon, the reviews are only present on the blog). I checked out the website, and while it does appear to be kept in good repair, and get a decent amount of traffic, I'm curious to know if anyone else here has used the service, and if so, did you get any positive sales traffic out of it that justified the investment? I'm kind of wary of that sort of thing just based on comments I've read here from other authors.
> 
> v/r
> 
> Daniel


Yeah there was another post about it on here. Should be able to search for it.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

I've merged in a new thread. Sorry for any confusion!


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## StephenBrennan (Dec 21, 2012)

Wow. Can't believe she's still this active after so many months. I guess it goes to show how many writers are out there to prey on. Be vigilant.


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## DanielGibbs (Mar 14, 2018)

Thanks for the feedback!  Scam dodged!


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## Pacman (Dec 18, 2016)

StephenBrennan said:


> Wow. Can't believe she's still this active after so many months. I guess it goes to show how many writers are out there to prey on. Be vigilant.


she/he told me she/he was doing 45 reviews a week, not a bad racket


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## cmonk (Feb 26, 2018)

Chipping in because she wrote me this morning.
I think she randomly messages any author in sight. A quick look at my GR or Amazon would have taught her that I'm an unlikely candidate, so my guess is that she found my website, clicked on "contact" without so much as a glance at my books, and copied-pasted her generic message.

Edit it: she doubled down with an email seconds ago. Man, she really loves my "work". (Not titles are ever cited)


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## StephenBrennan (Dec 21, 2012)

cmonk said:


> Chipping in because she wrote me this morning.
> I think she randomly messages any author in sight. A quick look at my GR or Amazon would have taught her that I'm an unlikely candidate, so my guess is that she found my website, clicked on "contact" without so much as a glance at my books, and copied-pasted her generic message.
> 
> Edit it: she doubled down with an email seconds ago. Man, she really loves my "work". (Not titles are ever cited)


Still pains me to think about the review she wrote for me. Was obvious she didn't know my characters' names, much less what they did in the story.


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## sheralynnramsey (Sep 28, 2018)

I received her email, as well.  I've been researching her site to see if it was legit and found a tracking site that gives information on her website and blog.  The numbers are nowhere close to what she claims in the email.  My very next click led me here.  Thank you for posting about her.  I just published my first book.  My money is very tight and most months I struggle to pay my bills.  I tried to let the "organic" reviews speak for themselves but they haven't helped with sales.  I was hoping that her service would at least kick start it to get my name out there.  However, since money is hard to come by, I do the smart thing and research before I act.  I would have been devastated if I had scraped together her fee and then found myself staring at a generic or incorrect review. 

I appreciate that you didn't want to ruin a reputation but when someone is scamming people, telling others of the danger is the only way to protect them from the same fate.  Thanks again.  You saved me from making a mistake I couldn't afford.

You know, come to think of it, she contacted me right after I joined some advertising forums on FB.  I wonder if she is trolling them for authors.


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## josephinelieder (Oct 10, 2018)

I wish I found this thread when she contacted me. I published my first novel this past August and she solicited me within days of it being published. I was flattered and a bit too eager to proceed with the review seeing as I am an unknown author. I attempted to look her up and check her stats, but ultimately I didn't know the right places to look and settled on relying on her testimonials to guide my decision. I ended up paying her the fee, which I wouldn't have had I known what I know now. She was always very polite in the emails, though some statements sounded like she was copy-and-pasting them and wasn't even addressing me personally. I, like many others, am low on money at the moment and am also still a student, so you can imagine how I'm feeling after learning all of this.

However, I did proceed with the review, and she just posted it tonight after a solid six weeks (her website states she posts within three to five...  ). While it was a lot of fluff, it does sound like she read the book or at least some of it. My question to you all is: would it be wrong for me to use a snippet of her review in the editorial section of my Amazon page? Could it damage my credibility? Please tell me honestly if this is a good idea or not, because after reading this thread, I am leaning towards that I shouldn't.


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## Guest (Oct 11, 2018)

josephinelieder said:


> My question to you all is: would it be wrong for me to use a snippet of her review in the editorial section of my Amazon page? Could it damage my credibility?


Yes it will damage your credibility as the woman is well known as a paid reviewer/scammer, do you want to have that association tied to your books? Not to mention it will draw attention to the fact you PAID for a review which is a clear violation of Amazon's TOS. If someone points that out to Amazon not only will the review will be removed (which it should, as PAID reviews cannot be posted to Amazon or Goodreads) but you also risk your KDP account being banned for review manipulation.

Chalk it up as a rookie lesson and never EVER pay for reviews again unless it is a legitimate service that gets your book in front of readers like NetGalley.


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## josephinelieder (Oct 10, 2018)

Hi, Tilly. Thank you for the advice. I won't be posting it anywhere. I'll take it as a lesson learned.


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## Jonathan C. Gillespie (Aug 9, 2012)

Yeah, the email is really flattering until you get to her pitch. Everything about paying for reviews is skeevy; just stay a thousand feet away from any sniff of it.


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