Marc Secchia

Everyone knows the customer ratings system is flawed. You can review anything without ever buying the product or reading the book, buy reviews on tap, rate a book 1* because your Kindle stopped working, and unfortunately there's a minor industry in trolling as well. That's merely the tip of the iceberg. So it was with great interest that I read today that Amazon is trying to introduce changes to the review system to provide a better overall experience for the customer - and hopefully, for me, as an author - by flagging up more helpful or verified reviews and controlling the ocean of trash out there. Amazon Taps Machine-Learning System To Keep Customer Reviews In Check: Here Are The Changes : PERSONAL TECH : Tech Times

Every so often you have a lovely milestone as a writer - about an hour ago, I received my 100th review on Amazon for The Pygmy Dragon . It's entitled, "Spellbinding" and says, "I fell in love with Pip and all the other characters. Suspenseful. Anyone who loves fantasy and dragons will fall in love with this book." Thank you Patricia Wilson! You rock! 75 of the 100 reviews for The Pgymy Dragon are 5*, making it one of the 3 best-rated fantasy books in its bestseller category on Amazon. ( http://www.amazon.com/…/7006…/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_1_6_last  - where Pygmy Dragon is #26) - a category that Aranya (#19), Shadow Dragon (#20) and The Girl who Sang with Whales (#79) also appear in, and where I'm privileged to share space with big-name writers like Christopher Paolini (Eragon - #2, #4), Phillip Pullman (The Golden Compass - #4, also #23 and #25) and lesser-known but excellent authors like Krista Wayment ( Trusted - Dragon's Trust Book #1 ) and Je