Friday, October 9, 2009

This Is Important

What the new FTC Rules mean?

What is in-kind payment?


What if I do receive the actual book to review?

What if I was paid for the review?


Will this affect my credibility?


If I don't disclose what will happen to me?


More HERE. Share


Elizabeth Kerri Mahon said...

I find the whole thing terribly annoying but what can you do? I now receive books from publishers and I'll just have to point that out in my reviews.

elena maria vidal said...

Yes, that's about all you can do, Elizabeth.

Enbrethiliel said...


So there is now, at least in America, a legal distinction between a review and an endorsement? It seems like a lot of trouble.

Whatever happened to the common sense principle that the fewer rules you have, the fewer there are to break?

May said...

It all seems a bit excessive- especially the threat of $11,000 fines? In any case though, I don't receive any money for posts or reviews, or any free copies of anything.

Anonymous said...

What's the government doing putting its nose in people's personal journals? That's what web logs are, after all. It's unconstitutional!

elena maria vidal said...

It's a Brave New World, my friends....

R J said...

Whilst this ruling hasn't happened in Australia yet, I'm sure it will. Soon. After all, Australia (unlike America) has no free speech heritage of either a statutory or a cultural sort - on the contrary, its tradition goes entirely the other way - and according to the groupthinking Australian mind, independently made literary comments must constitute, by definition, "hate crimes".

Short of getting the relevant legislation deep-sixed, the only method around it that I can think of is the method that (irrespective of any such law) I have long since had to defend myself by adopting. Namely, no reviews, no endorsements, ever, ever. Except on the rather rare occasions when I myself have instigated the contact with the author or publisher.

By sticking to this procedure, I have affronted all sorts of precious little literary poppets out there ("But you promised you'd give my book a plug!" To which the only accurate response is "In your dreams I did!") But if their sensibilities are so delicate that they're upset by the non-cooperation of a peon like me, then they haven't got what it takes to be writing seriously, I suspect.