Why must Kindred Readers reviews be cross-posted unaltered?

At Kindred Readers, we require all members adhere to our Review Guidelines; we want candid, constructive reviews. For this reason, any review you cross-post from Kindred Readers should be posted in an unaltered* form. 

* With the exception of an appropriate "free copy for review purposes" disclaimer. We recommend the following: "I was invited to review this book and was provided a complimentary copy for that purpose. My review is completely objective."

How do I cross-post reviews to book vendor websites?

When your review is published on Kindred Readers, you'll receive a notification inviting you to cross-post your review to vendor websites.

If you signed your review, simply go to your review and click on the book title, which links to the book's profile page on Kindred Readers. Use the BUY NOW* link to directly access the book's profile page on the vendor's website. You may use any account you have on that site to post your review. Please be certain to post your review unaltered save for the "free copy for review purposes" disclosure. 

If you submitted your review anonymously (i.e., using your ReviewerID): go to your review and click on the book title, which links to the book's profile page on Kindred Readers. Use the BUY NOW* link to directly access the book's profile page on the vendor's website.

The examples below describe how to create a unique pen name for your Kindred Readers reviews or submit your review anonymously on various sites. You are free to use an existing account to cross-post your Kindred Readers reviews, but please take the utmost care to protect your identity. We recommend in all cases that you set your account settings on the vendor website to maximum privacy (i.e., don't share email address, Twitter handles, etc).

Please note that each vendor has their own requirements for submitting reviews, and those requirements may change at any time. The best way to protect your anonymity when cross-posting a Kindred Readers review is to create a new userID, display name or pen name to use on vendor sites. 

Amazon: You need to have an account and to have made at least one purchase to post a review on Amazon. Assuming you meet those conditions, here's how to proceed:

Find the book by clicking on the Amazon "Buy Now" link on our site, then click on WRITE A CUSTOMER REVIEW. In the upper right hand corner of the page you'll see Your Public Name is (userid). Click on CHANGE and create a unique pen name.

Barnes & Noble (B&N): At this time, you do not need an account to post an anonymous review on Barnes & Noble (that is, they permit the public to post reviews anonymously on the site). However, if you have an account or are willing to create one, we request you submit your reviews on their site using a pen name. Reviews that are linked to an account are far less likely to be deleted in a site-wide purge.

Here's how to submit a review at B&N:

Find the book by clicking on the B&N "Buy Now" link on our site, then scroll down to Customer Reviews. Under the review window there's an option to create a pen name (you must have an account to do this) or post the review anonymously.

The safest choice is to create a unique pen name. If you do not have a Barnes & Noble account and do not wish to create one, you may post the review anonymously.

Kobo: You need to have an account to post a review on Kobo. Find the book by clicking on the Kobo "Buy Now" link on our site, then click on "Write a Review." In the review window enter a unique Display Name.

*Throughout, we suggest you find the book on the vendor site by clicking on the "Buy Now" link on our site. We suggest this as a shortcut, because the link takes you to the book's profile on the vendor site. Clicking the "Buy Now" link does NOT make you purchase the book. 

Why should I cross post my review anonymously?

If you signed your review on Kindred Readers, it's your choice whether to cross-post it signed or anonymously. 

If you posted it anonymously on Kindred Readers, we strongly recommend you create a unique userID on other sites. If you crosspost to another site with a username that can be traced back to you, you risk revealing your reviewer identity on Kindred Readers not only for THAT review but for every anonymous review you've ever written on Kindred Readers. And it's not inconceivable that other Kindred Readers members might be be affected. 

Here's an example. Say your name is John Smith and your Kindred Reviewers ReviewerID is KR001012. You post a review of The Rooster Crows at Midnight on Kindred Readers as KR001012 and cross-post on Amazon under the username JSmith. The author of The Rooster Crows at Midnight might recognize that the review posted on Amazon by JSmith matches the review posted on Kindred Readers by reviewer  KR001012. That author may then jump to the conclusion that reviewer JSmith is the author Jane Smith who has a book in Kindred Readers' book directory. This may or may not be true — there are lots of J. Smiths in the world, and more than one may be a member of Kindred Readers. 

What if my review was not positive?

For each member it is a personal choice whether to cross-post their reviews. Some members make it a policy to cross-post every review, regardless of the rating; others make that decision on a case-by-case basis.

Kindred Readers incentivizes you to cross-post your reviews, but we don't want to force you to choose between cross-posting a negative review and losing the opportunity to earn extra tokens: we believe members should be able to make that decision free of other considerations. For that reason, we offer waivers upon request. If you have given a book an overall score of 1 or 2 stars and you do not wish to cross-post the review, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to request that we award the tokens without cross-posting.