Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Harriet Klausner done in by new algorithm

Harriet Klausner is a long time Amazon reviewer. Notorious for both the quantity (much) and the quality (not so much) of her reviews, Harriet Klausner has been the #1 reviewer on Amazon for years. As long as I can remember in fact.

If you want a fistfight to break out at any literary gathering, just mention her name. DorothyL actually forbids posts on the subject of Harriet Klausner so rabid do her detractors and defenders get.

Well, it's all over now.

Amazon has a new algorithm for determining the Top Ten book reviewers and it's based on helpfulness not quantity.

Harriet Klausner finds herself at #445, a far cry from the lofty perch of #1.

I'm not sure what it says about me that I think this is utterly hilarious.


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10 comments:

  1. Liana Brooks10/29/08, 10:06 PM

    I didn't know being a top reviewer was something people could get excited about. Live and learn.

    And, Janet, get some sleep. I logged on *late* and saw that you'd posted 18 minutes earlier. We live in the same time zone, at least one of us should be asleep. And I'm pretty sure your alarm goes off first...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Esmeralda Emeralds10/29/08, 10:12 PM

    that is hilarious. serve her right.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Janet Reid10/29/08, 10:29 PM

    Just Me, it's only 10:30pm here in NYC now. That's the START of the evening's festivities here.

    I'm a total night owl.

    In fact, one of my favorite reasons for signing an Aussie author was to have someone to twitter with at 2am! (Too bad he's in Paris right now and six hours ahead of me!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Susan at Stony River10/29/08, 10:45 PM

    What a strange way to be famous.
    Interesting news!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Julie Weathers10/30/08, 1:35 AM

    Tickles the tar out of me.

    I'll refrain from making unkind remarks and go listen to Toby Keith's song The Critic instead.

    ReplyDelete
  6. acpaul10/30/08, 1:40 AM

    I'm such a total night owl that I work night shift.

    But I don't think you'll ever sign me, because I do that fantasy thing, and you, well, don't.

    But I don't hold that against you. I enjoy your blogs. Both of them. I am almost in mourning over the silence of the Query Shark. :(

    ReplyDelete
  7. Stacy10/30/08, 9:03 AM

    Just read a couple of reviews. Whoa!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Katie Alender10/30/08, 2:42 PM

    Does this mean authors are no longer going to post the traditional blog about being "Klausnered"?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Margaret Yang10/30/08, 2:44 PM

    This is the best thing I've read in ages. Book reviewing is an art in itself, and it takes real skill to do well.

    Harriet Klausner writes synopses, not reviews, and half the time gets facts wrong/misses the point of the book.

    Her reviews, helpful? I think not.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Swivet10/31/08, 11:23 PM

    Remind me the next time we're in the office: I do a WICKED Harriet Klausner impersonation. I used to call my assistant at her desk and pretend to be Harriet whining about not getting finished copies of a book.

    ReplyDelete

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