I've heard about authors encouraging people to buy their new book on Amazon to jack up the ranking, and I've even heard about authors encouraging people to give their new book positive reviews to jack up the rating. But I'd never actually heard about an author making a point-blank offer to pay people to give his new book a review until yesterday, when former FishbowlLA blogger Kate Coe forwarded an email from an author with a newly published self-help book that included this passage:

"As you probably know, the key to kicking ass on Amazon is reviews. My book has only recently been added to their list, so I have no reviews. I need them, and I'm willing to pay to get them. I am NOT saying I am willing to pay for puff pieces. I'm talking real reviews—good or bad. One complication is that unless you've been a frequent reviewer at Amazon, they won't let you review a book you didn't buy from them. So, if you want to participate in this, you'll probably need to buy the book from Amazon. However, if you do, and you submit a review that gets posted—and it is clear that you actually read the book—I'll send you $50. I have $500 set aside to do this, so once it's gone, the deal is over. My preference is to pay through PayPal, but I'll send you a check via snail mail if that's what it takes. Just be sure to let me know you're submitting a review before it goes up."

Well, it's a straightforward plan, I'll give it that (although I hadn't heard about that "no reviews for stuff you ain't bought" rule before). Heck, $50 is actually a pretty decent rate for a capsule review, the way things have been going lately.