"It's A Quagmire"

I don't know whether to laugh or cry after reading this New York Times article about online reviews and how many of them are fake. I've tried to nag people to review (or at least rate) my books on the various websites they're sold on, but it's sometimes like pulling teeth to get anyone to do so. (Thanks, once again, to those who have done it, though. Much appreciated!) And now I find out that I could've just been paying for positive reviews, like so many other authors apparently have.

Somehow I think I'm still better off without that, however. I'm happier counting on a growing word of mouth campaign to eventually build up a large enough reading audience to keep me writing. To paraphrase those old Smith-Barney ads, I'm trying to be successful the old-fashioned way: by earning it!