Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Hack Blogger's Sock Puppet Reviews Blow Up In Face

"Let's review some terrible books!"
I'm still on hiatus, but I had to pop in briefly because the most hilarious shit has hit the fan. You may recall a write-up about the faux-journalist, self-published hack writer that inserted herself in the Ayla Reynolds case that we don't refer to by name here because she thinks anything said about her is publicity for her. Well, it just so happens that she self-pubbed a new book last month with a title that sounds like she ripped it from Desperate Housewives and apparently no one gave a shit. So, in an effort to appear greater than she is, she catfished herself some 5 star reviews for her own book. And apparently it's a pattern. She has more than a few badly written books on Amazon and they all have a few things in common, other than that they're all turds in word form. They all have raving 5 star reviews from people who only review Hoffham's books and maybe one other item. Doesn't that seem rather odd, that someone would all of a sudden stumble across a Kindle book and be so impressed that they had to leave their first ever review on that book and then never review another thing ever again? Strange right? Unless you're the author trying to hype your own book with sock puppet reviews.

Another funny thing about the reviews for her books is the response the negative reviews get. Whenever a book receives a one star review, someone has something to say about it and takes the reviewer to task for not giving an favorable review. But they do so in such an immature and hateful way that it's obvious the person is speaking for the delusional author that can't take criticism or handle rejection with a little grace. And we all know how badly Hoffham handles criticism and the resulting meltdowns that follow, where she declares everyone else is just stupid or inbred. This is where we cue the funny. Her recent book with a name straight out of terrible show and a book cover that looks like a bad romance novel, that's also been used on at least three other books on Amazon, suddenly has a few more reviews. Mostly 5 stars, but then, someone had the nerve to write an honest review about how awful the formatting was and give the book a one star review. Guess what happened? Yup, someone came around to get into it with the reviewer, calling them a troll and a serial one star giver to self-pubbed works. The back and forth went on for quite a few comments, with "Dizzy Monroe", the defender of self-publishing, calling the reviewer ignorant and then vowing to "make sure the victims of your trolling know what you are all about with each move you make until you have been banned from Amazon." According to "Dizzy", this isn't cyberstalking, but counter-cyberstalking cyber-harrassment...whatever the fuck that means.

That exchange seems to have inspired "Dizzy" into writing a review of her own, 5 stars of course, where she praises Hoff's book like a crackhead sucks cock, enthusiastically. That brought a couple more people into the mix who pointed out that no one would get that hyped up about a book unless they wrote it themselves. That then brought light to the fact that Hoffham's other books had similar reviews with no real name badges. One comment left said, "I glanced at the reviews for one of her other books----one person has a real name badge, the others review only her book, or books, or another item. Very few verified purchases. Classic pattern of sockpuppeting." Another, whose apparently rockin' Rainbow Sparkle Pants, mentioned that they had "noticed the sockpuppeting as well. I've also seen on other sites where the Author really gets her undies in a wad whenever she is criticized or questioned." Even Jeff Bridges got involved. Well, not the real one, but what did you expect. Jeff Bridges, whose name changed a few times, scolded people for their bad manners and suggested they email the author instead of making comments. That comment was posted on another review as well and then Amazon deleted both, a long with a couple other phonies.

The jig is definitely up, but in an attempt to throw people off, Hoffham tossed out one random tweet that chastised her alleged "fans" for getting into it with reviewers, saying it made her look bad. What really makes her look bad is that she was catfishing in the first place. That and pretty much all her online shenanigans, "calling out stupid", using tragic cases to make a name, being a shitty person in general and her intolerance for everything that doesn't mesh with her own views. It quacks me the fuck up that she attempts to salvage what she calls her "reputation" with fluffy pieces and the one person who does all the damage to it, is really herself. A little self-awareness goes a long way. Get a clue, Hoff, you're just making a fool of yourself. Oh, and a PS to think about, don't run off and give negative reviews to other authors calling them misogynists because they called you a fraud and a bitch. Someone really should clue in Patrick Blackburn to the fact that no one would pay to see that naked.
Make it rain on that stripper troll!

2 comments:

  1. Someone should inform Patrick Blackburn that Hoff doesn't strip to make ends meet. She's the voice on the other end of 1-900 numbers. And no....not the psychic ones, the sex ones. No shit.

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