Consumer reviews–especially on Amazon–are an interesting phenomenon. Many people use them in making purchasing decisions.

In the self-publishing world, John Locke is a million-selling e-book author (with hundreds of glowing Amazon reviews) who claims that it’s simple to repeat his success, if you work hard and follow his formula. A few days ago, I learned something new about John Locke’s “success” formula:

David Streitfeld – writing about a man named Todd Rutherford who built a cottage industry out of accepting money to write reviews – got mega-seller John Locke to admit to paying for over three hundred reviews of his books.  Locke pointed out that he paid for honest reviews by “verified purchasers,” trying to make the distinction that paying for reviews is not dishonest unless the reviews themselves are dishonest.

For readers of the acerbic Joe Konrath, here’s his take on Locke’s success story:

One thing that strikes me, and strikes me hard, is how outside-the-box Locke’s approach has been. He didn’t even bother with the query-go-round. He marched boldly into self-publishing, recognizing it for the potential goldmine it could be, and wound up hitting it big.

Have to agree–Locke went outside the box. But–if Locke claims what he did was honest, why did he leave this key strategy out of his book “How I Sold 1 Million Ebooks in 5 Months”?