Everybody Wants a Good Review (And a Good Book Recommendation)

In the fall of 2010, Mr. Rutherford started a Web site, GettingBookReviews.com. At first, he advertised that he would review a book for $99. But some clients wanted a chorus proclaiming their excellence. So, for $499, Mr. Rutherford would do 20 online reviews. A few people needed a whole orchestra. For $999, he would do 50.

There were immediate complaints in online forums that the service was violating the sacred arm’s-length relationship between reviewer and author. But there were also orders, a lot of them. Before he knew it, he was taking in $28,000 a month.

People find all kinds of way to make money, and Todd Rutherford earned $28,000 a month writing fake reviews for books. GettingBookReviews.com no longer exists, but he’s planning on making money by offering a new service where he’ll blog and tweet about your book for $99. But who needs book reviews when you can just do this?

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