Becoming Semi-Famous on the Web

So in my internet ramblings today I ended up on the Amazon.com site to look at a book mentioned by an author of a different blog. http://davidmaister.com/blog/ Then I found a review for it and clicked on that. Then I discovered that the Top Reviewers at Amazon are Semi-Famous. What do I mean? Well, the top reviewers are consistently asked to review new books and other new items such as music CD's that are coming out. In other words, they are being offered paid work simply because they have spent so much time doing quality reviews on Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/review/top-reviewers.html

One in particular is Rebecca Johnson. On her website she includes a story about her journey to become one of the top reviewers on Amazon. Tales of the Amazon. I thought it was worthwhile to post something of hers' on here that describes what a good review should be.

"What is your idea of a good review?

1. A Description of Content – Just enough to wet the reading appetite and yet the information doesn’t ruin the work for others who have not read the book or viewed the movie.

2. A Description of Delight or Dissatisfaction or maybe even Mediocrity – I want to know if a work changed a life, moved someone to tears or brought a smile to their face.

3. Personal Experience – Information that makes me want to purchase an item so it will enhance my life. I’ll also buy items just to see how bad they could possibly be.

You can really say that once you have watched a movie, read reviews on the movie and written a review of the movie, that it has become a part of you. There are elements you will draw from the entire experience that will change you. What you read and view might be who you are becoming."

In wanting to become a better writer myself I believe it is important to be able to really analyze another person's work. In this way, you can learn from it and become better at writing yourself. The main steps to becoming a better writer are to read, read, read, and write, write, write. Then edit, edit, edit. Beyond that, you have to discover how people really ingest the written word. I think there is no better way than to read the give and take in the comments and review sections found on blogs and the various review sites such as Amazon on the internet. (<---------- and to be able to recognize a run-on sentence when you see one.) ;-)