Amazon doesn’t have any rules against self-promotion by authors, although it’s possible that, in their zeal to spread the word about their good work, authors sometimes violate Amazon’s community rules:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=12177361&qid=1242134399&sr=1-1

In the past year, Amazon has done a good job of cracking down on fake accounts used for shill reviews and voting.

Buyers on Amazon are adults who can judge for themselves whether a review by an author is helpful or not, or enhances their credibility or not. Arguing about whether a review is in good taste is beside the point.

I think often Amazon is misguided. The review snafu is probably an effort to keep the reviews…mmmm..pure? Trouble is, reviews never are. Not good ones. They are opinionated. Any reviewer chooses a book to read because they have some kind of agenda–love, hates, etc. It’s also shortsighted in terms of a review having more credibility if it comes from an author than less and if–perchance–less, then at least the reader has a notion of the prejudices that the reviewer brings with him or her to the review.

It’s always nice talking to you. And I loved your Listmania. You took the time to do it right.

Best,
Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Blogging at Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites pick, http://www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com