Reviewer beware: New guidelines could cost you $11,000 in fines.

October 6, 10:48 AMWriting ExaminerTiffany Colter

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  Stay up to date on rules to avoid fines

     On October 5, 2009 the FTC released an update to their guidelines. According to Jason Boog of GalleyCat, these fines can reach $11,000. The worrisome part is that many regular citizens who do book reviews can be caught up in this new ruling. That is because it says that if the book is received free then that must be disclosed when doing the book review or you are subject to this fine.
     Many people who do book reviews, me included, receive free copies for review from the publisher or a publicity department. Most reviewers don’t view this as a conflict of interest; however these new guidelines now say that this is considered a gift and must be publically disclosed.
     If you do book reviews, it is in your best interest to read Boog’s article about this and then also read the pdf of the FTC’s full text on the subject.
     If you would like to see some articles on how to use book reviews to build your writing platform I have discussed this previously in my article Doing Book Reviews to Build your Writing Sales.