Cystal Thoughts: Updates on Some of my Books

 

Updates for some of my books. The Other Side of things (nonfiction book) has now been republished and is now available as an eBook on Amazon. However, I still have to work on the paperback version of the book. Since the book has less pages than before, it shouldn’t take too long. Please do download it, I state my personal opinion about certain life topics in that book. As I mentioned in one of my YouTube videos, I removed the Other Side of Things part 2, and combined the content with the first book. By the way, I avoided writing about politics in this book because I did not want to make my book another one of those rant books much like all those politically charged books on Amazon. All topics are of various Life issues, including abortion which is supposed to be about health not about politics. 

Now, let’s talk about Chandra’s Quest. In the book series, I took inspiration from various sci-fi fantasy tv series that were airing at the time. I am original in my writing; I am inspired by what I’ve watched on TV. So, let’s talk a little bit about Omega, there is a scene where Chandra and Soran commune, and as mentioned in the book, communing is the same as having sex when it comes to the Ny’Karin species in the Chandra’s Quest trilogy.

 Let me explain. They share their energy with their significant other and just like in that one scene in the Earth Final Conflict tv series, when Lilly and Da’an communed, the experience is similar to that scene. The Ny”Karins can center their energy to a certain part of the body and heighten the experience to climax.

 Anyways, now that I completed the Chandra’s Quest trilogy, I don’t expect a huge turnout in sales, but I am happy that I completed the series. Now I can concentrate on other written projects that are close to my heart. One of them is going to be my first fan fiction based on Doctor Who, well on one of the Doctors that is, it is still in the works. My next novel/novella will be a paranormal/supernatural book about a woman who works for the Catholic church as a Hunter and she and her sidekick investigate, hunt down the paranormal supernatural entities. This book is still in the works. I also made a few low content books which I’m surprised that I haven’t seen any sales yet. Technically they are not low content, because they’re not repetitive, in fact, I added different pictures in them that can be colored in by anyone 10 and older so I guess they’re considered mid-content books. However, when I was looking at YouTube videos about low content books and asked some people on the KDP community forum, I was given the wrong advice! I will dive into this topic in a later date before the year ends. I will also make a video about it too. In addition, I want to say that when you order some of my books on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or any other online website, I DO NOT mail the books myself. They are a part of Amazon distribution and are printed as demanded and shipped by Amazon or whatever online book store you ordered from so no, I never see who orders my books, they remain anonymous to me. I just see the royalties from the sales. So, with that said, thank you for those who did order some of my eBooks. 

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Omega: Chandra's Quest Book 4 Final Installment in the Series

 

I haven't kept up on my blog entries recently but I have a few entries to write and one of them is this one. Below is my notes on all Chandra's Quest books and I reveal my inspirations for the whole book series. Please leave a comment if you wish or post your comment on social media. Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, whatever social media you've seen me on.

I’m going to start with Chandra’s Quest Book 1. In Book 1, Chandra is unaware of who she really is and her true purpose in Life. She doesn’t know that her unique body holds the very poison that kills the Ny’Karin race and brings a new planet into existence. Unaware of all this, she continues living as a prostitute at the brothel, but during an outing with a group of other prostitutes, she connects with a Ny’Karin who she does not know but is aware that there is connection between them. Upon noticing her presence, Soran immediately links with her and thus begins Chandra’s search for the truth. Adara the madam of the brothel, is aware that Soran wants Chandra back and that he would kill her if he knew that she purposely bought Chandra at a slave auction, so she sells Chandra to a bounty hunter, named Xenos. Xenos and Chandra are on the run from the Ny’Karin authorities because Adara betrayed Xenos by telling Soran that he abducted Chandra from the brothel. Xenos and Chandra become intimately close while they share a mutual understanding of the conundrum, they are in. 

In Twisted Embers: Chandra’s Quest Book 2, Chandra is running from bounty hunters after she escapes from Xenos but during the time she was with him they became close and form a relationship. His feelings for her motivates him to hunt her down and protect her from other bounty hunters. Chandra heads to Aurora and there she is taken in by Starsha, another madam of a less popular brothel, however she is just a guest there. Chandra’s stay is short-lived, for a new bounty hunter (Makea) has emerged and apprehends her. Makea is determined to take her to her timeline to stand trial for the genocide of her people. Chandra has no idea why Makea thinks she caused such an atrocity but she wasn’t going to end up in another bounty hunter’s hands, so she waited for an opportunity to escape. She escapes and ends up with Carlos whom she met in book 1. She stays with him for a while, then one day Keeja visits the shop and thus Keeja finds out that her best friend is safe and hiding with Carlos. The three join forces and head out on their own and into the forest of Avolea on the continent of Lyvia. There their journey begins and through perils untold they reach the Sanctuary of Avolea and spends some time there. While living at the Sanctuary, Chandra learns who she is by communing with the Kry’ash Stone of Knowledge. She struggles to make up her mind on whether to leave the Sanctuary and fulfill her destiny or stay with her friends and give birth to her child.

Immortality: Chandra’s Quest Book 3, begins in the Sanctuary and throughout the book, Chandra remains at the Sanctuary, learning about who she really is and how important she is to Soran and why she must return to Nykarus. Her visions show her the past and future. The Kry’ash shows her what she is and how she can change the future. While at the Sanctuary she gives birth to her daughter, Xenia a half breed. The father is Xenos. She is unaware that Makea and Xenos have broken through the barrier that protects the Sanctuary and are close to the sacred community. Xenos finds her first and decides to protect Chandra from Makea. Makea ends up in a holding cell, as she has brought negative vibs into the community. Linnea will hold her there until she agrees to leave. In the meantime, Chandra and Xenos reconnect. She informs her friends that he is in the sanctuary and does not present a problem. Keeja trusts Chandra, but Carlos is skeptical. Later, Carlos accepts Xenos' presence and their stay at the Sanctuary is a peaceful one. However, Makea disappears and goes back to her time period, 250 years in the future. Chandra knows eventually that she must leave her friends behind and go to Nykarus to fulfill her destiny.

Omega: Chandra’s Quest book 4 is the final installment of Chandra’s Quest. The beginning of the book, centers around Chandra and Soran. When Chandra finally agrees to return to Nykarus, she begins to reconnect with him, however she soon finds out that the Ny’Karin race is dying. A terrible virus produced by the Kry’ash Stone has taken over many of their cities. She realizes that her return to Nykarus has triggered the Kry’ash to connect with her and thus sets a chain reaction to the virus already in play. Omega took me several years to write but I am pleased with the ending. Towards the end of the book Chandra’s true fate is revealed, she becomes a Celestial/Goddess. Leandra is the last of her bloodline and to protect herself, she convinces Leandra to reassure Makea not to use the Dome when she is killed. Yes, Chandra manipulated Leandra but in the long run, she destroyed the planet Syntec and created a new world in its’ place. Throughout the years that Leandra lived, her and Cullen visit the planet, it was arranged by Chandra. Leandra and Cullen eventually get married and have children. Long after Leandra dies, her descendants continue to thrive, thus ensuring that Chandra continues to have a place in the universe. Did the new Earth have visitors? Yes, throughout the years, ships have ventured to the new world, only to be destroyed. For those who managed to set foot on the planet, they are absorbed and made a part of that world, turned into an animal or plant. Chandra did not want her world to be tainted by humans or any other intelligent species. Is she a threat? Yes, and many have tried to find her to put an end to her life and exploit the new world, but she resides within the core of the planet, she is the core and the heart of the planet. There is no end to her and no beginning, she is what she is and continues to exist. The Chandra’s Quest trilogy consists of 4 books, however back in the early 2000’s when I started the books, I considered writing only three books for this trilogy. I don’t regret writing Chandra’s Quest, if readers enjoy the books. The 2002 version of Chandra’s Quest book 1 originally had a dictionary at the back of the book, describing the places and people that the main character visited, however in the revised, second edition, I changed that, removing it completely. I chose not to add a dictionary.  

In book 4, when Chandra and Soran commune and exchange energy, it is a sexual pleasure for Soran. I took inspiration from a scene in Earth Final Conflict, Wrath of Achilles where Da’an and Lilli become intimate by exchanging energy. No, I did not copy word for word of the script, in fact I put my own twist to it and made it more original to my writing style. Much like all writers, I am inspired by shows, books, or movies but I am original and use my own creativity for the stories I write. The Kry’ash Stone is similar to the Dark Crystal, so when readers read about the Kry’ash Stone in the Chandra’s Quest trilogy books, they can picture the Dark Crystal. Will there be a prequel? I was mulling over writing a prequel to Chandra’s Quest Book 1, but that remains to be seen, however I might write a background story on the characters from the trilogy. It will be a novelette, available as an eBook. Omega: Chandra’s Quest Book 4 is the end of Chandra’s Quest. I enjoyed writing the trilogy, but I am sorry that it took so long to complete. Leave your comments on Facebook or any other social media website that I am on. 

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Q & A's: Time For Reader's Questions

 

These are Q & A’s sent to me from readers. I answer them the best that I can.

 1. I recently read the Secret diary of a gypsy heart and I was confused as to how old Serena was when she wrote the Diary, and does she have other diaries?

Answer: Serena wrote the secret diary in her mid-50’s, she already has adult children and since it’s a secret diary, it was not found with her other diaries that she has in her treasure chest. She has other diaries but the reason why this diary is secret is because as she mentioned in the first chapter, the diary consists of relationships that she was in before and during her marriage.

2. Will there be a sequel to Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart?

Answer: yes, but not for a few years.

3. I read The Stranger Things: Paranormal, Supernatural & Unusual Phenomenon, I thin kit is a good read, but it is too short. Will you write another book like that one?

Answer: I am in the process of writing another book with Paranormal/supernatural content and some religious content, but it won’t be published until next year or in 2024.

 4. Do you plan on making all your books as audiobooks?

Answer: yes and no. Right now I am only working on the novelettes as audiobooks first then I will tackle the full length novels.

NOTE: Ever since Google Plus was Axed, there has been less traffic to my blog, therefore I make vlogs for my YouTube Channel, of what I have written on my blog. So if you visit my channel, please subscribe, It needs more subscribers. Thank you. 

I make short vids but I disable the comment section for them. You can leave a comment on the videos that have it available, though.

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WTF: Kindle Removed Ratings, Why?

 

Two months ago, I received an email from KDP claiming that they supposedly detected accounts attempting to manipulate Kindle services by simulating reading or borrowing activity on my titles. So now here we are, they removed the 5-star ratings that a ‘verified’ buyer posted on some of my books! 

In the Company of Elves, Chandra’s Quest, (book 1) & Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart ARE NOT affected but the others were. As far as I’m concerned, a verified buyer is a verified buyer! If they purchased the book & rated it, it's valid. What's the problem?

 The problem is that when there is toxic jealousy involved, the person who is hating on you will do anything to hurt your chances of feeling impowered and happy over small or great accomplishments. They do things underhandly, and the worst part is that they will never admit that they’re jealous of you, even if you confront them. They will deny it big time. Now, I don’t know why KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) knocked off some of my 5-star ratings on some of my books, but I feel it is unfair and unjust. You’re wondering how one person can cause such a mess, well they can especially if that person complains and sends a red flag on you even though you have no idea what happened and you’re innocent. It's happened in the past to me but under different circumstances, not about my books.

Sure, KDP claims that there was an account trying to manipulate KDP services by simulating reading or borrowing my books, but I think it’s Bullshit. Chandra’s Quest, In the Company of Elves and Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart are not affected, however Gypsy Heart did lose a one 5-star rating, probably because the rate came from the same person who downloaded that book and the others recently. Older rates and reviews are not affected.

 Nevertheless, it is unfair to remove what I feel came from a verified buyer, period! Haters will be Haters and Indie Authors who don’t have haters, are lucky.

Below I added a video I found on YouTube explaining what jealousy is and how it can affect your life, also I will add a link to my Author’s YouTube channel, please subscribe to my channel. 

Jealousy

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What is This?

Stranger Things: Paranormal, Supernatural & Unusual Phenomenon Chapter 12 Excerpt

 

Stranger Things: Paranormal, Supernatural & Unusual Phenomenon

Chapter 12 excerpt

Chapter 12: Night Crawlers

What are night crawlers? Where do they come from? Well, the first sighting that I’ve heard of was several years ago, posted online and on YouTube.

*Fresno, California, might not always be the most exciting place in the world, but it has one claim to fame that's out of this world. The Fresno Nightcrawler sightings began back in the 1990s and have only occurred a few times since then. These strange creatures look like pants walking but are only a few feet high and are seen just wandering around. There are only a few eyewitnesses in Fresno,

but the Nightcrawlers do pop up on other surveillance cameras, startling whoever checks the CCTV tapes. Much video footage of cryptids is easily debunked by video analysis, but the weird thing about the Nightcrawlers is that the videos seem to be legit. 

What I think: Yep, I have never seen a Night Crawlers, I would love too though. When I was a kid, my family and I went on vacation trips to different states and national parks. Never once did I see anything unusual but then again, we never ventured outside at night without my parents beside my brother and me. I do remember once when we were camping somewhere at a campground in Arizona in a forested area by a lake, there was an unusual looking deck, like for boats and stuff. What was unusual about it was that the deck was made of wood, kind of old looking, but there were large rocks extending from the lake’s floor upward, close to the deck where you can just step on them and continue walking on them until you reached the edge and can look out to the lake. One day as I was at the edge, I peered downward to see how far the large rocks go. The water was semi clear and as I strained to look down, I saw two large snails making their way up alongside of the rocks! One was as big as a basketball the other a bit smaller. My eyes shot open. I have never seen anything like it before, so I quickly ran back to the campsite. No, I did not tell my parents. I found the large snails unusual, and I was scared. But of course, this has nothing to do with the Night Crawlers so let’s continue. Many people have seen Night Crawlers. Native Americans have encountered them.

*According to tribe members that live near Fresno, the Nightcrawlers are beings that have pretty much always lived on earth, even before human beings got there. According to these myths, the Nightcrawlers have long legs that allow them to move through difficult or boggy landscapes because they are swamp-world beings.

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Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart Chapter 1 Excerpt

 

Secret Diary of a Gypsy Heart Chapter 1 Excerpt

Chapter 1: Serena

If you are reading this, then I am deceased. My name is Serena Raye Sanchez, and I wrote this diary when I was in my mid-50’s and at that time, my hair was graying, and my body was showing its age. In my younger years, I was attractive, and my hair was light brown in color or burgundy, it depends on what color of hair dye I used. I do not remember what my real hair color is, but I know I’m not a blonde. I had always been slim with brownish green eyes. I inherited my eye color from my mother. My mother, Maria, was Irish/Mexican and my

dad Scott, was Caucasian. I have a younger sister name Caroline, and she is also married and has two children. When I wrote this Diary, both of my parents are deceased. May God rest their souls. They died during the global pandemic of 2020. My dad died a few months after my mother.

  I have three children, all daughters. My oldest daughter’s name is Sarah, my second daughter’s name is Salem and my youngest is Shari.

Yes, they all have names that start with the letter as my name. Before I continue, I want to clarify that this diary is all about the affairs, infatuations, and relationships I engaged in throughout of my lifetime.

  You can take this diary as a confession of sorts, although I doubt, I would ever be forgiven by certain people if they ever read this. I am dead, and it doesn’t hurt me, however it might hurt those who will discover my secret.

Despite of everything, I am and always will remain the person people knew and loved regardless of my flaws. No one’s perfect and not

everyone walks the righteous path so I do have Haters that will always judge but that doesn’t matter, not anymore.  There was a time when I believed everyone has a soulmate, a spiritual twin, somewhere out there.

 Finding him or her may take a person a Lifetime but people do find each other, some do. When I was much younger, single, I used to watch soap operas and loved them. I always wondered if I would ever find my Knight, my Angel, my Soulmate.

 Before I get ahead of myself, I must talk about my first crush. This will not justify my actions later in Life, but I suppose it sheds some light on the kind of person I once was.

   Let me see, where do I start, ah yes, with my first crush. I was in high school, and a boy named Alex Romero, was my first big crush. He was somewhat popular in certain circles.

   He had dark brown hair, light brown eyes, clear skin and was about five foot five at the time. Of course, he grew taller as the years progressed. He was perfect or so I thought. I, on the other hand, had preteen chunk on my back side (junk in the

trunk), as I defined it back in the day, and I had low self-esteem, putting all that together with being shy, well those years were my awkward years. 

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Life of a Dasher Excerpt Chapter 1

 

Life a Dasher Chapter 1 Excerpt

Chapter 1: Bring it On

 

My name is Mary, a happily married woman with two kids. I work part-time on the weekends as a project manager for an advertising company who hire people of all ages to advertise new homes that are being built by major housing companies. The people I manage stand at the corners of intersections in cities and towns holding up a sign advertising for those new homes. I started out as one of them though but after several years I asked to become a supervisor/project manager so I wouldn’t be standing out there enduring all kinds of weather. It isn’t as easy as some people think. Working as a sign twirler/Human Directional, isn’t an easy job, it has its pros and cons, to be honest, I just never liked putting up with random people who shout out disparaging remarks.

It’s crazy how warped some people are. Most of the time the people that are mean-spirited are probably under 20 years old, however when I worked as a Human Directional, I’ve noticed, that there have been adults who acted like children. When I started my supervisor job, I thought it would be easy and not hectic but on the contrary, I was wrong.

In 2019 the town I live in decided to fine the housing companies for having Sign Twirlers stand at main intersections, waving the signs.

 “It is distracting,” they said. As an area manager/supervisor I had to deal with the backlash. This whole thing made it hard for the company to place the sign twirlers at the appropriate corners for more exposure. It was December 2019, most of the housing companies started closing their doors due to rumors about an overseas virus that threatens to come to America and just like that I was out of a job. That extra income helped, now what?

This is an excerpt from Life of a Dasher, you can download the book through Kindle unlimited. Please rate & review. Thank you.

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What Is This?

 

Recently I received an email from KDP regarding some kind of alert for content review. Naturally I was perplexed by this. Here is what it said:

 

Hello, 

 

We are reaching out to you because we detected accounts attempting to manipulate Kindle services by simulating reading or borrowing activity on your titles.

 

You do not need to take any action, however, we will block the activities of these malicious accounts and their effects on payments. This means that you will still receive royalties associated with legitimate reading activities, but you will not receive royalties associated with activities related to these accounts. 

Please note that this notice does not represent a change to your account status but is sent to make you aware of how our security countermeasures will affect your previously reporting page count and your royalty payments. 

 

We understand you might have questions regarding the nature of how we detect these activities; however, please be aware that we cannot provide details that might compromise the integrity of our security systems.  

 

If you have any other questions, please reply to this email.  

No, I did not reply to it but went directly to KDP Community forum. I would rather not click on the link they provided because I did not want to click on something malicious. If this email is not directed to me personally, and it was sent out as a newsletter to all Indie authors then that's fine but recently I received several downloads of my books which surprised me but I am thrilled about it and I don't see a problem with it, people can download any of my books if they wish. I even got several global rates on all of them, thank you and I received an actual review on my book, In the Company of Elves, however, I was curious about the email I  received from KDP so I went ahead and logged into the KDP community forum. I asked about the email and why I would be receiving it and this is what several users said:

 “The notice has nothing to do with reviews and all to do with vandals manipulating sales numbers. I had it happen to my account several years back and it takes a while for them to find and disable the culprits, but they will do so. They are trying to reassure you will get paid for all legitimate sales but not for those fake sales being stuffed into the system. Think of it as cyber graffiti. Nothing to do but stay aware and wait it out.”

User 2: 

"Amazon is looking out for itself, not publishers. After all, you will not receive any royalties from page-reads they deem questionable. Be glad you still have an account. Back in the heyday of click-farms, hundreds of innocent titles were used to camouflage the real beneficiaries of click-farming. A great many indie bystanders found themselves jettisoned along with the offending parties, sometimes instead of. Click-farming isn't what it used to be (too many checks, balances and limitations to bring in the $500,000/month they used to get), but the practice has not gone away, no more so than has review or ranking manipulation. Even leaving out those who might get caught up with the actual scammers (like dolphins in a tuna net), KDP deletes 300-500 publishing accounts annually for a variety of reasons. I am sure a goodly percentage of those terminations are undeserved. It is always a mistake to assume KDP is looking out for us, is our friend or colleague/partner, or that they will listen to our protestations of innocence once a determination has been made."

I don't know what he or she is talking about, I've never heard of click-farming before. As far as I'm concerned, any VERIFIED buyer, is a verified buyer. Verified reviews or global rating is genuine and I should receive royalties from those sales, period! 

3 user:

"Well, the scammers aren't, AFAIK, "targeting" you. They manipulate YOUR sales, which means YOU get the money, not them. There's no realistic way for scammers to download KU, Kindle Unlimited book and speed read through them and THEY get the money. You get hurt by it, yes, because Amazon alerts to it and then starts to monitor your downloads and all that. It's bizarre. Not as bizarre as the sideways-book pirates, which is odd but odder."

This person is totally wrong, you can read through a book in two weeks or less if that book is under 100 pages. If it’s a novelette. Some of my books are novelettes. The only books that I have that are more than 100 pages are the Chandra’s Quest Trilogy set and In the Company of Elves.

So, I’m not sure where I stand with receiving royalties from KDP because ever since I had received the email, I haven’t heard anything else from them.

For those who want to know, my account on Amazon KDP is still up and running, it will not be deleted because I am not guilty of any kind of supposed scam. I’ll still have it next month, 6 months from now and for as long as I’m alive. Period!

Please do feel free to visit my author's page and download or buy any one of my books. Read, rate and review. Thank you.

I will make a vlog video about this soon. Please follow links below.

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What Genre Do I Prefer to Write

What Genre Do I Prefer to Write

Fantasy, Paranormal/Supernatural and general fiction, anything else but Sci-fi. Yes, I find Sci-fi hard to write. My first book Chandra’s Quest is science fiction, in fact the whole trilogy is but I added a bit of fantasy and mysticism to it. It has taken me longer to finish the trilogy than expected but finish it, I will. 

20 years ago, I was inspired and motivated to write this trilogy however as the years moved on, I found myself lacking the motivation I once had. 

Fast forward to now, I struggle completing book 4 but I will get it done nevertheless and move on to my next projects.

 I have a Supernatural/paranormal book in the works, easy to write since I get my inspiration by reading Reddit stories or creepy pastas, etcetera. The web is full of them. The foundation is there, all I have to do is fill in my take on whatever moves me. 

I will not reveal the title of the book, I prefer to keep it surreptitious. 

Bottom line is, I am still working on and wrapping up Book 4 of Chandra’s Quest, once that’s done and published I will dive into my other projects. 

For those who have read Chandra’s Quest, and await the final installment,  be patient, it will be published this year as an eBook first.

 By the way, if you have read any of my books, please do rate or review them. I appreciate it. Thank you. 

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Global Rate verses Actual Reviews

Lately I've noticed on Amazon  that people would much rather leave a global rate rather than a review. I prefer both but would settle for a rate anytime. 

What is the scale of rating on Amazon?

Rating scale: 1-5 stars. 1 being bad, 5 real good and the rest are in-between. 

When I scroll through items on Amazon that I am interested in, I look at the most recent reviews, then scroll to 1 star ratings then to 5 star ratings. I find that the most RECENT reviews and rates are more relevant. 

How important is it for an Independent Author to receive ratings & reviews?

It is important for an independent author to get reviews and ratings because it ups their credibility and exposes them to more readers.

What is the Audience of an Indie Author?

 There is always an audience for any kind of book out there but it's hard for Indie Authors to gain an audience if Amazon shuffles their books to the bottom of the list! Not fair, is it. This is why it's important to rate and review their books so that more readers will notice these incredible authors. 

All reviews count. The more reviews or rates a book gets the better. However, there's a problem with certain people claiming that reviews on Indie/self-published books are Fake and are posted by friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances or neighbors of the Author!! Does anyone see how ridiculous that is? 

Those claims are unfounded and are only put out there to discourage or scare readers from leaving reviews or rates on self-published books. So please be fair, all reviews and rates are valid, just post them. 

In conclusion, reviews and global rates help a struggling Independent author fulfill their dream of being recognized and sell more books. 

Stay safe & be blessed.