Judy's Book: Reviews or Deals Site?

Having been a member of the Judy's Book community for nearly one year now, I have written over 250 short reviews of household products, local restaurants, and even websites. When I joined Judy's Book in February of 2006, Judy's Book was all about gaining reviews on its site by giving generous promotions.

The promotion going on when I joined was a monetary promotion where I could earn $1 per review (of 50 words or more), up to 100 reviews before a deadline. When that promotion ended, the Barnes & Noble promotion began a month or so later, again allowing one to earn up to $100 worth of a Barnes & Noble gift card for writing up to 100 reviews. For any writer with free time, this was an easy way to earn.

Although the promotions stopped after the Barnes & Noble promotion, City Editor status then became another big goal for many Judy's Book reviewers who were reviewing for reward. To reach City Editor status one had to get his TrustScoreSM to an 8 or above (10 is the max). Once the City Editor status was reached, a City Editor earned his monthly $25 gift card by writing 5 reviews that month. The gift cards given out included gift cards for Target, AMC Theaters, Starbucks and others.

The reward for amount of work was not too good to be true, but it did not last. Around October of 2006 the City Editor reward qualifications changed quite drastically, from writing 5 reviews per month for a $25 gift card to 15 reviews per month for a smaller amounted $15 gift card.

When Judy's Book made these changes, many City Editors who were reviewing for the sake of reward were very unhappy. Many either wrote to Judy's Book to express extreme disappointment on the change of requirements and the lesser gift or complained to each other on- or off-site. It seemed to so many reviewers that Judy's Book was not grateful for its reviewers, and many Judy's Book reviewers chose to leave Judy's Book at that time, angry with the downgrade. However, some thought a $15 gift card was better than no gift card at all, and stayed to write the 15 reviews per month.