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Oh, yes, and thereвЂ™s more: 2007 also is notable because software innovator John Hile and I co-founded our publishing house. Panic ensued! Fortunes were spent by publishers trying to retool backlists!

Overnight, millions of books had to be digitized! Then, that same year, the Kindle was launched-promising to overwhelm ink-on-paper books.

That year, the iPhone was introduced-placing powerful computerized multi-media in billions of palms around the world. ItвЂ™s as if, with little warning that year, the same tornado that swept up DorothyвЂ™s gray old farmhouse in The Wizard of Oz suddenly sucked up the entire publishing industry and slammed it down again in a disorienting Technicolor world. In the history of American publishing, 2007 is now enshrined as a legendary milestone. So, how did I-a veteran journalist myself-wind up in the Vine program? AmazonвЂ™s 2007 Vine Invitation вЂ¦ The next-youвЂ™re history!ДЄs Herrman found in his reporting, Vine reviewers carefully guard their privacy and tend to be very wary about talking to outsiders-especially to journalists. One day, the boxes are flooding your doorstep. ItвЂ™s the paranoia that someday AmazonвЂ™s faceless, nameless gods hovering over the master controls back at the command center will kick them off the gravy train of free products-without any clear rationale about why they were removed. At some point, the 1099s began to appear in mailboxes-and Viners suddenly faced big tax bills!Д«ut, the greatest fear in Vine-land isnвЂ™t taxes. The other big gripe among Vine reviewers is that Amazon now has bowed to the IRS and sends Viners a 1099 form at the end of each year, listing the total retail price of all the stuff they were sent over the last 12 months. YouвЂ™ll also find Vine reviewers who complain about flaws in the system-like one woman who was sent some products that broke right out of the box, or equipment she couldnвЂ™t possibly use. YouвЂ™ll find comments from people who are furious about the whole idea of Vine. If you take time to dig deeply into AmazonвЂ™s arcane realm known as the Seller Forums, you will find that Vine reviewers-and Amazon customers who have learned about Vine-are confused.

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Half of me wants to figure out how to become a Vine reviewer and get in on this thing that sounds like winning Wheel of Fortune-and half of me is mad at Amazon for turning top reviewers into what sounds like minions in a secret sausage factory! ThatвЂ™s nuts! one friend emailed me after reading HerrmanвЂ™s story. Friends who read that Times article were floored, then fascinated, amused and ultimately concerned.

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Sounds absolutely crazy, doesnвЂ™t it? Somehow these lucky reviewers are getting entire trucks full of free stuff in exchange for their reviews.

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His descriptions of the cascading products from Amazon include, in one instance:ДЇive vacuums here 14 hard drives there some laptops and cellphones Bluetooth speakers, and headphones, and headsets, and, well, pretty much anything with Bluetooth, so much Bluetooth, mouthful after mouthful of blue teeth. At one point, Herrman describes a Vine Voice reviewer as clad from head to toe in Vine apparel (including Vine perfume). HerrmanвЂ™s story describes how some top Vine Voices have turned Amazon reviewing into their full-time occupation. Reports in business magazines and websites are breathlessly calling this a little-known service, which is invitation only for the elite of Amazon reviewers. Suddenly, last week, I had friends ask me a question I hadnвЂ™t heard in years: YouвЂ™re a Vine reviewer on Amazon, arenвЂ™t you?Д®ver since the investigative report by John Herrman in The New York Times on January 26, 2019, Americans have been fascinated by what Herrman describes as an almost inconceivable realm of avid Amazon reviewers who literally equip their homes from pantry to bedroom, and from basement to garage, with free products Amazon ships to them in exchange for their reviews. And, for a time, I took the road of Vines.

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