Free Disclosure?

I'm pretty new to this reviewing game, and I hope I am asking this in the correct place. Is it a requirement or even just recommended that a reviewer state where they got the book, i.e., borrowed from the library, bought, received for free in exchange for a review? I post reviews here and on Goodreads, and soon on Amazon as well. Some of the free books I have received have specifically asked that I not disclose that I got them in exchange for a review, but most have not. Typically I don't disclose where I got a book unless it's part of the review (I wanted to keep a book longer but the library needed it to fulfill a hold, that sort of thing), because I know I am going to give my honest opinion, good or bad. Lately I have seen some reviews on Goodreads that have a disclaimer in them that state the writer got a copy free in exchange for review. Now I am wondering if I am supposed to disclose this information.

I believe FTC regulations require you state if you've been given a book for review purposes, otherwise it's up to you if you want to say where you got the book.

>2 amanda4242:

FTC regulations require you state if you've been given a book for review purposes

No, they do not.

At a conference several years ago, Mary Engle, then Associate Director of the Division of Advertising Practices at the Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection, was asked:

Question: As a person who takes a book from a publisher, I do not have to put any type of disclosure on my blog?

Her response:

Answer: No. You are independent. Your reviews are not endorsements under our endorsement guides. You're free to do so if you choose to, free to disclose you're getting a free book from the publisher. But in terms of, what I'm saying is, I don't see those kinds of reviews as endorsements, as advertising.

If you got the book from ER, the automatic notice is sufficient. If you are not in the US, US law is not an issue. However, it seems dishonest to me for the publisher or author to request that you not mention that you were given a review copy. That is sometimes a big help in interpreting a review, therefore I think you owe it to those who read your review to mention it.

Whether you bought it, got it from the library, or were given it for your birthday doesn't seem as important, unless there is some aspect of how you got the book that you want to mention.

>3 lilithcat: Okay. I'll still disclose if I was given the book in exchange for a review, but it's good to know the I'm not obligated to.

Thanks. The only author who specifically asked me to not say I got the book for free was, in my opinion, dishonest regarding his book, and I wasn't impressed. He got a bad review from me regardless.

>6 SassySnail:

The only author who specifically asked me to not say I got the book for free was, in my opinion, dishonest regarding his book

He had no business asking you to do that. I'd ignore that request.

I'd actually mention in my review that he had made that request.

Yeah, I would 100% mention in my review that the author requested I not do so.