The rules are pretty clear about how reviews manipulation is ratings manipulation, but what else is shady/could be considered ratings manipulation? Like, is promising updates in exchange for Follows considered ratings manipulation? 

I don't think so. If you give readers real content in exchange for (probably ineffective encouragement) to get them to rate / review, it sounds like fair game to me. 

Personal experience: I said that I would do daily updates + doing a rewrite of the first two arcs while on Rising Stars (never got into the top ten of the Romance list even.... yeah. Killing myself paid off by getting more eyes on the story and I definitely got more positive ratings, but I think the first rewrite and massive influx of content had more to do with that then the lame promo attempt.)

Your mileage may vary!

TomOBedlam Wrote: Like, is promising updates in exchange for Follows considered ratings manipulation?

I'm not sure about other things, but withholding updates in exchange for follows or anything else is not allowed here. Bonus updates are of course fine.

kieranpierce Wrote: I don't think so. If you give readers real content in exchange for (probably ineffective encouragement) to get them to rate / review, it sounds like fair game to me. 

Personal experience: I said that I would do daily updates + doing a rewrite of the first two arcs while on Rising Stars (never got into the top ten of the Romance list even.... yeah. Killing myself paid off by getting more eyes on the story and I definitely got more positive ratings, but I think the first rewrite and massive influx of content had more to do with that then the lame promo attempt.)

Your mileage may vary!

Yep, rewriting goes a long way. I have found that I have a pretty dedicated base of readers, they keep jumping in whenever I reconstruct my series. This as a result attracts new readers, so the content is what brings in the views. Unfortunately, they attract other silent peeps who tend not to rate, follow, etc. Though, some of them Direct Message me from time to time, so that is something.