Believe it or not, a few people have approached me about reviewing a book. Which is pretty awesome, if you ask me, but it occurs to me that maybe I should have guidelines for these folks. Y’know, just in case.
For authors/publishers wanting a review:
- First and foremost: I make no promises to like your book. I try to find something positive to say about every book I read, but I’m also honest.
- When I receive a book to review, it immediately goes to the top of my TBR pile. This generally means it will be read within a month.
- If you give me contact info, I will let you know when the review is posted. If a lot of time has passed and you haven’t heard anything, drop me a line. I may have lost your contact info or simply forgotten to get in touch. I do read and review all books sent to me.
- All reviews will also be posted on LibraryThing, GoodReads, and BookCrossing. If you wish, I will happily repost the review anywhere you like, as long as there’s no fee for doing so.
- No e-books. Sorry, that’s just how it goes. I don’t own an e-reader and I don’t like reading on a computer screen.
- No religious, spiritual, new-age, or self-help books. I do not believe I can give an unbiased review of them.
- Audiobooks on CD are welcome. I might be able to do MP3 if you ask nicely, but that’s kind of a pain in the tuckus. :)
- Any publisher is fine, including vanity presses. If you’re willing to send me your book, I don’t care who printed it.
- This should go without saying, but I will not purchase your book in order to review it. So don’t ask. (And yes, people have.)
Other stuff, while I’m on the topic:
- There is a mailing address on my blog, but I still would like people to contact me before sending a book. It’s not fair to either of us for you to send me a book I know ahead of time I probably won’t like.
- I have no word min/max per review. How much I write is entirely dependent on how much I have to say.
- I’ll read pretty much anything, but I don’t generally enjoy genre romance, westerns, maritime fiction, or military tales (historical, current, futuristic, or otherwise). My favorite genres are science, mathematics, science fiction, fantasy, and humor.
- All books I receive will be registered on BookCrossing and passed along after I finish it.
- For the curious, I also posted a little something on full disclosure.
Anything else? Just ask. There’s a contact form on my About page.
Would you be interested in reviewing my just-published mystery novel, Double Trouble? It’s an upbeat page-turner, full of surprises. If I could have found your e-mail address, I’d have sent a blurb. A brief description of the book and me is available at . –Jim
The link didn’t show up, but you can contact me using the form on the “Brief Bio” page.