Book Reviews, Pg69 Challenge, Submission Guidelines

TEMPORARY UPDATE:

I’m stepping back from doing reviews in order to catch up on my own writing projects. I will still be doing reviews as a member of Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team, so if you would like to have your book considered for review, please submit via Your Book Reviewed on her website.

Exceptions:

BETA READERS: If you’d like to be part of my Beta Team, please let me know. I’m about to release OPEN FARE, the final volume of my Null City series. If you would like my undying gratitude PLUS an advanced readers copy (plus books 1-4), please send email to barbtaub@gmail.com or submit the Contact Form below.
GUESTS: If you’d like to join me for a guest post, interview, cover reveal, or to take Marshall McLuhan’s challenge—“Turn to page 69 of any book and read it. If you like that page, buy the book”—by sharing page 69 of your in-progress/published/favorite work, please fill out the Contact Form below. [NOTE: for digital files, that would be approximately from word 17250 – word 17500]

These are more guidelines than actual rules. If you have a question, please leave a comment on the form below.

Contact Form

As a writer myself, I welcome the work of others. If you’re interested in having me review a book, please see the submission guidelines below the Contact Form.

Book Review Submission Guidelines

I prefer all review submissions in digital format. (ARCs, downloads from Netgalley or other review aggregator sites) in standard eBook formats (pdf, mobi, epub). If you would like me to review your book, please complete the Contact Form above with the following information:

Title and Author
Publisher (self-published is fine, as long as the book has been professionally edited)
Publication date
Genre
Length (number of words or pages)
Blurb or first chapter

What do I prefer to review?

I’ll look at any title that an author or publisher submits for review. In addition, I will consider professionally edited self-published titles. Genres preferred are the following:

Urban fantasy/ Sci-fi / Steampunk
Paranormal romance
Mystery (especially cozy)
Romance (prefer not to read erotica for its own sake)

What do I prefer NOT to review?

Stories involving rape for sexual gratification [NOTE: by which I mean ANY form of non-consensual sexual contact between two adults unless presented as a criminal act]
Erotica which includes explicit sexual scenes involving underage characters, gratuitous injuries, and/or death

Why are most of my ratings 3-star or better? (and what about that wait-list?)

I could say that it’s because the books submitted for reviews are that good, and for the most part it would be true. But if a review on my website isn’t going to be helpful in terms of recommending a good read, then I don’t see any reason to run it. So if my review is going to be under 3-stars, I offer the author the option of withdrawing their request. (Authors waiting for reviews can go on a wait-list to move up their review date if openings occur due to withdrawals. This happens about once a month.)

Star Ratings

As a writer myself, I know how much goes into producing a finished book, and I’m very grateful to those who send their books for reviews. So if I am giving a rating less than three stars, I prefer to consult with the author/publisher before posting. Also, as requested, I will post reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, etc.

I rate on a zero to five star basis as follows:

5 Star: Author goes straight to my auto-buy list, books I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone, books I would buy hard copies of and not lend out.

4 Star: Impressed me in some professional way, I would buy more from this author. Even if it’s not my usual genre, there is something so unusual and special about the quality of the writing that I’d recommend this book without hesitation.

3 Star: This book is worthwhile in some aspect. While there may be issues with some aspect of character, pace, editing, etc. the overall book is a good read. Or perhaps there is a huge flaw, but it is overcome by an equally dazzling saving grace in terms of writing, plot, or character development.

2 Star: This book just didn’t have enough good elements to overcome an overall objection to one or more aspects. Or it had a massive fail which ruined the experience (ie not only are there no sympathetic characters, but the only interesting one is killed off in the first chapter. Or perhaps there is egregious violence for its own sake.)