Becki's Book Review Policies

Becki's Book Review Policies

CURRENTLY ACCEPTING BOOKS FOR REVIEW!

Are you an author looking to promote your book (more ratings on Amazon means being featured)? A publisher looking to jump start a hot new book you're hoping will become a best seller?

Look no further! I've got your back.

I'm a book reviewer with 4 years of experience reviewing books from independent authors to major publishers. I write book reviews that I would want to read.

What does that mean? Well, it's sort of like this policy page, isn't it?

I write book reviews in a friendly, person-to-person manner that invites engagement with other readers, bloggers, and authors. My goal is to present your book in a way that intrigues people, and to connect with the book personally.

I'll tell you what else I do: I treat you (or your author) like a person. The people who write these books aren't machines: They're people with feelings who have taken an enormous risk to put their book out there, and I respect that.

Just because I didn't enjoy a book doesn't mean that the author isn't worthy of respect. I'm not one of those reviewers.

What I Do for You

So how about we talk some about what I'm going to do for you in exchange for a free, bound (i.e. dead tree) copy of your book.

• I'm going to read your book within the quoted time frame. I will always let you know if there are other books ahead of yours, how big the stack is, and give you an estimate on how long it will take me to read your book. Review requests usually have priority over my extensive selection of TBR (to-be-read) books and I finish most within a month.
• I will let you know when I've finished reading your book so that you can expect a review. Communication is important to me and I don't want to leave you waiting to find out if I'm going to flake on you. I'm well aware of how many reviewers do flake on authors, and I don't want to be that guy.
• I'll write a thoughtful review on my blog within two days of completing my reading. The reviews are friendly, personal, and usually in the wheelhouse of 1000 words. If this is longer than what you want, I'm not the reviewer for you. I like to be thorough in my reviews.
• I will communicate with you if there are any detected errors in research or proofreading/editing that you didn't catch. If there is any possibility at all that the book will be edited for future editions, I want to help you avoid future embarrassment. From this point forward, I will privately contact authors and editors about these errors if the book was a requested review.
• My review will also be posted on Amazon (when available) and Goodreads. This will help to increase the exposure to your book. I also share my reviews on Facebook and Twitter in an effort to reach the widest possible audience and to expand my reader base.

What Reviews Include

Okay, but what does one of my book reviews include? Sure, I've told you that I like to keep them friendly and personal, but what goes into one?

• Publication information, including title, author, publication date, number of pages, publisher, and format (that I read).
• Appropriate links, including an Amazon link (associates, so I can support my book habit here!) and Goodreads.
• A star rating, which you can read more about on my post about revising my star rating system.
• The Amazon or Goodreads synopsis of the book, copied and pasted from the site and in italics to indicate that these are not my original words.
• My review, including (in a personal tone): whether or not I liked the book, what I did like about the book, what I didn't like about the book, and whether or not I recommend the book.
• Recommendations, including suggestions of similar books that people who read this book might like.*

* The intention behind this is to capture the attention of readers who read the other book and might therefore be interested in reading the book that I'm reviewing. For example, people who enjoy the type of vampires in I am Legend might enjoy The Hallowed Ones because of a similar feel.

Feel free to browse through the reviews on my blog to get an idea of how I review books!

What Genres I Review

First of all, I will review almost any genre that you can toss at me, including books outside of my worldview (for example, I will review Christian self-help or nonfiction, even though I am not myself a Christian). Books are reviewed purely on their merit, which includes how much I enjoyed the book. 

I review books in the following categories:

• Fiction
• Non-Fiction
• Self-Help & Personal Development
• Craft How-To Books
• Game & Puzzle Books

And the following sub-categories:

• Fiction: Young Adult
• Fiction: New Adult
• Fiction: Adult
• Non-Fiction: Pagan Studies
• Non-Fiction: Christian Studies (no Bibles!)
• Non-Fiction: Memoirs
• Non-Fiction: Psychology
• Non-Fiction: True Crime
• Non-Fiction: Language & Culture
• Non-Fiction: Anthropology
• Non-Fiction: Paleantology
• Non-Fiction: Adoption-Related
• Self-Help: Law of Attraction
• Self-Help: Prosperity and Related Topics
• Self-Help: Mental Health (PTSD and Anxiety being particular topics)
• Craft How-To: Knitting
• Craft How-To: Crochet
• Game & Puzzles: Crosswords
• Game & Puzzles: Logic Problems
• Games & Puzzles: Other

You are more than welcome to contact me about sub-categories not listed here, for certain.

As for fiction genres, I'm open to virtually anything, but my favorites are:

• Dystopian fiction
• Horror
• Suspense
• Mystery
• Fantasy

I do not, in general, get excited about:

• Romance
• Chick Lit
• Literary Fiction
• Modern cozies

This does not mean that I will not read and review books in these genres, but understand that your book may result in a 1-star DNF rating if you submit a book to me in one of the "not excited about" genres.

My Rights as Reviewer

I reserve the following rights as the reviewer:

• I have the right to refuse any book for any reason (usually because I'm swamped).
• I have the right not to finish a book provided for review if it can't hold my interest.
• I have the right to rate all books according to my rating scale.

How to Request a Review

In order to request a review, please send an e-mail to beckithebibliophile(at)gmail(dot)com and include the following information:

• Title of the book
• Genre of the book
• Author of the book
• Publisher of the book
• Length of the Book
• Synopsis of the book (preferably from Amazon or Goodreads)
• Link to the book on Goodreads
• A personal request written by the author or publisher introducing yourself, please. I'm personal and I want you to be too. I love getting to know the authors whose books I review!

You should hear back from me within a week. I may request more information, and I may reject reviews based in part on failure to send me the requested information. 

Please note that in general I only accept books in print. I will typically only review ebooks in .mobi format from authors I have already reviewed for and enjoyed. 

My Kindle (Paperwhite) is in bad shape and severely scratched on its front, making reading in this format inconvenient.

I do not in general read PDFs!