The
most promising site by far for fiction -- Reedsy’s annually-updated list of book bloggers. Reedsy promises it to be a “vetted
catalogue of active book blogs and thoughtful, quality book reviewers.” Search
it by genre, by friendliness toward indie-published books, by average traffic,
domain authority, and more.
If you
are a book blogger who would like to apply for inclusion in the catalogue, you
can do that at the site as well.
For authors who long to see their reviews on paper, please understand that large metropolitan newspapers like The Dallas Morning News in my city, are tough places for book reviews. According to a former book page staff writer at the DMN, it receives several hundred books weekly from authors, but publishes at most only five.
For authors who long to see their reviews on paper, please understand that large metropolitan newspapers like The Dallas Morning News in my city, are tough places for book reviews. According to a former book page staff writer at the DMN, it receives several hundred books weekly from authors, but publishes at most only five.
For a
comprehensive list of newspapers and magazines that publish book reviews, check
New Pages. And consider contacting smaller papers.
A hometown, county or regional paper might be a good fit. Your local library
may be able to make suggestions.
And
speaking of regional publications -- for Texas writers – or authors of books
with special appeal for Texas – I recommend
Lone Star Literary Life. Check the site for what LSLL does – and
doesn’t accept. Still, with limited time and space, it can’t publish free
reviews of every acceptable book with a Texas focus. In that case, writers
may opt to buy a review ($249 for fiction, $279 for nonfiction). Again, check
the site for terms and conditions.
Not a
Texan or writing a Texas-focused book? Check with local writing groups for
other regional outlets for reviews.
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| image: pixabay |
Book
reviews had always seemed reminiscent of the essays I always dreaded writing in
school. But after posting a few blog posts dealing with books to Goodreads and
Amazon, I decided I had the whole book reviewing thing down cold. Unlike
school, nobody grades the review writers, which removes a lot of pressure. It’s
a matter of using the same basic formula we learned in school – tell people
what you’re going to say, say it, and tell them what you said.
However,
for potential reviewers who want more structure, I like the online tips from the Writing Center at University of North Carolina’s College of Arts and Sciences:
- Introduction (including the name of the author, title of book and main theme) – although as a fiction writer, I prefer starting with a “hook” in the opening paragraph, and including genre and intended age group (if relevant).
- Summary of content (remembering not to reveal the ending!)
- Analysis and evaluation of the book
- Conclusion (restatement)
A few
additional helpful suggestions from UNC as well as Writing-World.com: Review
the book in front of you, not the book you wish the author had written. Be
precise. Check to be sure statements you attribute to the book are accurate.
There’s
also an entire cottage industry on the Internet about how to write reviews for
Amazon, including on Amazon itself. The book itself has to be available on
Amazon before the online giant will accept it. But as I can personally attest, contrary
to popular belief, reviewers don’t have to buy the actual book from Amazon.
Presumably Amazon considers even non-buyer reviews a service to its customers.
Amazon
also likes reviewers of any of its products (not limited to books) to indicate
why they liked or disliked a particular one. And it has suggested lengths –
75-500 words.
Having
written all this, I admit that I also have some requirements for reviews. I
receive far more requests for reviews than I can honor. As a general rule, I
also do not review indie-published books. And I’m wary of reviewing the books
of friends, who have probably had their fill of my critical comments long
before publication!
