Category: Uncategorized
Why I Rejected Your Review Request
To all my readers I’m really, really sorry. I know I’ve been harping on and on about review requests lately and that you’re probably sick of it, but I promise this is the last post about review requests for a while. It’s going to be a sort of pillar post for authors, I suppose.
If you’re an author and you’re reading this you’ve either found it via search engine, social media or simply because you’re a regular reader of my blog. Fair enough. But if you’re an author who sent me a review request and got this link I feel I need to explain to you why I’m rejecting your review request. I get it, authors need reviews in this new scary world of social media, especially since the rise of the book blogger. And I get it that not a lot of reviewers are open to indie submissions like I am. That’s why I feel this article is so important: you don’t want to alienate the reviewers you need to publicize and therefore sell your book to other readers.
So here is hopefully my final, comprehensive list of how and why review requests get rejected.
1. I’m closed to submissions.
If I’m closed to submissions you can be entirely secure in that my rejection of your review request isn’t personal. I’d reject J.K. Rowling if she submitted a review request when I’m closed to submissions. If you’re being rejected simply because I’m closed to submissions as long as you aren’t rude about it you’re welcome to submit again when I am open to submissions. Seriously, next time just read my review policy more carefully, okay?
2. You sent me a generic request.
A generic review request with a greeting line like “Hi!” or “Dear Sir/Madam” or anything variation thereof actually stings a little for us reviewers. I mean, here you are, this author that’s requesting we take hours of our time to read and review your book and you can’t even take the time to find out our names? To a blogging community that is gaining power online but still being generally rejected by the mainstream media, that hurts just a little. Every article you’ve ever read about submitting a query to an agent tells you to address them with their name, so why are you going around using generic emails to contact reviewers?
3. Your book is not something I’m interested in.
Yes, despite the seeming randomness of this blog I am technically a YA reviewer. I do review anything that catches my fancy, but my main focus is YA. So if you’re submitting a picture book or an erotic novel, I think you can see that there’s going to be a problem. But what if I rejected you even though your book is targeted at young adults? Well, it could be that I feel there’s too much romance (I hate romance) or that it’s a genre I’ve read far too much of (vampires). Again, it’s nothing personal. I just try to read books I think I’ll like. It’s that simple.
4. You didn’t follow the instructions in my review policy.
Yes, as part of my review policy you must include your follower statistics in your first email to me. This isn’t to weed out poor newbie authors so much as it is to weed out people that don’t follow my policy. I get a lot of submissions so I can’t afford to waste my time on people that don’t follow my instructions. Really, most book reviewers I know can definitely afford to be picky especially when they’re accepting indie submissions. That’s why when you submit to other reviewers I would advise you to read their policy and follow it to the letter. First impressions matter.
5. You have a reputation for being nasty to reviewers/have been rude to me previously/are pushy in your review request, etc.
I was recently told to kill myself by an author because I rejected his review request. I think you can see why I’m a little reluctant to accept submissions from authors whose Google searches turn up all sorts of nasty things on Goodreads or book reviewing sites. If I find out that you’ve attacked reviewers for negative reviews previously, have been paying for fake good reviews or have been doing any other shady behaviour I’m not going to accept your request. And yes, I absolutely do my research. You can be sure that if there’s something out there I’ll dig it up and reject your request so fast your head will spin.
The Fire by John Heldt Releases Today!
When Kevin Johnson, 22, goes to Wallace, Idaho, days after his college graduation, he expects to find rest and relaxation as his family prepares his deceased grandfather’s house for sale. Then he discovers a hidden diary and a time portal that can take him to 1910, the year of Halley’s comet and the largest wildfire in U.S. history. Within hours, Kevin finds himself in the era of horse-drawn wagons, straw hats, and ankle-length dresses. Returning to the same time and place, he decides to travel again and again and make the portal his gateway to summer fun. The adventure takes a more serious turn, however, when the luckless-in-love science major falls for pretty English teacher Sarah Thompson and integrates himself in a community headed for tragedy. Filled with humor, romance, and heartbreak, THE FIRE, the sequel to THE JOURNEY, follows a conflicted soul through a life-changing journey as he makes his mark on a world he was never meant to see.
John Heldt was kind enough to give me an ARC of The Fire so you’ll be reading my review of it tomorrow, but for now I just want to let you know that his fourth book in the Northwest Passage series is now available! If you’ve read my reviews of his first three books, you’ll know that I’m super excited to sink my teeth into this one. I don’t want to give too much away when I say that Kevin’s story is not at all like the previous ones in that the main character travels back and forth in time deliberately multiple times. But will this lead to tragedy? It’s hard to tell.
Now available on Amazon for $3.99.
Discussion: DNF Reviews
For those of you that aren’t fluent in reviewer-speak, DNF reviews are reviews where the person did not finish the book. Thus the abbreviation DNF. DNF reviews are a little controversial in the blogging world and I’ll break down the two main points here:
Against: You can’t really judge the quality of a book if you didn’t finish it. If you’re going to do a review you should be able to discuss all elements, including major plot points that may appear later on, character arcs, etc.
For: DNF reviews are a useful tool for reviewers to let people know that they gave a book a try but really couldn’t finish it because they hated it, were bored, etc.
Personally, I’m on the fence with this one. If you’ve gotten half way through a book but can’t physically force yourself to read it anymore, I think a short DNF review is acceptable. However, if you’ve only read a couple of chapters you should just chalk it up as a waste of time and not leave a review. After all, you can’t really criticize everything about a book if you haven’t read all of it.
But now I’m curious: What do you guys think of DNF reviews? Love ’em, hate ’em, couldn’t care either way? If you’re a reviewer, do you ever write them or would consider writing them? Why or why not?
The Mad Reviewer Challenge Check In #2
Yes folks, it’s the end of August which means there are only four more months left to finish The Mad Reviewer Reading & Reviewing Challenge. We’re already two thirds of the way through 2013 if you can believe it. I know I can’t.
As some of my regular readers may have noticed, my progress bar has not moved at all in weeks. Obviously from my reviews this is not because I haven’t been reading but rather because I want to be a little more selective in the books I”m counting toward my challenge. I want to be able to say that I read and reviewed 1000+ page novels for my challenge rather than count books that are only 100-200 pages. As someone who reads a lot, I have the luxury of doing this.
So what I’m curious about is this: if you’re participating, where are you in my challenge? Have you finished yet? Are you thinking of upgrading? Would you be interested in participating in my reading and reviewing challenge next year?
Discussion: Print Books vs. Ebooks
I know, I missed my usual weekend discussion post! I missed it on Saturday due to a little thing called Life. I didn’t have time to post and I got home late that evening so I figured I would just not post for the day. Sorry about that.
I think the title of this discussion is pretty self explanatory. Which do you prefer: print books or ebooks?
Personally, even though I have a new Kindle Paperwhite I prefer print books. I hate how world maps format on ereaders and print books generally have more character. What kind of character? Well, none of my books on my Kindle have that yogurt stain on page 57 or a piece of cat hair that got stuck between the pages years ago. Yes, paperbacks and hardcovers get damaged but for me that’s part of the appeal: they aren’t perfect and that’s okay.
Besides, when you get an autographed copy of a book your hero once held, there’s no comparable experience with an ereader. Sure, authors can now ‘sign’ ebooks, but it’s completely not the same thing as knowing that your hero once held that book and took the time to actually sign their name and not copy and paste a signature. How do I know this? Well, I’m lucky enough to own a signed copy of I Never Walked Alone, the memoir of my personal hero, Shirley Verrett. The sheer amount of emotion I felt at realizing I had accidentally obtained a signed copy was unreal.
Enough about me, though. It’s your turn now: do you prefer print books or ebooks? Why? Has your opinion changed over time?
As always, you can engage with either myself or other commentors. As long as you’re being civil, there’s absolutely no reason for me to moderate this post with a heavy hand. Have fun!