22 Feb 2008 03:51:01 | Norm Goldman
Comments from a Book Reviewer- Norm Goldman Editor of
Bookpleasures.com and sketchandtravel.com
For the past several years I have been reviewing books for my
own site, Bookpleasures.com, as well as many other sites. I am
also a regular contributor to the Canadian Book Review Annual.
As editor of Bookpleasures.com, I would like to make a few
comments about book reviewing and what to expect, particularly
from Bookpleasures.com.
Today, with the advent of the Internet, there has been a
proliferation of book reviewers, whom I shall classify as the
good, the bad and the ugly. Those falling within the last
category are ones that you have to be particularly on the look
out for, as their only interest is to receive complimentary
books without bothering to review them, or if they do review
them, their reviews are very short and without substance. On the
other hand, there are many serious and excellent reviewers, who
devote a great deal of their time and energy in reading and
writing a review.
Unfortunately for the authors, sometimes reviews are not exactly
very complimentary. However, it is to be noted that it is not
the objective of a reviewer to be a salesperson or a public
relations representative for the author. If the criticism is
constructive, a great deal can be learned from the review,
particularly if the reviewer is also an author.
From the point of view of a reviewer, what I find most annoying
is receiving a book without first asking me if I would accept to
review it. Bookpleasures receives on average about 20-30 email
requests per week. These requests are forwarded to our
reviewers, who communicate directly with the sender of the
email. In all probability, there is a 20%-30% chance that a
request to review will be accepted by a reviewer. The reason why
a book is not accepted is wide and varied. Many of our reviewers
have a backlog that they would like to clear before accepting
new assignments, or the subject matter is not one that interests
any of them.
What I like to see in a request is not “hype” but rather a brief
resumé of the contents of the book, who the author is, if the
book is published by a main stream publisher or is it
self-published, and if the book is available on Amazon.
Bookpleasures also conducts e-interviews with some authors, and
if the author is open to have himself or herself interviewed,
please indicate.
If you are a publicist or publisher, don’t be afraid to put
Bookpleasures as well as other book reviewing sites on your
emailing list. You never know when something catches our eyes.
Sometimes you may be publicizing a particular book, and our
reviewers will look to your site and see something else that
interests them.
As for the time frame, this all depends on the reviewer.
Anywhere from one week to three months is the norm. You can ask
the reviewer to give you some idea as to his or her time frame.
You can also inquire as to his or her credentials. Bookpleasures
does provide links to the reviewers’ site that should give you
some idea as to their experience.
I do hope this is of help to some of you.
About Author :
Norm Goldman is editor of bookpleasures.com, a book reviewing
site, and sketchandtravel.com, a travel site.
