Hi everyone. I have gotten so many review requests lately that I’m going to have to change my guidelines a little bit. At the Review Requests Policy tab on this blog are instructions for submitting your book for possible review. Unfortunately, a majority of the requests I get do not follow those guidelines. I am just one woman doing this for free, so I’m going to have to start a new policy: Anyone contacting me for a review must follow those guidelines. I have updated the Review Requests Policy, so please check it out when you get a chance. Also please see the new procedures below.
How to Request a Review
- The request must simply be titled Review Request in the Subject line. That causes it to be filtered to a folder where I will see it. I will no longer look at emails that do not follow this procedure and do not end up in this folder.
- The Review Request must include a link to your book Amazon. I will sometimes pick the book up myself on Kindle Unlimited if an Amazon link is included. This is beneficial to authors, and essentially a gift from me, as that will count towards your pages read if your book is part of KU. So be sure and include the link! If your book is not on Amazon, please let me know in your request.
- There is a list at the Review Request Policy tab of genres I am not accepting. Please do not send a request if I am not accepting your genre. It’s nothing personal against your book. These are genres I know I do not enjoy.
- There is a list of other situations for which I am not accepting review requests. Please be sure and look through those.
- I don’t mind reminder emails, which should also be titled Review Request so they go into the appropriate folder. I am happy to give you an update on the status of your review if I have already accepted the book.
- If you get a four-star or five-star review, I would appreciate your sharing my blog post with your social media followers. This helps my blog to grow while I’m helping you. Again, it is voluntary but it seems to be common courtesy to me. Comments and follows on my blog would be great, too. Again, voluntary.
- Please be patient. As I’ve said before, I am one person doing these book reviews for no charge because I believe in Indie authors. It takes time to read all of these books.
I’m sorry if I sound strict or impatient right now. I really want this to work so that I can continue to help Indie authors. My goal for this blog has always been to create a community of readers, writers, and bloggers that support each other, and I’d love for it to continue to grow.
This is a good idea. I would hate for folks to take advantage of your generosity. I for one, appreciate what you do for us indie authors. xo
Thanks Darlene. I should add that there is a small group of authors whose work I have enjoyed before and will request their book from them in the future, and have in the past, instead of them doing a review request–You, Liz, Gail, Louise, Tim, Hien, Pat, Joy, and a few others. That’s my prerogative. This is for those who send me review requests, and there are so many.
I got a form-letter review request a couple of weeks ago that copied me and about 20 other reviewers all in the same email, and that was just too much. It made me realize I need to revisit the process.
The nerve of some people. It’s like people who send a form cover letter to about 20 employers and wonder why they don’t get interviews. Thanks for including me on your list. xo
Thank you, Bonnie. I’m glad I’m on your OK list!
Of course! I’m a big fan of your writing!
😊
I agree, Darlene. Bonnie is reviewing indie books out of the goodness of her heart.
It’s a really good idea Bonnie. I’ve been closed to requests for years, but it didn’t stop anyone from still requesting reviews. In the end I even deleted my contact form, because it was being ignored!
That doesn’t surprise me. I hope my new rules will help a little bit, and I will be deleting emails that don’t show up in the right folder! I want to help, but without strict guidelines, it was getting to be too much.
Bonnie, you do so much to support the Indie Authors. And it is highly appreciated. But setting boundaries is also important. Your new review policy sounds straight forward and it will only help you mange your time better.
I hope this Christmas Holiday Season will fill your house with blessings and laughter- and an Opie who behaves 😉 And I would like to wish you and yours a wonderful and prosperous New Year!
A behaving Opie would be a Christmas miracle! I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year too, but I’ll be posting a lot before then.
Your reviews are wonderful, Bonnie. You certainly have a right to not do reviews on certain subjects or writing styles.
Thanks Tim. It would be so helpful to me if people would read the guidelines before sending me an email, so I’ve made the tough choice to only respond to emails that follow the rules. I want to help, but I need their help too.
I will never understand why some people would ask for a favor and then not honor the guidelines.
[…] Week I updated the Review Requests policy and did an article about Scams Against Indie Authors. I didn’t get any reviews posted. […]