Write for SFcrowsnest

So You Wanna Write Reviews For SFCrowsnest?

what you need to know by: Geoff Willmetts

It can't have escaped your notice in recent updates that the number of reviews we run is gaining momentum. We're a rather popular website for some reason. Publishers are noticing and flooding us with books. Maybe it's our policy to read everything we received. Maybe it's the rather large number of subscribers to the website. Whatever, there's a need to have a few more dedicated reviewers to share the workload.

The qualifications are rather simple. It's the ability to be able to read at least one book or more a month and more importantly to be able to write about it afterwards. Reviewers will also have to live in the UK. Sorry, you lads and lassies who live abroad, but it has more to do with distributing quickly and cheaply as much as anything. There might be a little book work from the USA so if interested, still do the test below but I can't make promises.

As most of you reading this are capable book readers, what will distinguish a reviewer is the ability to write the review and as such, this will be the determining factor when selecting reviewers. I will need to see a review of a book you've read recently together with a page count and a rough estimate of how long it took you to read it. If the review is of a book that is currently in print and we haven't wrote about it previously, the review won't be wasted and will be used on the site as well, so use our internal search engine to check. Please send only one review. That will tell me all I need to know as to your capabilities...

Unlike short stories and e-book samples, these samples will have to be replied as a yea or nay before taking it any further. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get a lot of reviews to read through anyway. In the 'nay' category, you'll have a brief form letter modified to hitting on where you went wrong and whether you should try again. Don't be disappointed if you fall into the latter category. Reviewing is a singular skill and not everyone is capable of such assessments. If you take heed of the advice, you can always try again.

These reviews are to be e-mailed in, but not as attachments, than the traditional paper post if it's to make our monthly deadline. This trawl won't be open for long if we get a lot of replies. When I've deemed I've enough reviewers at my fingertips, we'll be pulling this feature for a while.

Below, is a list of guidelines on how to present your review. I'm not going to make any bones about this, IGNORE THEM AT YOUR PERIL!!! If you can't follow simple instructions either above or below, then you'll be no good to me.

The review format:-
1. Check over the reviews on site for examples of how other reviews were done. There's usually a backlog in the teXt files.[STEVE I NEED A LINK HERE TO THE REVIEWS DIRECTORY] This doesn't mean you should necessarily copy my or other reviewers' style just understand the format and presentation. Being able to express yourself in sentences is an asset.
2. Important info at the top of each review: Book title. Author. Publisher. Number of pages and format - paperback enlarged paperback, hardback or whatever. Price - UK and other countries where appropriate - if listed. ISBN - this will usually be before the indice or on the back cover. If there are any associated websites noted in the indice, include these as well. A release date where noted in the bumf with the book should also be noted.
3. The review should be as long as it needs to be told. This doesn't mean that you need to be overtly verbose. We have plenty of space but don't want to bore the reader neither. Being concise and to the point is an advantage. It should contain a brief précis or summary of the plot without necessarily giving away the ending. The most important part of this is the reviewer's opinion of the book. Is it any good? What are the faults? Even if it isn't your personal favourite, suggest a readership who might find it appealing. There are always readers who will check out books that receive poor reviews to see if it was really that bad.
4. Start each paragraph by leaving two spaces. If your e-mail server removes these spaces, drop a line between paragraphs. Run it through your word processor's word and grammar checker for the obvious mistakes before pasting it into your e-mail message box. DO NOT SEND AS ATTACHMENTS!!! I don't like opening them and if I have to, prefer TXT format.
5. If you're dealing with an anthology, then it would be impossible to note all the stories. In such cases, hit the high and low spots of the book. Do the stories complement each other? Are any stories there purely to bring the page count up? Is the selection good or bad? Assessment is part of the task of being a reviewer.
6. If you're dealing with a non-fiction book and it's a subject you know something about, check the factual details for anything that is obviously wrong. Is the book easy to read? Is it too technical for the novice to understand? Does it take an expert to read the book? Evaluation is yet another task of the reviewer.
7. Above all be honest in your opinions. If the book is dull, bland or plain dumb then don't be afraid to say so. Likewise, if you found it an obvious page turner that hits you for six then say so. It's honest gut reaction we're after combined with an informed opinion. You're no good to me if you can't say why you liked or disliked a book. Your review needs more than subjective adjectives, it needs considered opinions.

What else do I need:-

1. As this is a recruitment drive, I also need to know something about your preferences. What kinds of books you read or avoid? The same applies to authors. Are you into any series of books, then let me know as we do get later volumes some times. Those who say they read 'anything' and turn out that they can't will find walking difficult. If I get enough variety of tastes then there is less chance a reviewer gets an unfavoured subject.
2. Put your name, home address, phone number and date at the end of the review.
3. Then be patient. I'll be back to all who write. If I get a lot of replies, it might be long wait.

We get books in Science Fiction and their grey cousins, fantasy and horror. There's bound to be something to fit everyone's taste.

Now, e-mailing. So as I avoid getting spam mail, my e-mail address below has a few words in it to fox automated e-mail name searchers. Remove the irreverent words and use the correct e-mail address. If you don't do that then I won't receive your review. In the subject column put the legend: 'This is a test review for SFCrowsnest'.

Remember:-
Précis
Assessment
Evaluation
Opinion
Honesty

PS As you'll notice if you live in the US, Canada or elsewhere, it's a long way to send review books. There might be a possibility for a few of you on the other side of the pond.

More details

Guidelines for would-be daily newsfeed journalists

Guidelines for flash fiction submissions

Guidelines for short and long fiction submissions

Guidelines for book and movie review submissions

The problems Geoff sees most when looking at samples

Summary: contributor guidelines

SciFi on Facebook

Magazine Articles

Charts

Stephen Hunt, author

Search

Reader Tools

Webmaster Tools