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1. 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
Geoff Willmetts
Review Editor: SFCrowsnest.co.uk
e-mail: gfwillmetts@hotmailspamremoval.com
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
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