Submission
Guidelines
MostlyFiction.com
would like to consider your book for review. In fact, the selection
of books reviewed on this site has been enriched by the experience of
accepting books for review.
That
said, MostlyFiction.com is not obligated to review all books received,
although best effort will be made to make note in some way of all books
that meet the criteria of this site. MostlyFiction.com is not in the
business of dissing books, if we are unable to finish reading book due
to poor writing, upsetting subject matter, or loss of interest, then
no review will be posted. However, books not reviewed do not necessarily
indicate that we find the book "bad." We receive many, many
books in the mail, and just do not have time to review them all. And
all of us make the mistake of thinking we'll have time to read more
books than we actually can and thus are likely to accept the books and
then they sit on a shelf, waiting. (We are systematically going through
my backlog, but it is like fighting an incoming tide!)
To
help combat this backlog, MostlyFiction.com now offers two levels of
posting information on books. First, MostlyFiction.com will continue
to review books, however, history proves that we normally post about
20 reviews a month. Therefore, for the novels that are waiting for review,
we will post a "FIRST CHAPTERS"
page, assuming the necessary materia is providedl. The "FIRST CHAPTERS"
section can offer a wider range of books than we might normally be interested
in reviewing, however, we will still use some basic scrutiny and will
post an excerpt only as long as the writing style and content seems
of quality and interest.
Guidelines
for Submitting a Book to be Reviewed:
Send
mail to ProposedBook with the following (all
attachments should be in .html, .txt or .doc format - no .pdf):
- Is this
book listed at amazon.com today?
- Book
name and author
- Publisher
and publication date
- ISBN
Number
- Web
site information
- Book
Synopsis
- Book
Review quotes/praise
- Book
Excerpt (if available)
with permission to publish
- Author
information
- Which
MostlyFiction.com "bookshelf" seems to be the best fit for
your book.
After
I receive this information and I agree to review it, I'll send you an
e-mail with details on where to mail a copy of the book for review.
PLEASE NOTE: I HAVE AN ENORMOUS NUMBER OF SUBMISSIONS THAT I HAVE NOT
RESPONDED TO AS YET. PLEASE BE VERY PATIENT!
What
I'm NOT interested in:
- How-to
books
- Bibliographies
- Inspirational
- Romance
- Fantasy
(Sci-Fi is wanted!)
- Horror
(though this may change in the future)
- Children's
Books
- E-books
(I spend enough time at my computer as it is)
- Books
not listed at amazon.com
What
I'm MOST interested in:
- Basically,
if you have a novel that fits into one the "bookshelf" categories,
then I'm interested. Just, keep in mind that this site reviews "mostly
fiction."
Guidelines
for Submitting a Review You've Written:
What
did you think of the character development in the last book you read?
Was the plot of a thriller too complicated or too simplified? How does
the book compare to others the author has written? If you love to read
and want to let others know about a book you enjoyed then maybe you
should consider submitting reviews to MostlyFiction.com. I like to write
reviews because it gives me a chance to think about the book a little
longer after I've come to the last page. Maybe you'll enjoy this benefit
as well.
If
your review is accepted it will be posted with your byline. If I like
what you are doing, then I will forward new books to you for review
and although I can't pay you, you can keep the books. (At least it is
a little perk.)
Guidelines
for Book Review Submission:
- Jump down and answer the "interview questions."
- The
book should generally fit into a MostlyFiction.com bookshelf category.
- The
copy should be in .txt, .doc or .html (but don't convert .doc
to .html)
- Include
the book name and author, ISBN and book publisher and date.
- Include
your full name, the way you would want to see it in the byline.
- Include
a brief bio (you can wait to see if the copy is accepted and send
it later).
- If previously
published, where the copy also appears.
- Send
mail to BookReview
Here's
some links that can help give ideas on how to write a book review:
Remember:
- There
is no right way to write a book review. Book reviews are highly personal
and reflect the opinions of the reviewer.
- A review
can be as short as 400 words, or as long as 20000 words, depending
on the purpose of the review.
- Keep
your audience in mind! This will help define the emphasis you put
on various parts of the review.
Reviewer "Interview Questions"
for MostlyFiction.com:
Please answer these questions and submit with an "audition" book review:
1) What are the last three books that you read?
2) What types of books do you enjoy most?
3) Assuming you have a "TBR" pile, which three books do you plan to read next?
4) If you were given a gift certificate to buy any three new books, which would they be?
5) Do you have some favorite authors and who are they? (I realize this is an impossible question for avid book readers, so don't stress too much over it)
6) Where do you live --- once you are accepted as a reviewer then you will have the option to have books sent to you for review (or you can pick from your own stash).
7) How many reviews do you think they you will want to write? (one a month, one every other month, one every other week, etc.) Most people can do 1, maybe 2, a month if they are working full time. If you haven't actually written a review before, this might be hard to guess at, but you can say your intention. Promise I won't hold you to it.
8) Is there a particular review that you've read on MostlyFiction.com that you liked and feel that's what you would have said about the book?
9) What do you use for a computer? Is it reliable? Will you use MS Word or an equivalent for writing the reviews?
10) So now that you've made it through all these questions, which book do you propose to write your audition review on? (Note, please let us know if the "audition" book review has been published elsewhere or if it is available to publish on MostlyFiction.com).
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions and to submit your review. |
