As I walk up and down the banks of the Indie Publishing River, I see a lot of prospectors looking for that elusive nugget: a good book review.
Trouble is, big name book bloggers are pretty much filled to the brim with requests. I've surfed a large number of them, and most say "Am not taking on new books at this time." Many say straight out that they won't review an indie-published book.
But since a good review from a popular blogger validates an author's work, book bloggers and other Internet book reviewers (such as librarians) are becoming more important, and taking on some of the functions of literary agents. Review requests are now called "pitches," which is the word also used for queries to agents. Check this blogger's rant on unsolicited requests-- sounds a lot like the headaches that agents go through.
Well, independent authors, I will review your book. I have written book reviews for a major metropolitan daily newspaper, and as a writer myself, I know the work that goes into your stuff.
Send me an electronic copy-- a .pdf, or a coupon for an e-book, at teenage underscore heroes at symbol yahoo dot com-- and I will read and review, with these stipulations:
1) I will read any genre, but I prefer a "clean" read. That means gratuitous whatever is out of bounds. Look at the first couple of paragraphs of this post for what I mean.
2) If I dip in to the book at any point and find errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation, or just plain typos, I'll stop reading and email you telling you I can't review it. A typo or two, and you're good. It happens. More than that, it gets tougher.
3) If I don't like the book, I'll tell you, and you can decide whether you want me to post the review.
Bottom line is, if you haven't written a good book, you probably should spend more time reading, researching and getting better at writing rather than looking for reviews. If you have, and what you need is a review to help your visibility, email me.
I can be your nugget.
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