Review Policy

If you are the author or publisher of a book that fits with my reading interests as listed below, I’d love to take a look at a reading copy or sample, and will let you know within a few days whether I’m interested in reviewing it.   I’m always interested in advance review copies, but am also interested in some backlist titles, especially older titles/series that are just now being published in e-book format. As you may guess from my website’s name, I read pretty much any sort of mystery, except for psychological mysteries/thrillers, true crime, or books that drift into horror.  I also read a fair amount of science fiction/fantasy, urban fantasy, non-fiction (especially history), political/social science, and romance. Although I’m entering my seventh decade, I also still enjoy a good young adult book from time to time, but you may prefer to have folks closer to your target demographic do your reviews for those! 

I only read in e-book, and I prefer epub or mobi formats, but I will accept pdf as well.  The one exception to this might be a book with lots of graphs, or equations, or illustrations that may not do well in a preliminary e-book format.  I always have several books lined up to review, so I prefer to have an advance copy several weeks before publication date.   But if I’m excited about a book, I can usually push a review through faster.   

I review on a scale from one to five stars.   If I’m going to give a review at less than 3 stars, I’ll just send you my thoughts about what I think needs to be improved, and I won’t post a review unless you ask me to.  In addition to posting on my blog, I also post at major e-book retailers and GoodReads.   And, I am a member of the MobileRead forums, where I contribute frequently to the mystery/thriller thread, and to several of the other threads.   I typically have my review done and posted here shortly before the publication date, and then post to commercial sites at publication.   

If you made it this far, and you’re still interested in having me review a book, please use the contact form at the bottom of the home page to send me a message.   Finally, if you are self-published, and not an author I’m familiar with, please make sure that your book is truly in ready-to-read format.   My mother was an English teacher, and passed along her disdain for poor construction, grammar errors and spelling mistakes.  So, if your book still needs a good edit and proofread, please don’t send it yet.

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