I am not a professional reviewer. I adore books, and I see reviewing books as a way to “pay” for my addiction to reading. Books are a way of learning more about the world, seeing it from someone else’s perspective, traveling to different places and times, discovering how other people live.
I write honest reviews, and I do try to address the basics, but it usually comes down to what I like or don’t like, which can range from tropes that drive me nuts, stories that have an interesting twist, poor editing, a beautiful way with words, characters whom I adore or despise, how well the author conveyed the sense of the time period, how well the author provided the show versus the tell, and/or if I become irritated with info dumps, ahem.
You may not like what I write. And yes, I will post negative reviews if it’s a book I have picked up on my own or through NetGalley. Like I said, I’m honest in my reviews, and if the author believes in his or her book enough to publish it, then they have to accept that not all reviews will be positive.
My aim is to provide the reader with an idea of whether or not they want to invest the time and/or money or their time in reading it as well as basic book information on series data, characters, genre, target audience, and more.
I believe in authors, and I sympathize with readers. I want to promote the books authors write, and I want to encourage or warn readers. With our economy as it is, many readers don’t have the resources to waste on books they won’t enjoy. If I can help readers make a better choice on how to spend their money, I will. And it is always up to the reader to choose whether they want to believe what I say.
If you’re interested in my reviewing your book, please continue to explore my Book Review Policy page. If you choose to apply for a review, there are no guarantees as to when I’ll get back to you as my schedule varies.
Every Book Review Includes:
When I review a book, I include:
- Information on its position within a series
- A quick hit on who the story revolves around and where the story is based
- My take, what I think of the story
- My own summary of the story. I don’t like using the provided book description as I don’t find them accurate all the time nor do I want to waste the space on it — especially since that description already exists *grin*. Unless, I am posting a review for a book provided by an author or author’s agent and that information is part of the promotional material.
- A list of characters
- My interpretation of the cover
- What I believe the title means
- The title is linked to Goodreads because it provides a central location for readers to choose where to go and purchase the book
- Other links include references to other books written by the author, series or books of which the author’s writing reminds me
I would appreciate the author or his/her agent provide hard URLs for any graphics they want used for blog tours or launches.
In the future, I plan to include the ability to raffle off books, ARCs, contests, etc.
My Book Reviews are Posted To:
I post book reviews to:
- KD Did It Takes on Books
- Goodreads
- Amazon
- Notifications go to Google+, LinkedIn, and Facebook
I Like to Read:
I enjoy a range of genres as well as a range of target audiences. I also accept self-published or traditionally published books.
| Genres | Target Audiences | |
|---|---|---|
| I Accept | I Don’t Accept | |
| Adventure | Poetry | Children’s |
| Crime / Police procedurals | Religious | Young adult |
| Fantasy / Paranormal / Supernatural / Urban fantasy | New adult | |
| Fiction | Adult | |
| Historical anything | ||
| Some horror | ||
| Military fiction | ||
| Mysteries | ||
| Romance, yes, this includes erotica and LGBTQIA+ | ||
| Science fiction | ||
| Suspense | ||
| Thrillers | ||
| +++ | ||
When Submitting Your Book For Review:
I may not immediately respond to your email request for a number of reasons including my not having read the email yet. I will respond when I can. If it is longer than two weeks, send it again as my Mail program sometimes hiccups.
There is no guarantee I will post your review, as I only post solicited reviews if I can give the book a positive “3” or better; if I rate the book as a negative “3” or less, then I don’t post a review but I do send back a general critique.
Acceptable Formats Include:
I accept either a MOBI format; I do not do PDFs, eBooks, or audio recordings.
The Review Schedule
If you are on a schedule, tell me and I will decide if I can fit a review in for you. There is no guarantee there will be a review posted. That said, the books I read do have a hierarchy: library books and ARCs from NetGalley have precedence. My mood for what I want to read shifts. The number of books in my TBR varies, however, it’s usually in a growth stage. I try to schedule the books as they arrive, which could be anywhere from tomorrow (that mood thing) to months.
Blog Tours
I participate in blog tours, although my review policy on solicited reviews holds true. If I have committed to a date in a blog tour and the review will not be posted, I will include the promotional material on the date for which I signed up.
Graphics
I would appreciate it if any graphics you wish to have included with the review or the promotional material is in the form of a hard URL(s) (http://www.XXX.ext – either a PNG or JPG file); I do not use images which I have to download.
Guest Posts
I will accept guest posts, subject to my doing a light edit as long as it fits within the idea of my blog which focuses on authors and readers. Please review my Guest Post Policy.
Covers, Teasers, & Trailers
I don’t do covers, teasers, or trailers as they make me nuts when I get them in my inbox. I trash them. I tend to remember the words, and when I do finally receive the ARC, it slows my reading down as I wonder if I’ve already read this. I do like covers as part of the review.
Contact Me
If after all this, you’re still interested in my doing a review, participate in a blog tour, or include a guest post, please submit your request for a book review, blog tour, or a guest post.
Use Review For Promotional Reasons
You’re welcome to use all or part of any review I post for promotional reasons. Just let me know where as it gives me a thrill to know you liked it.
your form asks for a .mobi yet won’t accept the .mobi file-type.
Hi Sarah, I thought I’d fixed this. I put in a query to Jot Form.com, and I’ll try to get this fixed ASAP. Kathy
Hi Kathy, Lovely website 🙂 I thought I’d just ask if you do non-fiction reviews, as it’s not specified in your policy. Do you accept things like personal development / popular psychology?
Hi, Thank you. As for personal development or popular psychology nonfiction, no I don’t review those. I don’t have enough knowledge of the topic to do justice to the writing. My aim in writing a review is to tell readers what I honestly think of the book’s content and provide pointers for other writers. Good luck with your book!
OK, thanks, Kathy. Keep up the great work on your fiction reviews 🙂
Thanks for sharing, I an going to start a book review website, Thanks a lot.