Help! I Want To Become A Book Reviewer

Author: Alyice Edrich

Do you love to read? Do you always have an opinion about the book you've just read? Are people always asking for your opinion about a book? Then you'll enjoy the opportunity of sharing your reviews in print.

While the pay isn't great, the perks are! Just think—all the free books you can muster up the time to read—just for sharing your honest, detailed, and heart-felt opinion of that book.

The catch? Not only do you actually have to read the book, but new releases must be reviewed within the first two months—preferably the first two weeks!

Surprisingly, many reviewers simply skim the books and offer a review based on what they skimmed. Truth be told, reviews of this nature do not do justice to the author who spent many hours researching, writing, and proofing said book. And it does nothing for the credibility of the reviewer―especially if the reviewer doesn't get the facts straight because of a plot twist.

You'll also need a highly publicized place to print your review once you've read the book. A good place to start looking for smaller publications is by typing the words, "book reviewer" or "book reviews" in the search engines.

You can also:

Check writer's market books for "freelance book reviewers."
Call up your local paper and see if they could use a book reviewer.
Check with magazines about their submission guidelines.
Call radio talk shows and see if you can't become a regular... you may have to donate your time at first, but if the show's ratings go up while you are on the air...you could very well find yourself with a new paying gig!
Check the list to the right.

Never look past small publications for book reviews. Large publications receive hundreds of books a month and can only read a small handful. Small publications also tend to have a more loyal subscriber base.

Never pay for a book review, even if they "claim" to promote your book with the review for a nominal fee. It then becomes a paid review and not a "true" unbiased review of your book.

When looking to submit your review to a magazine, website, or other venue, keep in mind the style of that particular publication and follow all writers guidelines.

What is a book review?

It's a brief overview or description of a book, along with your personal evaluation or thoughts.

Not sure how to write a good book review?

Get out your Sunday paper, a magazine that shares reviews, or check out a few reviews online. While styles differ from reviewer to publication, the basic idea is to give a teaser about the book in such a way that you don't give away the plot of the novel or the most important aspect of the how-to book. You also want a punch in your review that entices the reader to purchase the book.

Include:

A few sentences about the plot.
Your personal experiences that relate to the topic of the book.
You opinion of the book itself. What's your favorite part? What part of the book do you dislike and why? Did you learn something from the book? What was it and why?
Your recommendation.

Format to Use:

Mini-reviews are 500 words or less or to 1-2 paragraphs

Normal reviews are 750 words or to 3-5 paragraphs

So how long does it take to read a book?

Everyone is different. Some people are fast readers while others are slow readers. The best way to know how long a book will take to read is to pull out a timer and time yourself. How many pages did you get through in one hour's time—20, 40, 60 pages?

What if the book is a good book, but you just can't get into it?

The best answer would be to simply decline from reviewing any books that are not in your normal reading patterns. In other words, if you enjoy reading romance novels but fall asleep reading historical books, simply decline historical books, novels, manuscripts, etc.

Sample letter to be written and delivered to the publisher of the book you are reviewing:

Your Contact Information

Book Publisher Contact Information

Date

Dear Publisher Name,

I recently had the pleasure of reading 101 Home-Based Businesses For Women, 3^rd Edition by Priscilla Y. Huff and would like to send along my review so that you may use it as you see fit—for promotional purposes or in the next printing of the book.

Review:

Your Review Here

Your Byline Here

Sincerely,

Your Name

What do you do with all those review copies?

One thing we should all remember is that review copies of new books are often given away without the author receiving a dime. And in the case of a self-publisher, at the cost of the author. If you have more review copies than you know what to do with, consider distributing the review copies in a way that benefits both you and the reviewer:

You can send out press releases stating that you have teamed up with the author to distribute a copy of the book as a prize for a specific contest, and then go into details about the contest.
You can volunteer to read to small children at your local school, then have a drawing at the end of each session and donate the book to one of the children―if it's a children's book.
You can save the books and bundle them together for charity auctions, or to distribute at Christmas time to families who can't afford Christmas gifts.
You can donate the book to your public library, school library, church library, or favorite age-appropriate teacher.
And finally, you could have a book swapping party with other reviewers. This way, you get something else to read and review, and less money is coming out of the pocket of the author and/or publisher. (Of course this would only be advantageous if you knew a local reviewer and didn't have to pay to ship the book off somewhere.)

And if you want to get a little more creative, have the author and/or illustrator sign the book before having it delivered to you.

Whatever you decide to do, let the author know your intentions as it is not only good PR, but more than likely, the author will be pleased with the extra publicity you are generating for the sale of that book. This way, you generate PR for the Author and for yourself.

As writers and editors, we can only benefit from helping each other cut costs and increase publicity.

Learn how to write a Critical Book Review, Part 2.