Hello lovely authors and bookish people! I am so honoured that you are interested in contacting me about reviewing your book! Here is my review policy, ahead of your requests!
I am currently open to review requests. I do have a lot of books on my to be read lists and as a result am being a little more selective with the books I accept for review.
Please see below my review request policy, in regards to the genres I tend to read, what to include in your request, what happens if I accept your request, what happens if I don’t enjoy your review, other content I post and also a final disclaimer.
Please let me know if you have any queries!
Preferred Genres:
I am definitely what I like to call an eclectic reader, enjoying a wide variety of genres across all publishing platforms. I do have genres that I tend to lean towards, and genres I tend to avoid more.
Genres I Avoid:
- Historical Fiction
- (Auto)Biography
Preferred Genres:
- Mystery/Thriller
- Fantasy
- Romance
- Literary Fiction
- YA (Contemporary, dystopian, fantasy, mystery)
However, as long as a book has an interesting premise, three dimensional characters and a plot that captivates, 8/10 I will give most books a go.
What Publication Formats I Will Accept:
- Physical copy (ARC or hardcover)
- Digital copies (I have a Kindle)
I am not a big audiobook reader, so will rarely read or accept audiobook review requests.
What am I looking for from your review request?
Just to make your request clear for me, it would be great for all review requests to include:
- The blurb or summary of your book
- The release date, or date of publication
- Any relevant information regarding the book, yourself, or anything linking to my blog which shows why this book may be a good fit for me!
- Any time frames or expectations you may have – as I have a full time job, in addition to other commitments in and out of the book world, it would be great to understand if you have any sort of time frames, to see if it is possible to commit to the timeline and potentially save us both some time!
What Happens If I Accept Your Review Request?
If I decide that I am interested in reading your book, I will confirm by either email or private message on Instagram, depending on your initial review request. During this contact, I will let you know about the estimated time frame, within which I will aim to publish my review. At this point, if there are any other requests from yourself, or any further information I need from you, I will let you know! In advance, just know that I am very excited to be working with you! If you are self-published, not to worry! I tend to read quite a lot of self-published authors and some of my favourite books have been self-published. I cannot wait to help support your book!
Just a little disclaimer: whilst I have accepted your review request, this does not mean that I will be able to read your book straight away. At any given time, I have a book schedule with planned reviews, content and events (please see the Calendar on my home page for more information about my upcoming blog schedule). This is why it would be great to get timeline expectations in advance. I will try my utmost to read and review your book in a timely manner, but this is not always possible. I will share estimated timelines and if the book is an ARC, I will try and publish the review on or around the release date.
I also reserve the right to NOT post a review of your book should I not feel comfortable doing so. However, I will contact you if this is the case to explain my reasoning.
I post on a variety of platforms, including this blog, Instagram, Twitter/X, Goodreads, Storygraph and if rated above 4 stars, to Amazon (Amazon considers reviews of 3 stars and below as negative – please view my rating system as I do consider 3 star reads to be good reads).
What happens if I didn’t enjoy your book?
All reviews I write and share are my own thoughts and are always my honest opinion. As a result of this, it is quite possible that I will not enjoy your book and my review will be in accordance with my thoughts and rating. I will not always write positive and 5 star reviews just because I have received a copy of the book. This, in my opinion, discredits my other reviews and isn’t staying true to myself as a book blogger and lover. If you are not happy with the possibility that a negative review could be written, I may not be the best fit for you.
In addition to reviews, what other posting options am I available to do?
I do not just share book reviews to my site. I love to take an active role in the book community, and am therefore open to posting:
- Author Interviews
- Giveaways
- Book Tours
- Cover Reveals
I am not open to:
- Paid reviews – this calls into question my honesty in reviews. All reviews are given freely, I will not be accepting payment for reviews
- Spam
- Irrelevant guest blogging
Where should I contact you with my review request?
If you are interested in contacting me with a review request, I have a Contact page on the blog, or alternatively, you can contact me via private message on Instagram (@thepennotthesword). As I am not a full time blogger, with work and volunteering commitments, I cannot always respond to every request I receive. I try to respond to each, however, it is not always possible. I am very grateful that you have considered me as a potential reader for your book!
Disclaimer
This blog is a hobby, one that I deeply enjoy and is fuelled by a love bordering on obsession with books that I love to share. I love working with authors who publish in a variety of ways. I read traditionally published authors, however I love to work with self-published authors to support and spread awareness of their books. Some of my favourite books have been written by self-published authors, many of whom I remain in contact with and work with on a variety of books and projects.
However, I am not paid, and I am just one person managing this website, in addition to multiple social media accounts. Please keep this in mind when requesting, and if there are time expectations, advance notice is always preferable.
One thing I will not stand for is rude comments, made against me or my blog. First and foremost, I read for fun and the book community is a place for book lovers and sharing our love of reading. A safe space, not a place for bullying. I will remove comments such as these and will no longer work with individuals who resort to this.
I really look forward to your review requests and cannot wait to find new books to explore and share!
Please do get in contact with me if you have any questions or queries.
The Pen Not The Sword 