I have recently
begun receiving authors' requests for reviews of their books, and I'm
totally flattered by this, but I also think of it as a huge
responsibility, so here are a few guidelines that I hope will help
authors understand who I am, as a reader, and if I'm the right person
to submit their works to.
As a general rule,
please be advised that I tend to speak my mind quite clearly - not
out of gratuitous cruelty, but because I might feel that my
expectations as a reader have been betrayed. Reader being the
operative word here: I harbor no delusions of being a professional
reviewer or a literary critic, but as a person who enjoys books I
feel I'm entitled to certain standards, and I protest openly when I
believe these standards have not been met.
As they say,
forewarned is forearmed...
Equally important, I
do have a day job that's sometimes quite demanding: so be aware that
I might not get around to reading your book for some time after I've
accepted the task.
SCIENCE FICTION
FANTASY
URBAN FANTASY
HORROR (no gratuitous violence, though)
These are all within my comfort zone.
In any form. Which means no kids and/or teenagers as main characters; no cute animals (real or imagined); no cute robots or aliens; no cute anything. PLEASE.
I'm way past the age where one can appreciate the above.
No military SF.
No violence, especially of the unwarranted kind.
No Urban Fantasy relying too much on tropes like vampires, werewolves and similar creatures.
Submissions that
contain elements listed next to the red warning sign will not receive
a reply.
Submissions that
fail to reveal beforehand the presence of elements listed next to the
red warning sign will not be reviewed.
I'm aware it sounds
harsh, but life's too short, and my free time is shorter still, and I
prefer to spend it in the pursuit of what I like. As I said,
forewarned is forearmed.
If you have any more
questions, please feel free to contact me through the form on the
home page.
(updated on July
25th, 2014)
