3-Review Copy Policy

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Note: The Mad Tea Party illustration at the top of this page was created by
Helen Oxenbury and comes from her illustrated version of Lewis Carroll’s
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published by Candlewick Press. Thanks to the publisher for permission to use this illustration. All rights reserved. The official copyright statement is at the bottom of this page.

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{My email address—if you’re looking for it and, frankly, don’t care about my review policy—can be found here.}

Jules here. I feel it is important to state my policy on accepting review copies. When reading a title for potential review on the blog, it’s great to have your own copy and to avoid long hold lists at the library. It is also exciting to review a book before it reaches libraries, as one of my reasons for reviewing titles is to aid readers in their book selection. However, it’s important to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Therefore, I am going to wear my ethics on my sleeves.

My policy on review copies is:

  • If a publisher sends me a review copy that I did not actively solicit, I will do my best to read and review it, but I cannot guarantee a review of each and every title I get. That’s because I’m in this for fun. I have no boss. I have no obligations – except to myself.
  • If I have an arrangement with a publisher in which I solicit titles from catalogs that I think are a good match for a post here, I will do my very best to post about them in one way or another. Again, I cannot make guarantees, but it is only fair that if I am sent a title I specifically asked for, I will put it at the top of my reading pile and do my best to give it an honest assessment here.
  • There perhaps may come a time when I actively solicit review copies of upcoming titles from publishers who have not contacted me. I would likely do this when I am really excited about a title and because it is the type of title I tend to post about here. I certainly do not expect to get what I ask for at all times; publishers should feel free to tell me to go away. If I am really excited about a soon-to-be-published title, I will eventually find it at the library anyway. Essentially, getting an advanced copy from a publisher only affects when I am able to post about it.
  • I’ve heard rumors of publishers offering bounties for good reviews. Reading books, writing about the ones I like, and conducting interviews is something I enjoy. If you are a journal or magazine in the field and want to pay me to review, great. I won’t, however, be paid by publishers (or anyone else) for a specific opinion. No exceptions.
  • I want to help people select good titles to read. It would be exciting to get an advanced copy of a work, but if it’s not something the general public is going to be able to buy in the near future, I will not review it. I’m not talking about ARCs. I will gladly accept ARCs. I’m talking about how I’m not comfortable generating buzz for an unpublished manuscript. Unless you happen to be Maurice Sendak or Haven Kimmel – in which case, please send it to me right now before you come to your senses for the love of God.

Bottom line: I do this because I enjoy it. My review will be the same whether the book comes from the publisher, the bookstore, the library, the author him or herself, or a long-forgotten, dusty, cobwebbed corner of a shelf in a used books store.

Note: At this time, I do not review e-book versions of books. I wouldn’t know of something like a Kindle if you threw it in my face.

To contact me, email “seventhings *at* blaine *dot* org” . . .

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Illustration from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Illustrations © 2003 by Helen Oxenbury. Published by Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.