Yesterday, I wrote about one of the major prepublication book review journals. I thought that you might like additional information about these important review journals.
The reason you want to have a good review in one of these journals is so that your book will be noticed by librarians and booksellers who will decide to buy it in bulk. But these journals can review only a limited number of books per year, so there is not a whole lot of opportunity unless you have the prestige of a well-known publisher on your team.
If you are an independent publisher or you are having your book produced by a pay-to-publish service, submit your book to the editors weeks prior to publication in case it has some quality or worth they are seeking. But don’t hinge your future on getting a review. The major review journals receive anywhere from 100 to 300 galleys per day and they can only publish a fraction of reviews.
Prepublication book reviewers require that publishers send bound galley copies of their books anywhere from two to three months prior to publication. And they are generally fussy about the type of books they receive. Here are links to the submission guidelines for three of the major prepublication reviewers:
Booklist: http://www.booklistonline.com/generalinfo.aspx?ed=65
ForeWord Reviews : http://www.forewordreviews.com/get-reviewed/submission-guidelines
Kirkus Reviews: http://www.kirkusreviews.com/about (Click on Submission Guidelines)
Kirkus Reviews offers their Kirkus Discoveries program where you can pay to have your book reviewed.
ForeWord Reviews has a program whereby they will review books online for $99. They will let you know if your book is eligible for this. They also offer ad space in their magazine for $275 to $1165.
I’d like to hear from authors who have had their self-published or pay-to-publish books reviewed in any of these prepublication journals. I know of one self-published book in the science category that received a great review which generated quite a few sales. I know of other self-published books that were ultimately picked up by traditional publishers and landed reviews in Publishers Weekly and other prepublication review journals. It can happen. Did it happen to you?
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