Attn: Small Publishers and Self-Published Authors

Before I get to the topic of this post, I just want to say the blog is still here. I've been busy working on the end of project for work, and haven't had the time to read anything, much less post. I'm pretty lucky as a software developer, as this is really my first overtime in 18 months. So I can't complain, but I've been working some evenings and weekends, and just don't have the brain power to do anything other than stare at whatever sport happens to be on television. Things should begin to slow down over the next few days, it still might be another 7-10 days before things get back to normal here on the blog.

And now on to the topic of this post. I recently posted about ideas to give this blog some new life. One of them was to read less publicized books. Instead of just reading some older books, I thought I would conduct an experiment and see how it goes. Most bloggers (myself included) tend to ignore requests for reviews that come from small press or self published authors. There is a stigma that these books aren't edited as well, arent written as well, and in some cases probably read like fan fiction. I'm am going to take on the challenge of putting these ideas to the test. So, if you are self published or a small press and would like me to review your book, here are the rules. Please read ALL of them:

1) Your book must be fantasy, preferably epic, secondary world fantasy. I WILL NOT read or even consider horror, sf, paranormal romance, etc. Its highly likely I won't consider urban fantasy, but I will not completely rule it out. Though vampires almost always cause me to lose interest right away.

2) I would actually prefer your book be provided via email as an ebook, and in a format I can read on my iphone (in stanza or kindle). I will attempt to read your book if its a pdf, but if the formatting is terrible when converted to an iphone format, I may not stay interested very long. You can email me for my mailing address for a hard copy, but ebook format is preferred.

3) You have to be willing for a totally honest review. I will NOT be more gentle to your book than I would be to a book from a big publisher. So, if the editing is bad, or the writing is horrible, I will state this in the review. You have to be willing to let me review your book as if its from a major publisher. In other words, I won't give you any slack because you don't have access to an editor (for example).

4) If I am honest, your book will probably have to grab me earlier than a "normal" book. I mean, if i start your book and the writing is so painful i can't make it through 2 chapters, I will stop reading and state that in a blurb on the blog. I expect I could have lots of books to read, so I don't have time to waste if a book is obviously poorly written.

5) I of course can't promise it, but i will make an attempt to read every submission, as long as it meets rule #1 above (i.e. you send me a book in my genre of interest). As stated above, if the book is badly written, I will not read much of it, but I will do a blurb on the blog stating that it was so bad i had to quit reading after X chapters. But if its good, I will give you some nice publicity, and hopefully some readers. Depending on how many submissions i get, it might take me awhile to get to yours. If you have previously requested a review from me in the past, please resend, as I probably don't have your email anymore.

I hope to find a few hidden treasures in this process, that there are some good, high quality reads from small press or self published authors. But as stated above, I will not cut you ANY slack in my review, just because you are working with less resources. It just wouldn't be fair. Because in the end, readers are just looking for a good book, simple as that. It doesn't matter what process it took to create the book (large budget, big publisher, or something written and edited by one person over the course of 5 years). Simply put, I'm looking for a nice, entertaining read, so the only thing that matters is the end product. And that is what I will judge.

All you small press and self published authors, now is your chance to get noticed. Send me your books. If they are good, I will say so. If they are terrible, I will be honest of my blog readers and say that, too.

Oh, and you can find my email address at the top right of the blog.