New Contact Info

I mentioned in an earlier post that my mailing address has changed due to a move. Well, my email address has changed too - and my previous provider didn't waste any time deleting the account. I've updated my email address in my contact info on the side bar and sent out change of address emails to most of you, but feel free to contact me if needed. My new email is pretty simple - combine nethspace and gmail in the form that makes the most logical sense for an email and your there.

Do you want me to review your book?

I get a lot of inquiries about receiving books for review. The simplest answer is that I love books, so send them along. However, I do have tastes and I do stick to a few general guidelines.

First, look at the authors I have reviewed in the past. I picked most of these books, and I generally know what I like. If the book you want to send me fits in well over there, then I’m probably interested. Generally speaking, SFF is the genre I enjoy reading most, but I don’t read exclusively from it, and I enjoy the occasional challenge and something new..

Do you have a publisher, agent, and editor? I don’t read books from print on demand or similar sources (often referred to as vanity press). I find that the quality is way too variable, with most falling somewhere between bad and worse than bad. This is my opinion and you can disagree with it, but I don’t need to hear about it. I tend to believe that if an author is good enough to be published, they will eventually find their way to an agent and publication through more ‘traditional’ sources.

I read both e-books and print books. For review purposes I prefer electronic just because I have very limited shelf space, but I'll always consider a print book as well. This does not mean I want everyone emailing me direct a PDF (or other) copy of their book. That will get an email deleted. Pitch your book to me, and be sure you talk about who published it. As I said above, I don't read self-published (or indie - I really hate that term) books. And if I can't tell if your book is self-published or not, I will assume it is and delete.

I like supporting small presses and not just the big guys. I know that it can be a gray area between a small, independent publisher and the print on demand services that I don’t prefer to support. But in my private life I feel that the corporate model is not necessarily the best, and I’m happy to extend that to my reviewing. However, I need clear information to make this determination, if I suspect it's a self-publishing outlet, I won't even consider it.

It amazes me how often I receive books that are the third or fourth book in a series that I haven’t read – these are books I’m not planning on reading anytime soon. If it’s a series I’m already reading – great, it’s almost a guarantee that I’ll eagerly read and review the book. If not…well, I’ve got limited time and the queue is already long. If you really want me to review that work, consider sending me the other books in the series.

It also amazes me just how many paranormal romance, romance, erotica, parnaormal romance disguised as urban fantasy, generic woman kicking some parnormal ass, etc. I read very few of these books, particularly the closer they are to romance.

I get lots of inquiries about YA fiction. To be honest, I don’t read that much of it. However, if it is YA fiction that truly crosses over into an adult market, I’ll consider it. Some fo the best books I've read lately are marketed as YA, but then again, I'm long past my teen years, so it has to have appeal to someone my age.

I have a busy life – I have a standard day job that takes up normal working hours, I enjoy socializing with friends, I do lots of volunteer work, and I have a family. All this means that while try to read as much as I can, I don’t read near as much as I like (at least until I find a way to win the lottery). I currently have a Stack of books to read numbering 400+ and I only read about 30 books a year. Throw in the books I buy and the 300+ review copies I’ll receive in a given year and you get an idea of the hopeless backlog I’ve got going. The queue is long. If you send me a book, I’ll consider it, but I cannot guarantee a review. I’m genuinely pleased if you have sent me a book, so I will try, but time is limited. If I do choose to read a book I will try to read and review it by its release date if received with enough lead time.

If you’ve managed to get through all of that above and you still want me to review you book, email me at nethspace'at'gmail'dot'com and I’ll get you my mailing address (remove and replace the 'at' and 'dot' as appropriate or just click on the nice, realtively spam-proof link in the sidebar). Thank you for your interest in Neth Space.