The Substack Review - Guidelines for Reviewers and Authors

Dear Substack Denizens,

As iterated in my previous post, I am embarking on a new venture, and want to invite you all to join me.

As we all know, there are many publications around here with the word ‘review’ in the title. Yet the number of actual book reviews within these publications is quite small.

Which is why I wanted to create a publication dedicated solely to reviewing the books of Substack authors.

What The Substack Review Aims to Do

1. The Substack Review is a service, free to all, that pairs authors with reviewers to have their books reviewed for a general audience.

2. This is not for purely promotional purposes. We are devoted to reviewing the work of Substack authors. Sometimes the reviews will be positive, other times they won’t be, and sometimes (probably usually) they will be somewhere in between.

3. Regardless of the content of the reviews, it is important that this be a positive experience for reviewers and authors alike, which is why I wanted to state some general guidelines and rules of engagement for both authors and reviewers.

How it Works

1. Authors: If you have a book, novel, short story collection, memoir, whatever, independently-published or otherwise (self-published books welcome) and you want to have it reviewed for The Substack Review, you can email it as a PDF to substackreview@gmail.com. Your submission should include the following:

   • A brief description of the book indicating the kind of book that it is, which will help when pairing it with a reviewer.

   • A short biography

   • A link to your Substack (only authors who are active on Substack will be selected for review).

   • Information on where/how the book can be purchased.

   • Books will be reviewed in the order they come in with some exceptions. Authors who are yearly paid subscribers as well as authors who have agreed to also review a book, will have their books prioritized. The Substack Review reserves the right to decline to review any book for any reason. This may be a result of an inability to find an appropriate reviewer or just that the book does not seem a fit for the project at large. Specific justifications for declining to review a book may not be provided.

   • IMPORTANT: Submitted books must have an ISBN to be considered! Please only submit books that are complete and published and available for purchase in physical and/or ebook form, whether through amazon, or bookshop, or your personal website. Not just a book you have uploaded to your personal substack. No rough drafts or unpublished material, as this is not a critique or feedback service, but a book review.

2. Reviewers: If you would like to review books written by Substack authors, submit a request to substackreview@gmail.com. No previous experience or qualifications required. If you have never reviewed a book before but want to start building your chops, here’s your chance. Include the following:

   • A short biography

   • A link to your Substack

   • Genre preference (or genres you want to avoid, if any)

   • If there is a particular Substack book that you would like to write a review for, provide the title, author, and the author’s Substack

3. Books will then be assigned to reviewers deemed most appropriate.

4. Books will be delivered in PDF. However, some authors and reviewers may have a preference for physical books, which is fine, just let us know. The cost for sending physical books will be at the author’s expense.

5. In general, the person reviewing a book will be kept confidential until the review is posted, though this will not always be possible, especially when it comes to authors mailing out physical books.

6. Authors may submit ONE (1) book for review per year. While yearly paying subscribers may submit up to TWO (2) books for review per year, and founding members may submit up to THREE (3) books for review per year.

Guidelines for Reviewers

1. “Be excellent to each other.” I call this the “Bill and Ted” rule and it is #1 for a reason. Reviewers should be supportive, yet honest. Write the kind of review you would like to receive. It’s okay if you don’t like the book, and it’s okay to be critical of it. But we want sincere, fair and warranted criticism. Don’t be gratuitously critical, ad hominem, or unkind and keep in mind we are all in this together.

2. Length. Try to write a minimum of 1,000 words so the author does not feel like they are getting short shrift. But you may write as long of a review as you want.

3. 60-day-rule. Once you have been assigned a book to review, do your best to submit your finished review within 60 days. We want to be fair and responsive to authors, so if it takes longer than 60 days we may reassign the piece to a different reviewer. Kudos if you turn the review around even quicker.

4. If you have been assigned a book and change your mind about reviewing it, no worries! We can assign you something new and give that one to someone else.

5. Submit your reviews via email in a word doc to substackreview@gmail.com. No exceptions!

Guidelines for Authors

1. “Be excellent to each other.” (Yes, rule # 1 is the same for authors and reviewers.) I call this the “Bill and Ted” rule and it is #1 for a reason. Authors should do their best to be receptive and supportive of the writers reviewing their work, and even, dare I say, gracious. It’s possible you may not agree with their review, but please exercise some humility, and use the review as an opportunity to see your work through the eyes of another.

2. Be civil. Be courteous. It’s not a bad idea to send the reviewer a note thanking them for their time in reviewing your book.

3. If it has been more than 90 days since you submitted your book, feel free to follow-up. But not before. Never before.

4. Pay it forward. Offer to sign up to be a reviewer yourself. This one is by no means mandatory. Some authors do not feel comfortable reviewing other authors, or they don’t feel like they would be good at it, and that’s totally fine! But if you are willing and you feel like it’s something you would like to take a crack at, remember that this whole thing only works if we have equal numbers of reviewers and authors. But no pressure!

5. IMPORTANT: There is always the chance that a reviewer, after being assigned your book, will decide it’s not for them and that they no longer want to review it. Unfortunately, if your book has been turned down by two (2) reviewers, it will be removed from the queue and not receive a review.

A Final Note

While this is a free service and there will be no paywalls, if The Substack Review does start gaining paid subscribers, those dollars will be passed on to those who are writing the reviews. We do hope to get to a point where we can pay every single reviewer. So please support if you can!

In addition to contributing to the fund that will allow reviewers to start getting paid for their work, yearly paid subscribers will also get reviews of their books prioritized (limit two books per year).

I look forward to working with authors and reviewers alike and if you have any questions or concerns or you feel like I’m missing something, you can always reach out at substackreview@gmail.com.

Thanks, everyone!