2 – Review Policy « The Bibliotaphe Closet

By Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez

Genre:

As a post-graduate of English Literature and Creative Writing and a background in Women’s Studies and Minorities in Canadian Society, I gravitate towards:

literary fiction
historical fiction
memoirs
poetry
children’s illustrated books
books with marginalized cultural themes (for e.g. Asian, Indian etc.)

Favourite Authors:

As an example of my literary tastes, my favourite authors include:

Margaret Atwood Anita Rau Badami Shauna S. Baldwin

Joseph Boyden Raymond Carver Wayson Choy

Leonard Cohen Douglas Coupland Don Delillo

Timothy Findley Damon Galgut Mavis Gallant

Steven Galloway Barbara Gowdy Elizabeth Hay

Alice Hoffman Khaled Hosseini John Irving

Kazuo Ishiguro Eugenia Kim Joy Kogawa

Jhumpa Lahiri Nicole Lundrigan Gabriel G. Marquez

Cormac McCarthy Ami McKay Anne Michaels

Rohinton Mistry Shani Mootoo Erin Morgenstern

Teá Obreht Michael Ondaatje Sylvia Plath

Annie Proulx Nino Ricci Mordecai Richler

Arundhati Roy Salman Rushdie J.D. Salinger

José Saramago Lisa See Shyam Selvadurai

Johanna Skibsrud Mark Strand Thrity Umrigar

Jane Urquhart M.G. Vassanji Jesmyn Ward

Elie Weisel G. Willow Wilson Max Lucado

Phillip Yancey Dr. Seuss Shel Silverstein

Reading Format:

I prefer to read from print hardcopies in consideration that I do not yet own a device with e-reading capabilities. Advance reading copies (ARCs) are accepted.

Publishers:

I currently review books for the following publishers on a monthly basis:

If you are a publisher who is:

looking to expand your online marketing platform
interested in promoting new book releases and authors to a wider audience
looking for a literary book enthusiast, voracious reader, and honest, fair reviewer
and would like to be added to the list above

please contact me by email: zgarcia(dot)alvarez(at)gmail(dot)com for an opportunity to collaborate in advocating literacy and a genuine love of reading for great works of writing.

Authors:

I welcome and accept queries directly from authors in reviewing their new books. Please kindly include:

genre category
author name(s)
format (hardcover, trade paperback, mass paperback), page count
publisher
ISBN
publication date
notes of merit (e.g. “Short listed for Giller Prize Award”)
author bio (5-10 lines, short paragraph)
author’s blog/webpage name and URL address

If I agree to review the book, I also sometimes choose to feature author interviews on my blog. If you are interested in providing an interview, please include your interest in your query. Interview questions will be emailed to you after I have completed reading the book. Please provide a profile picture along with your author bio (as above) to be included on the post.

Book Giveaways and Contests:

I periodically host book giveaways on my blog to:

promote upcoming and/or new releases
advocate literacy
increase readership/follower traffic to my blog
celebrate blogging milestones and/or “bloggoversaries”

Books, on the most part, come from my own personal library of duplicates or are bought as new purchases for the intention of giveaways and are shippedat my own personal cost.

It would be greatly appreciated if publishers and/or authors:

agree to provide a complimentary book copy for giveaway for books that are reviewed upon my request
agree to be responsible for shipping the book to the winner after I provide the winner’s contact and mailing information
agree to be responsible for any incurred shipping and handling costs

SWAG (Note to authors): Re: book giveaways and contests

It would be greatly appreciated if promotional SWAG (“stuff we all get”) can also be donated to me as reader, reviewer, and host of the giveaway, along with its book prize to the potential winner, if SWAG is to be included in the giveaway prize pack.

SWAG can take the form of:

bookmarks book plates stickers
buttons pens notebooks
tote bags mugs misc. other

Giveaway Locations and Eligibility:

Most of my book giveaways are open internationally in order to provide wider readership of both the book and of my blog. If an author would prefer otherwise and would like to restrict promotion to domestic entries (Canada and/or U.S.) due to shipping costs, please advise me of this preference.

Readers must be at least 15 years and up to enter my book giveaway contests.

No P.O. box addresses accepted.

Reviewing Guidelines:

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Being offered and receiving a complimentary book from a publisher and/or author does not guarantee a review. Books and queries sent to me are for consideration of a potential review depending on:

my interest in the work
my reading schedule availability
provision of complete information and other requested requirements as above

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1. Books that are reviewed come from a variety of sources:

my own private library collection
newly purchased books
new releases from the local library
books I have received through contest giveaways and winnings
media copies for review and/or ARCs from publishers
media copies for review and/or ARC’s from authors

2. I am not financially compensated for the reviews that I provide on my blog. Therefore, I ask that media copies that are sent to me from publishers and/or authors for the purpose of reviews be complimentary and courtesy of the publisher and/or author.

3. My agreement to provide a book review for promotional purposes from a publisher and/or author does not guarantee a favourable review. My reviews are objective, fair, honest, and based on my opinion as a reader, writer, editor, and my personal literary tastes.

4. My reviews are rated on a five “Z-ring” rating. The lowest rating begins from one to the highest rating of five.

5. As a standard, I include in my review postings the following:

title of the book
author’s name
genre
format, page count
publisher name
ISBN
publication date
notes of merit (for e.g. “Winner of Giller Prize 2011”)
image of book cover
Z-ring rating (from 1-5)
link to book featured on either publisher’s site or Chapters-Indigo webpage
link to author’s webpage if applicable
mention of publisher/author who provided me with a media review copy

6. I aim to write intelligent, thorough, and thoughtful responses to the work and will look at the book as a whole in regards to its narrative, characters and character development, plot, readability, its comparison to its author’s previous works (if applicable), its cover design, and also consider its intended target reading audience.

7. Reading time is at least a month in consideration that I review more than one book at a time from different sources. Reading times vary depending on page count of book, readability, and my reading schedule. I do, however, do the best that I can to read quickly and thoughtfully.

8. My blog does not contain mature language or imagery intended for an 18+ audience. I reject any forms of spam, explicit, disrespectful, racist, sexist, ageist, or questionable content or interaction on my site. Any such content will be blocked and reported.

Other Social Media Sites:

Aside from posting reviews on my blog, I will also:

post the review on my Bibliotaphe’s Closet Facebook page
post the review on my Goodreads account
post the review on the Chapters-Indigo website upon request
promote the review via Twitter (current following of 675+ and growing)
promote the review via Networked Blogs

I am a member of:

Content:

Content on my blog consists of:

book reviews author interviews/author feature
book events blog events
book giveaways/contests blog hops
word definitions literary terms

Zara’s Ink Blot (my creative writing)

social media tools
thematic features
cultural heritage month feature
holiday features

Contact:

If you are interested in a review for your book, please send me a query with all pertinent information (as listed above) by email: zgarcia(dot)alvarez(at)gmail(dot)com.

I will do my best to respond to queries within a 48-hour turnaround time.

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Thanks for your interest in The Bibliotaphe’s Closet and wishing you the best of success in the publication and promotion of your book(s).

Happy writing and reading!