Review Group discussion

Each reviewing group consists of 10 people who will participate in 4, non-reciprocal review rounds.
All books are acceptable, as long as the are published, finished works and available on amazon. This includes fiction, of all genres (from literary works, children's books, and poetry to horror and erotica) and all non-fiction.
All allocation of books in a particular round is random, except for avoiding reciprocal reviews.

We have 3 different types of review rounds, the type will be clearly listed in the sign up thread. Rounds open to members are followed by 'Now forming.'

1. GENERAL

By joining a general group a member is agreeing to accept for review whatever books they are assigned, whatever the genre. it is that member's responsibility to find a stand-in to do the review for them. The moderator of the group will not perform this task for you so please don't ask.


2. 'CLEAN.'

Books submitted are expected to have absolutely NO explicit sex, NO violence. If you enter your book in this group and it contravenes the ‘clean’ criteria, the other members will be able to provide evidence of the contravention to the group moderator, in the form of the offending passage(s) and if the group moderator agrees there has been a contravention the members will not be penalised for not giving a review. The contravening member will still be expected to give their 4 reviews.

3. 18+

Anyone is free to enter any genre book in this group, but should be aware that they will predominantly be reviewing books with explicit sex and/or violence.


If a group member cannot/will not review their 4 allocated book, for whatever reason, (except for a violation of the 'clean' group rules), they will be blacklisted and will not be able to join another review group. Authors that have taken the time to review the non-compliant author may be invited to remove their reviews so the non-compliant author does not benefit from the process.

Once 10 authors have signed up, the group admin mod will allocate the books in the following order, unless things need to be re-arranged to accommodate returning members to avoid reciprocal reviews.


So, for the 4 rounds:
name A reviews B, C, D, E and is reviewed by J, I, H, G
name B reviews C, D, E, F and is reviewed by A, J, I, H
name C reviews D, E, F, G and is reviewed by B, A, J, I
name D reviews E, F, G, H and is reviewed by C, B, A, J
name E reviews F, G, H, I and is reviewed by D, C, B, A
name F reviews G, H, I, J and is reviewed by E, D, C, B
name G reviews H, I, J, A and is reviewed by F, E, D, C
name H reviews I, J, A, B and is reviewed by G, F, E, D
name I reviews J, A, B, C and is reviewed by H, G, F, E
name J reviews A, B, C, D and is reviewed by I, H, G, F

Each author is responsible for getting their book to their reviewers. Each member must be able to provide, and accept at least PDF files, although many provide and accept mobi and epub. as well. Please ask for a reviewers preference if one is available.

The groups run over 12 weeks. Each round is given a finishing date, but reviewers may review quicker if they wish. If you do not complete the reviews by the finish date, you will risk being blacklisted and having the reviews of your own work removed.

If you don't like the review a group member has given your work. Just because you have closer contact with the reviewer it does not give you the right to ask for a review to be changed. The moderators will only get involved if a review is personally insulting, and even then we cannot force the reviewer to do anything. The only appropriate response to a review you feel is negative is 'thank you for your time.'

Reviews should be written with the average reader in mind, they should not be a critique aimed specifically at the author. if you wish to do that, and most authors will appreciate being told about specific typos, please contact the author privately. This does not mean you are not allowed to say a book has errors, as that would be relevant to a reader.

All reviews should be posted to Goodreads and amazon.com and .uk and the links added to your review round thread so the mod can 'tick you off' their list.

Please see the FAQ section for more specific question or the 'ask the mod' thread.
Feel free to join in any discussions, but please only post advertisements for your book in the appropriate thread. Inappropriate post will be removed.

Finally, this group has been very successful since its inception thanks to the dedication of its members old and new. I hope it continues to go from strength to strength and add my thanks to your fellow authors who volunteer to mod the group for the benefit of their fellow authors.