Genre Specific Review Groups discussion

Elizabeth, I released a series of three books, all only 22,500 words each... very short. They're children's books of fantasy. Still within the rules to ask that all three books be read together (they're all different stories, one story per book, but same main characters, like Harry Potter). Or ask permission from my reviewer and if they say yes then all god to go, otherwise default to one of them? They're all released the same day and are all independent of one another. My Wizard Buddy.

I'll throw myself into the ring here for
Brush With Darkness (Book I of Arts Reborn)

Jamie Maltman
One sentence: Art as magic and dark power are returning to a world inspired by the Roman Republic.

I'd like to add my book, The High King's Embalmer.  goodreads.com/book/show/22646944-the-...

Brief synopsis:
Bound by blood to the royal family of Ocana, a narcoleptic, shape-shifting embalmer seeks to find the source of the assassination attempts within the family while avoiding being blamed himself. An unusual science fiction/paranormal/dark fiction/adventure with a touch of ancient Egypt in a dystopian world. 

I'm game. . .
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Sign me up. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Just to let you know I have reviewed Desiccate before. So Bonnie is the only author who cannot review me. I could review another of Bonnie's books, though, if I am still paired with her and if she agrees to this. I'm flexible. I have not reviewed the others on this list, nor have they reviewed me.

If you need a sixth I'm happy to offer The Seventh Friend:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

cheers
Tim

In joining this review group you have agreed to review the novels assigned to you on a two month schedule. The sign up phase is over and the review stage is starting.

This is Fantasy Review Group 6, which will include all types of novels classified as fantasy. As with other review groups, you are expected to read and give an honest review of the books assigned to you. Reviews should be posted to Goodreads. If reviews are three stars or better, they should be posted to Amazon, as well.

If the first reviewer and the author agree that the review should not be posted to Goodreads due to quality issues, the reviewer is relieved of the requirement of posting the review and the second reviewer is relieved of the requirement to read and review the book.

Contact the authors you are scheduled to review to arrange to get a review copy of their book. If you cannot complete your assignments on time, please contact me so that we can make other arrangements.

Please post to this topic, when you receive review copies and when you post your reviews.


THE AUTHORS AND BOOKS ARE:

1 Scott Spotson - My Wizard Buddy 3-Book Bundle: My Wizard Buddy, Wizard Planet, Target Earth

2 Jamie Maltman - Brush With Darkness

3 S. Copperstone - The High King's Embalmer

4 Ben Herr - Alynia Sky, The Beginning and the End

5 Bonnie Ferrante - Desiccate

6 Tim Stead - The Seventh Friend


THE ORDER OF REVIEW IS AS FOLLOWS:

August 27 to September 27:
Scott Spotson reviews Jamie Maltman
Jamie Maltman reviews Ben Herr
S. Copperstone reviews Bonnie Ferrante
Ben Herr reviews Tim Stead
Bonnie Ferrante reviews S. Copperstone
Tim Stead reviews Scott Spotson


September 27 to October 27:

Scott Spotson reviews S. Copperstone
Jamie Maltman reviews Bonnie Ferrante
S. Copperstone reviews Ben Herr
Ben Herr reviews Scott Spotson
Bonnie Ferrante reviews Tim Stead
Tim Stead reviews Jamie Maltman

Hi S. Coppertone, you don't have your profile set up to receive messages, so please send your book in .mobi format to author@scottspotson.com. Thanks!

Scott wrote: "Hi S. Coppertone, you don't have your profile set up to receive messages, so please send your book in .mobi format to author@scottspotson.com. Thanks!"

you have mail. :-)

I couldn't figure out how to get S. Copperstone's profile set up. I've been using mine. (We are the same person though, LOL)
Shari

oh no, these are for short stories??

Shari wrote: "oh no, these are for short stories??"

Thanks for catching that. I copied the heading from another group and missed correcting it. It is correct now.

R. wrote: "In joining this review group you have agreed to review the novels assigned to you on a two month schedule. The sign up phase is over and the review stage is starting.

This is Fantasy Review Group..."

I'm already reviewing Benn Herr for the YA group.

Bonnie wrote: "I'm already review Benn Herr for the YA group."

How about Ferrante reviews Copperstone and Maltman reviews Herr in the first round? I everyone okay with that?

Copperstone is reviewing me first round. (Ferrante) It would become a direct trade.

Bonnie:

We have a problem. I cannot find an arrangement that allows one author not to review or be reviewed by two other authors in a six author group without having a direct trade. If you or anyone else can come up with a solution, I'd be glad to hear it.

I'm okay with it. I guess we have a lot of the same people in the YA group and the fantasy group. Thanks for trying.

Please note that a small change has been made to the order for the first round of reviews. Due to previous and ongoing review conflicts, we needed to switch around a couple of reviews. This resulted in the unfortunate but unavoidable situation where Ferrante and Copperstone are going to be reviewing each others books in the first round. Both authors have agreed to this exception.

Please recheck the first round schedule, because you may now be reviewing a different book since the schedule was first posted.

I apologize for the complications and confusions and will try to do better on the next review cycle.

R.

Fantasy Authors:

Review round one has started, and arrangements should have been made for reviewers to obtain a copy of their first round books. Please update this topic with a confirmation as soon as you have received your first round book.

R.

I have copies of both Jamie's and Scott's books.

Tim

Didn't see the request to confirm. I've got both my rounds. :)

oh, I have all my copies to review, also.

Shari

Just wondering where and when we post our reviews :-)

S. wrote: "Just wondering where and when we post our reviews :-)"

Reviews should be posted on the Goodreads and Amazon pages for the work being reviewed. Then the reviewer should post to this topic that the review has been completed. This should include a link to the Goodreads page for their review.

R.

I missed some of the wording of the update saying that I'm now reviewing Ben Herr. I'm going to contact Ben now to get the new book. That might make me late on round 1 - I'd already started on Copperstone.

In future if there's an update, post the full new schedule as well as editing the original? Not that this should happen often, it was an oddball situation.

S. Copperstone - The High King's Embalmer

Review posted.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review's posted also for Bonnie Ferrante's "Desiccate"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

R. wrote: "If the first reviewer and the author agree that the review should not be posted to Goodreads due to quality issues,"

Can you please clarify that for me? Is this saying

1. If the book is too awful to finish and review you can opt out.

or

2. If you finish the book and the review is going to give one or two stars, you don't have to post it.

or something else?

Bonnie wrote: "R. wrote: "If the first reviewer and the author agree that the review should not be posted to Goodreads due to quality issues,"

Can you please clarify that for me? Is this saying

1. If the book ..."

Bonnie:

It can be either 1 or 2. If a reviewer feels that the work is not good enough for a decent review (3 or higher), the reviewer should give as much feedback as possible privately to the author but is not required to post a negative review. I encourage reviewers to try to finish reading the work just so that the reviewer can give the author as complete feedback as possible. The whole point of peer review is to provide exposure for Indy works that merit it and to help fellow authors improve their art. Honesty is critical to accomplishing this, but it does not have to be public.

The reviewer and the author should come to an agreement to not post the review.

Thanks for the clarification R.

From past experiences, I would contact the author as soon as I reach the point where I feel offline feedback is more appropriate than a review, and ask them whether they'd like me to just give them what I have, or keep reading and give them more... since it will take longer than just writing a review.

In the end I never ended up publishing a review, and hope they took the feedback to heart, since I just wanted to help them improve.

And I'd hope that even with a positive review, if someone had constructive comments for my work that they didn't want to mention in a review, that they'd still let me know by e-mail. :)

R. wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "R. wrote: "If the first reviewer and the author agree that the review should not be posted to Goodreads due to quality issues,"

Can you please clarify that for me? Is this saying

..."

I have to say I'm uncomfortable with not posting a one or two star review. Unless the author pulls the work and does some major rewriting, leaving only 3-5 star reviews up is misleading to readers.

Bonnie wrote: "R. wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "R. wrote: "If the first reviewer and the author agree that the review should not be posted to Goodreads due to quality issues,"

Can you please clarify that for me? Is thi..."

That is up to you. The moderators discussed this and felt that reviewers should be given this option. No one is suggesting that reviews be inflated. Reviews should be honest. If you feel that you should post a negative review, you should do so. Withholding a negative review is an option not a requirement.

Here is the review of Jamie Maltman's Brush with Darkness. I feel bad about this rating, it's like a book I wanted to root for, but couldn't. The author has requested I put up this review anyway. It is one star higher on Amazon due to the different rating systems. I do admire his pluckiness and his request to post the review anyway.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

It was mainly because I think the book just ended up being not for Scott, whereas the other readers so far have pretty universally enjoyed it. And he was respectful about it. :)

Reminder:

First round reviews are due on September 27.

R.

My review for Alynia Sky, for Ben Herr:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Also posted on Amazon.com

My review of Brush with Darkness posted on Goodreads and
Amazon.

Any my review of Desiccate is on Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and processing on Amazon.

Thanks everyone for the experience. :)

Will you be doing another round? I have an urban fantasy I'd like to get on the next round, if possible.

Still waiting to see a review from this group. No pressure - would just like to know that I'm not forgotten :-)
cheers
Tim

Tim wrote: "Still waiting to see a review from this group. No pressure - would just like to know that I'm not forgotten :-)
cheers
Tim"

Did you see the private message today, Tim? You didn't even get the first one? :(

I'm almost done Tim Stead's book. I'll be a little late with my review.

Hi, I posted my review of "The High King's Embalmer" on Amazon. Goodreads has a different rating system, and I would have given it two stars, so I didn't post it there. It is three stars on Amazon.

Now, I am done. Thanks all!

Here it is: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1LDUGUL...

Finished Tim Stead's book. Great stuff.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

How many people are reviewing Tim Stead's book?

S. wrote: "How many people are reviewing Tim Stead's book?"

Two people. A person originally slated to read his book did not follow through. So other arrangements were made.

Next Monday, I will close this review group, since it seems that all the reviews have been completed. If any participants have unfinished business with this review group, please message me or post to this topic before then.

R.

I've got Tim Stead's review to do. I'm working on this. I can send it to him directly though :-)

If there is still activity going on in this group, it can stay open. I will check back in a week or so.

R.

S. wrote: "I've got Tim Stead's review to do. I'm working on this. I can send it to him directly though :-)"

Done: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...