Update March 2019: I currently receive dozens of review requests every week and only accept around 1-2% of them. If you don’t receive a reply from me, please don’t take it personally!

If you’re a PR or an author who wants to submit a book for review, please read the guidelines below.

1 - Paperbacks/Hardbacks only

I’ll only consider reviewing physical book, as those are the only formats that I read. Unless your book is a physical object, I won’t review it - no electronic manuscripts or e-books. I’m based in the United Kingdom, and so if you’re based abroad then consider that you’ll have to pay international shipping costs to get the book to me. No books will be returned; if I’m unable to finish a book for any reason, I’ll donate it to a local charity shop.

2 - Stay Relevant

The scores that I give in my reviews reflect my overall opinion of the book - the closer it is to my usual reading material, the more I’m likely to enjoy it, though there are exceptions. It’s a good idea to familiarise yourselves with my taste in books before getting in touch, either by browsing our archives or by visiting my page on Goodreads.

No e-books, please…

3 - Know Our House Style

All of our reviews consist of a number of words that’s equal to the number of pages in the book. That means that if your book is only 80 pages long, you’ll only get an 80 word review. Books are awarded a score out of five and reviews include an affiliate link to buy the book from Amazon - if the book is not available on Amazon but is available elsewhere, we’ll link to a site of your choosing. All of our reviews are also cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.

4 - Prepare to Wait

I have a full-time job to consider and, while I love SocialBookshelves.com, it’s very much a labour of love. From the time that I receive a book, I have to finish reading the book that I’m on, read the book that arrived, write the review and format the web page before I can publish it, so expect to wait a while. The average length of time between receipt of the book and the publication of the review is 2-3 weeks.

5 - Respect My Opinion

All reviews are based on my opinion of the book, and are influenced on a number of factors. If I like a book I’ll rate it accordingly; if I don’t like a book, I’ll do the same. No correspondence will be entered into if you’re unhappy with a review, and I won’t change my review or delete it from third-party websites. This is important. I’ve had problems in the past with authors trying to coerce me. Please respect my right to have an opinion of your work; if I don’t like it, I don’t like it. 

If you’ve read these guidelines and would still like to submit a book for review, please drop an initial query e-mail to [email protected] with a brief synopsis of the book and, if possible, links to where I can find further information. I’ll get back to you with my decision as soon as possible.