GENERAL INFORMATION
I enjoy speculative fiction, alternative worlds, fantasy, and hard-boiled detective stories. I do few book reviews because I am trying to be a full-time writer. Still, I love to read and I am currently accepting select Alternative History, Science Fiction, and Steampunk for review. You can send emails to michael.sommermeyer@wordsmithholler.com.
I prefer to accept PDFs or Mobi books. If you want to send me an ARC (hardcopy or e-book), or a finished copy, I will accept it.
GENRES
While I adore books in general, I am NOT currently accepting books in the following genres:
• Urban Fantasy
• Young Adult
• Romance
• Erotica
• Gothic horror/romance
• Non-fiction
• Memoirs/biographies
• Political or “hot button” topics
• Poetry
• Children’s Books
ACCEPTED BOOKS
If I accept a book for review, I cannot guarantee a review within a certain number of weeks, but I do guarantee that I will eventually review your book and post said review to my Goodreads page, my Twitter feed, and my Facebook page. I will also – unless specifically requested not to – post my review to Amazon as well.
REVIEWS
I am not a full time book reviewer, which means that it may take several months for me to get to your novel. My reviews are opinions about what I liked about the book. I tend to stay away from a negative points and if it’s unreadable, I will send you a note. I do not write literary critiques of a book and dive too deep into why a theme works, or what the main character did, or anything you might find from a professional critic.
I won’t write a positive review just because I received a free copy of a book. However, I will attempt to explain to my readers why I “liked” or “disliked” a novel. While doing that, I will always strive to be fair and honest and will NOT write nasty commentary about the author. In return, I expect the author to respect my viewpoint and NOT write nasty comments about me or my blog.
All reviews will include the following:
• Cover art
• Book stats: Title, author, series status
• Where I received the book
• My summary of what the book is about
• My review: What I liked and didn’t
• Star rating
MY STAR RATING
5 = I loved this book; it is now one of my favorites. Don’t count on a lot of 5-star reviews.
4 = I really liked this book. It might not be perfect, but it was much better than average.
3 = I liked the book. It had some things I didn’t enjoy, but overall it was a solid read. My most common rating.
2 = Decent, entertaining book. Yes, there were things that really affected my enjoyment but not enough to make me stop reading.
1 = Did not enjoy this book. There were lots of things about this novel that negatively impacted my enjoyment, and I can’t recommend it.
My ratings are a reflection of my own personal enjoyment of the book and are not in any way objective. If you have any additional questions, please email me.