Those of my readers who write children’s books have probably noticed a difficulty in obtaining reviews because many book bloggers don’t seem interested in children’s books, or willing to take requests even if they do review children’s books. How exactly is a new children’s book author supposed to get reviews when they need reviews to be found by book reviewers who won’t take requests?
Odds are, those of my readers who have chosen the self-publishing route are at their wits end, even to the point of resigning themselves to meager sales from a relatively few hard-earned readers. From what I have seen, book bloggers/book reviewers have a strong tendency to flat out reject any self-published books. They won’t even read them to see if they are any good, and this was before the ethical question of how to tell if a book is created with AI. Are we going to return to the time when self-publishing was called Vanity Publishing because only those who couldn’t get a traditional publisher would self-publish? I sincerely hope not. What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.
Whether it is ethical to purchase reviews is another discussion entirely, but the fact is that self-published authors are unlikely to have much in the way of funds to purchase reviews. What are we to do? We are being blocked more and more.
I can’t do anything about the prejudice many people still seem to have against self-publishing, and I can’t do anything about the fact that those with money can purchase their reviews. What I can do is read books for reviews.
Review Guidelines:
1. I am willing to take submissions of self-published children’s picture books for review.
2. I will avoid taking submissions for traditionally published books. Instead, if I review a traditionally published children’s book, it will be because I found it on my own and thought it was worth a review.
3. I expect those submitting a book for review to hold to an honor system. I want nothing to do with AI created books; no ChatGPT or the like, or AI created illustrations. (For a better picture of my feelings on AI, check my post “AI: Artistic Augmenter or Creative Death.”)
4. I will not be able to guarantee a time frame in which to expect the review. I am only one person, and I have other tasks to handle during a day. The volume of submissions will also affect the time in which I can respond.
5. What you will get is an honest review. You can see examples of my reviews on Goodreads.
6. This site and Goodreads are the locations where the reviews will be posted if you decide to proceed with posting.
It is my hope that this step will help self-published children’s books authors find the road just a little easier so they can enjoy the wonder.
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