Reviewer Information

Thank you for your interest in possibly becoming a reviewer for the Midwest Book Review.

All of our reviewers are independent volunteers who retain complete ownership of their own reviews, and may have them printed or aired in any other review formats or forums in addition to our own publications and Internet postings. All reviews done for the Midwest Book Review are nonexclusive -- a few of our volunteers actually came to do well enough to land their own columns in local papers!

All reviews must be submitted in the body an email. We do not accept attached files. Please include the word REVIEW in the email's subject line.

We prefer the following guidelines for review submissions

About the book:

• Title
• Author
• Publisher
• Publisher's address
• 13-digit ISBN number (a 10-digit ISBN is accepted if necessary)
• List Price (a.k.a. "cover price"), in U.S. Dollars if possible.

About you:

• Your name
• Your mailing address (optional)
• Your e-mail address (optional, but needed to notify you when your review is run)

Some suggestions for those who are unsure of how to write a review or who would like to hone their reviewer skills:

• Why did you select this particular book for review? Perhaps it relates to your work, hobby, avocation, education, a particular area of personal interest, your own expertise, or just for fun.
• How well does the author write, use language, illustrate his/her points, develop characters, exhibit clarity of instruction, aptness of examples, innovative story line, etc. Use a brief quotation from the book itself to illustrate your observations, opinions, and comments. When doing poetry reviews include a poem. Cookbook reviews should always feature a recipe, etc.
• Who is the book for? A scholarly audience, the non-specialist general reader, devotees of the genre, or other specialized audience? What age range, or economic or political orientation, etc.?
• Does the book succeed in what the author is trying to accomplish? Does it entertain, instruct, persuade, inform, train, teach, alarm, etc.? Do you have suggestions for the author's next time around in print?
• What is the author's background? What other titles has the author written?
• What other related or relevant titles might interest a reader?
• Length should be as long or as short as you feel is necessary to say what should be said.
• Above all else, have a good time putting your thoughts and opinions down in print. The best reviews are those that you yourself would like to listen to while driving along in your car or chatting with a friend over lunch.

So take a book you've read, a video you've watched, a compact disc whose music you've enjoyed, an audio cassette book you've listened to, software that you've evaluated, or a CD-ROM that you've come across, and give reviewing a try!

Welcome to our little circle of volunteers! I look forward to your review efforts!

James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review