5 March 2002

So You Wanna Be a Reviewer
by Rob Gates with Liz Williams

Rob Gates is a freelance reviewer and the editor of Wavelengths, a review journal for genre works of special interest to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people. His first fiction sale recently appeared in the anthology Bubbas of the Apocalypse. Wavelengths can be seen at www.wavelengthsonline.com/.

Liz Williams published her first novel, The Ghost Sister in 2001. The book is up for the Philip K Dick award and was on the New York Times "Notable Books" list for 2001. It's also on the Locus 'recommended books' for 2001. You can find her on the web at www.booksnbytes.com/authors/williams_liz.html.

Despite the gloom and doom attitude of many in the publishing field, the quantity of material professionally published in our genres continues to grow. No fan, no matter how much he or she wanted, could possibly read it all. Combine that with the growing cost of books, and it becomes clear why reviews are such an integral part of the field. Readers want to know what's worth their time and money. It also explains why there are so many outlets for reviews—from the reader commentaries on Amazon.com, to countless review sites on the web, to the many magazines and newsletters that our genres produce in print. So how does one go about becoming part of this subculture of "reviewing," and why would you want to? How should authors deal with reviewers?

Just Do It

The first question is both complex and easy to answer. On the most basic level, you could simply post reviews on a personal website, or add reviews to a site such as Amazon.com. For many people who feel they have something to say about a book, this is as far as they'll ever want or need to go. Certainly a review, regardless of where it appears, is on many levels the same—simply an attempt by the writer to express his or her thoughts about the worth of a book. Posting your reviews on your own website has many plusses—no editorial oversight, no format or length strictures, no deadlines. But unless your web site has a high volume of traffic, few people are likely to see your reviews. A step above personal posting of reviews is writing reviews for a club newsletter. There are countless genre clubs and fan groups, and many of them publish a newsletter of some sort. They are likely to be happy to receive a review. The editorial, format and length requirements will be tighter than a personal website review, but the inclusion of your review in a publication will put it in the hands of more readers.

At some point though, you may want find a larger audience for your reviews. This can turn writing reviews into a burden of sorts. From strict deadlines and word counts, to detailed submission and editorial procedures, the world of professional reviewing is a far cry from the unencumbered joy of writing reviews for a personal website. That's not to say it doesn't have its own benefits — from the knowledge that thousands of readers will see your words and use them to help them decide whether to buy a book to the fact that your name will cross the paths of professional authors, editors and publishers. Finding your way into the world of professional reviewing can take work, but can be done with ability, practice and perseverance.

Becoming A Professional Reviewer

While it's possible to break into formal reviewing overnight if the stars align just right, the best way to get there is by following a tried and true path. It's the path that led me to professional reviewing and one that many others who write reviews for major publications have also followed.

The first step is to learn how to write a solid review, and to learn to do so at varying lengths. Depending on the publication, a review can be from 200 words to 1,000 words or more. I learned quickly that mastering the art of the 1,000-word review will leave you ill-prepared for crafting a 250-word review. What exactly is a well-written review? The easiest answer is that a good review tells readers enough about a book to allow them to determine whether they want to read it. At the same time, a good review should not reveal more about a work than is necessary. It can be a hard line to judge, especially when part of the value of the book comes from a plot element you can't reveal without hurting the reader's enjoyment of the book. A good review has its own voice and tone and offers some entertainment value of its own. A reviewer can have the best of intentions and include all the right information, but if the review is dry and boring, no one will read it. Much like other forms of writing, including fiction, there is a certain amount of art in a review. A great way to practice and hone your craft is through a personal website or small club newsletter.

Once you've mastered the art of review writing, start looking at potential review outlets. If you have a local newspaper or know someone at a semi-professional or professional magazine or webzine, you can sometimes use those contacts as a springboard. Also, if you specialize in a particular niche within the genre, you can concentrate on review books in that area. For instance, my strength is my experience with works with positive gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender content. Focusing on that niche, I contacted my local GLBT newspaper and queried regarding writing reviews. Since I began working for the newspaper, I've gone on to write reviews for a number of other GLBT newspapers around the country, a national GLBT magazine, and for a number of other outlets. If you don't want to focus on a specific niche or don't have the necessary contacts, you can always begin by seeking out the magazines and webzines that accept submissions of reviews. For example, the professional webzine Strange Horizons accepts reviews. Go through market listings for fiction, or review submission guidelines for your favorite publications. But note that many of the biggest names in the genre magazine arena don't use freelance reviewers. You can also consider semi-professional review outlets, which often pay less than professional magazines and often pay nothing at all. For example, the review magazine I edit, Wavelengths is always eager to work with freelance reviewers, but does not currently pay its writers. After you've tracked down possible markets for your reviews, you'll come face to face with another hard fact: Like fiction writing, the world of professional reviewing often involves query letters, trudging through submission guidelines and, alas, even rejections.

That And $2 Will Buy You A Small Coffee

Regardless of how good you are at writing reviews, you should never assume you're going to make much money at it. Even the best publications that accept freelance reviews pay only nominal rates. However, you can often repackage reviews for multiple publications, especially if you write for newspapers. Kind of like self-syndicating, you submit your review to multiple publications. In many cases, you can submit several different versions of your review to various publications because of the periodicals different length requirements. However, if you do this, tell editors that this is a multiple submission and honor any exclusive contractual arrangements. If you've promised one publication three months of exclusive posting for your review, you can't offer the same or even a slightly modified version of that same review to another publication until those three months are over.

There are other benefits to being a reviewer as well. Many reviewers become known by publishers and receive advance or reading copies of books to review. In an ideal world, reviewers would attempt to write about every book they receive, but it's understood by both publishers and reviewers that some of these free books will never be reviewed. Last year, Wavelengths received about $2,000 worth of books, and reviewed about a quarter of those. Other perks also come with the job of reviewing. Reviewers have an opportunity to develop relationships with authors, editors and publishers in the field. This can be a double-edged sword, particularly when a reviewer has to write a negative review about a work written by someone who has become a friend.

The Author's Perspective

That makes a nice transition into the second part of this article. So far I've been talking about becoming a reviewer and writing reviews, but reviews and reviewers don't exist in a vacuum. Instead, there's an inherent relationship between authors and reviewers that goes far beyond the overused stereotype of the reviewer being a failed writer out to crush the dreams of those who've succeeded. Authors also have their own relationship with the reviewers who cover their work. To talk about reviews from an author's perspective, I asked Liz Williams—author of The Ghost Sister—to lend a hand. This article, and a recently written but then unpublished review I had done of The Ghost Sister provided an opportunity to talk to her about how she deals with reviews and reviewers.

RG: As an author, do you follow reviews of your work? Do you track them down and read them? Does your publisher contact you with information about reviews? Are there places that you want to see your work reviewed?

LW: Yes, I do track them down and take careful note of what reviewers say - it's always useful to get a completely objective viewpoint on one's work. I would like to be reviewed in Asimov's, Locus, Interzone and SF Chronicle in particular. I was also lucky to get reviewed by the NY Times Book Review. My main focus, however, is in the genre press. I am a SF writer and proud to be one, so what the genre thinks of my work matters more than what the outside world might say.

RG: When you read reviews of your work, what do you look for?

LW: First, whether the reviewer enjoyed the book. And then I take note of the criticisms (or praise), in an attempt to see whether what I was trying to accomplish came across. I tend to treat reviews as an extra critiquing session: Obviously it's too late to alter things in the original book, but there are always lessons to be learned for the future.

RG: Do you ever correspond with reviewers asking them to review your work personally, or after they've reviewed your work?

LW: Yes, I often correspond with reviewers - partly because I think it's polite if they've gone to the trouble of reading the book and writing a review. (Often, people are not paid for their review work, and this is where it becomes particularly important, I think). Doesn't matter whether it's a good review or a bad one — one has to be professional. I am also quite pro-active in sending out fiction for review. Publicity is something that authors need to get closely involved with these days.

RG: Are there certain things you want a reviewer to find and point out in your work? For example, what would you hope to find referenced in a review of The Ghost Sister?

LW: I always hope that the reviewer understands the central point. I think everyone did, in the case of The Ghost Sister. I would hope to see style referenced, also plot structure and story, and characterization. The latter was very important with regard to GS as these characters have been with me for a very long time, and it's been a bit like letting the world into my head (always unnerving).

For the final question, I asked Liz to read the review I had written for The Ghost Sister, now posted at www.wavelengthsonline.com/current/r5.html.

RG: What was your reaction, as an author, to this review? Were there things that you agreed with? Disagreed with? What was the first thing you wanted to say to me?

LW: A huge thanks! I'm just very pleased that it got such a positive review. And one thing I was worried about was the gay content of the novel, as it's very easy for a female writer to get male sexuality wrong (and vice versa), so I'm glad this seems to have come across. I have been accused of writing 'blokes in skirts' before now but - perhaps curiously as I am basically heterosexual - I am always more drawn to writing first person narratives from a male point of view.