Need a Reviewer?

Are you an author looking for someone to review your recent or upcoming release? If so, I may be able to help you out. This blog is not solely dedicated to book reviews, but I do publish them on the fourth Monday of every month. If you write science fiction, I would love to hear from you!

Current status: Closed to requests. Please check back in Spring 2023.

IMPORTANT! Read this first - "How to Make Sure Your Book Review Request Does NOT Get Deleted"

What I'm Looking For (When I'm Looking)

Genre(s): Science fiction - anything from hard science fiction to steampunk to scifi romance. As long as it falls into scifi or one of its subgenres, I'm happy to check it out.

Type: Short story collections, novellas, and novels. Sorry, no short stories on their own.

Authors: At this time, I am primarily interested in science fiction written by POC (especially black) and female authors.

A Sneak Peek:

If you need (or want) to get a sense of what to expect from me, here are links to my three most recent reviews:

What I Need From You

Send an email to admin(at)catpollockwrites.com with the subject line "RE: Book Review Request - [Name of Book]". Please include the following information in the body of the email.

Author's Name:
Book Name:
Standalone or Series (If series, indicate series title, position in series, and if it is necessary have read earlier parts of the series to understand what is going on)
Expected Release Date:
Goodreads or Retailers Link:
Your Twitter username (if you have one):
Your Instagram username (if you have one):
Your Facebook Author page / group link (if you have one):
Description of the book (short paragraph):

For the time being, I do not accept hard or paperback copies in the mail, so please attach a digital copy of your book to the email. I will accept the following file types:

.mobi (kindle files)
.pdf
.doc/.docx/.rtf

I like to add pictures of the cover art to my reviews and you can send a copy of that as an attachment if you wish (rest assured - I do not require you to do this in order for me to review your work). If you decide to attach it, please make sure it is one of the following file types:

JPEG (.jpg/.jpeg)
PNG (.png)

Will you let me know if you decide to post a review?

While I would love to be able to let you know either way, at this time I am only able to let you know if I choose to write a review. If I do so, I will let you know my decision (usually within 2-3 weeks), and follow up with a link to the review and the date when the review goes live closer to time.

If you hear nothing from me within a month, assume I've decided to pass on your story at this time.

If you have questions, I have answers...

If there is anything in the above guidelines that is unclear, just send me an email and I'll do my best to answer your question.

Metaphors: Candles

I've recently fallen in love with candles. Since coming home from the World Race , I've bought at least one a month. My favorite candles are the ones that come in glass jars - because when they burn out, I can clean the remaining wax out and put the jars to other uses. Right now, that means they get cleaned out and packed away in anticipation of my move to Flagstaff. But as I was lighting one tonight (vanilla spice... Thanksgiving smells? Yes, please!), I saw a metaphor for writing flickering away in the flame licking at the wick and melting the wax. I suppose it could be a metaphor for life in general, but since the theme of this blog is writing... Well, you do the math.

[Five Minute Friday] Purpose

Fiber bars, strewn along the side of the road. There had to be at least a dozen of them, still in their wrappers and completely unopened. No box in sight. Really? That's about the reaction my younger sister and I had when we stumbled on them on our early morning run. Really? along with disgusted sighs about the wastefulness of it. These were the expensive ones, not a generic store brand that kind of tastes and kind of looks the same sometimes. So, when we weren't keeping an eye out for their box, we speculated about what had happened. And wondered how many more we were going to see before the end of our run. "Maybe they took one bite and thought they were gross," my sister said. "So they threw them out because they didn't want them anymore." I let out one of those disgusted sighs and nodded along with her theory. "Yeah, or they got in a huge fight, and threw them out in a fit of rage." "That's a possibility." And...

How to Make Sure Your Book Review Request Does NOT Get Deleted

I've been hesitant to write this post. That is due, in large part, to how angry I get some days after reading book review requests. I curse, I rant, I snark. My cat will tell you it's not a pretty sight. But I also feel like this is a good opportunity to talk about what it is that makes me feel those feelings AND how to not stir them up. I'm not the only reviewer that gets frustrated when I see certain things in my emails from authors looking for a review. And I know I'm not the only one who gets triggered enough to ignore or delete those messages. I never feel good about doing it. It's just that I'm hitting the proverbial wall here and I want to hit it a little less often. So if you're an author looking for loving advice on how to approach reviewers (especially this one), read on. Review Requests I Always Delete Before I get into what to do, I wanted to take a minute to look at what not to do (and how I handle it). Want to know what immedi...

Cat Pollock Writes

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