Introduction
(Scroll down to head straight to the Reviews!)
I believe there is a lack of diversity in my industry. As a tiny fish in a pretty big pond there's not an awful lot I can do on my own other than try and improve the landscape of the space around me. I figured a way I can do that is to go beyond simply adding more diverse authors' titles to my reading list and actually start reviewing books as well so that they can reach more people, something I've always been a bit hesitant to do as it felt like a conflict of interest to me (or more likely that I've been scared that it might negatively impact on me and my own writing / standing as an author).
My idea is to address the imbalance. I identify as a white hetero able-bodied cis male. I've grown up in a bubble where most of the authors I follow fall into the same / similar profile. Going forward I plan to increase the diversity in my own reading list by discovering NEW authors (by which I mean new to ME) at an increased rate. That means that for every new author I discover that aligns closely to my own profile, I will look to discover more authors who don't - it'll be up to me to vary that as much as possible so that I don't fall into a quota trap. I'm going to try and alternate my reading roughly between an author I already follow and somebody whose works I've not read before. I'm not about to abandon my favourites, but over time that should hopefully mean that the core authors I gravitate around shifts away from defaulting to people 'like me' as it also becomes populated with new voices I am desperate to return to!
Whilst my general reading list is going to be leaning more toward equal representation, my personal position as a writer is privileged. It falls largely on the shoulders of the publishing houses to provide us the opportunities to read from a wider catalogue but again, I'd like to play my part. Therefore when it comes to putting out my own work, I'll promote diverse titles at an even higher rate as a direct contrast. Effectively when I take the slot it costs more, as I am viewing it as the buy-in. This is a personal decision I'm playing out, I'm not demanding that others emulate or that it is the 'right thing to do'.
The big thing I'd like to do is open this space up for recommendations as well. I'll post my reviews and link to them here. In the comments section at the bottom of the page you can tell me about books I can add to my reading list. I'll be doing my own seeking but could always use some extra help! I'm especially open to authors promoting their own books if they are comfortable sharing some information about their profiling. I can't guarantee I'll read them, but they'll be treated with the same respect as I would from a traditionally published offering, with their appearance on this site acting as a mark of approval from me (for what little that's worth!).
This is all going to be a bit of a work in progress as I figure out exactly what I'm trying to achieve, but for now I'll lay out some quick guidelines / insight into my reading / review policy;
- This is an important one. My selection process for reading a book is NOT the same as my selection process for reviewing a book. I want to head tokenism off at the pass. To hit my proposed criteria I will read more, NOT select the best of what I've read.
- I'll be posting reviews for books that I rate four stars or higher. Generally speaking that means there are elements of this book that I found GOOD / NOTEWORTHY, balanced against elements I disliked / didn't work for me. If I'm not moved or interested by what I've read I can still accept that the book has been competently written, but it won't make it onto this page.
- I don't believe in leaving negative reviews / low ratings as a rule, because art is so subjective (though that won't stop me pointing out the elements I find fault with). I'd rather tell you why I like something than tank a book's opportunity to find a reader who might appreciate it more than me.
- I'm operating on a credit system. I'm keeping track of my own accountability, meaning these reviews won't be going up in a systematic order / tick sheet. My general reading list AND my minimum required buy in for publishing reads will land in this location. I'm hoping the combination of those two things mean there'll be enough doubt before anyone judges too critically that I appear to be favouring one profiled group over another. This will be especially prevalent as I keep returning to catch up on previous authors' works.
- I'll be doing a brief non invasive search into all authors before making any decisions onto how to profile based on publicly available bios etc., and my understanding of profiling is evolving all the time.
- I won't be listing books by authors' profiling and I won't be mentioning profiling as part of my reviews unless I feel it relevant (and the information is publicly available - I'll use my best judgement to determine if I feel the author is comfortable with the attachment based on the nature of the discovery). I'm not looking to categorise and I'm not confident enough in any case. There are useful resources that exist for that purpose (which I will be depending on outside of your recommendations!), I am focussing on the quality of the book in front of me and not its source.
- I am profiling by author, NOT the main / POV characters they portray. I fully support the call for Own Voices (and am particularly looking forward to exploring more of these books, so again any recommendations would be much appreciated!), but feel this falls largely on the publishing houses to address the disproportionate current representation. I don't think authors should be limited to writing exclusively in their own profiles so long as they are respectful about their portrayals. I think it's up to the author to consider the space they may be occupying amidst the call for balance, particularly when self publishing is now a perfectly viable option. I think transparency about an author's profile versus the characters portray should give readers a fair chance to decline a book at point of contact / read knowing the disparity between the author's own lived experience versus their characters'.
- If you'd like to add your own works for consideration it'd be helpful to me if you'd include a brief identity profile, but only if you feel comfortable sharing it. You can contact me privately if that's easier for you. I'm not looking to cause harm by exposing anybody and think as a combination of not sharing my categorisation with the imperfect ratio of my uploads it should be adequate protection against any sleuthing. I'm not 100% sure how to balance my objective to promote diverse titles without alienating indie authors who aren't comfortable sharing / being defined by their profile, so suggestions on how to approach this side of things are welcome!
- When it comes to series over standalones, my personal preference is to reread up to that point (I'm not as fussy about parallel / pre or post timelines, or shared universes!). I'll likely review the final book I currently have access to (if I think it was four stars or higher!), so it may be patchy as to when I appear to review every book in the series as I gradually obtain them versus only reviewing the final book in a series I own but haven't got round to starting yet / before I started reviewing. Also when it comes to series I will reread the entire collection as one slot, not alternate one book at a time.
- I'm currently applying this logic to long form works only. I'm not sure yet how to approach short stories, anthologies etc.
- I’m not going through the recommendations in any particular order - it’ll come down to funds and availability. If a book is submitted I’ll likely get round to it one day, so don’t get disheartened or think I’m ignoring a book pointedly (particularly if submitting your own work). I think there's likely a degree of safety in this which means you can submit a recommendation and be pleasantly surprised if it makes it to review one day as opposed to checking in on its status with frustration / dejection. I'd hate to be forced into publicly declaring that I have read a particular book that didn't quite cross my personal threshold to make it to review in response to an inquiry. Hopefully by simply recommending a book in this public forum there'll be others who might give it a go as well / before I do!
- I may occasionally review ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) of books. Most services which provide ARCs do so in exchange for an honest review, which means they can be critical / negative. Though fair if upheld properly, it conflicts with my goal to shine a light on the books I've enjoyed, rather than books I've read. I'm not claiming to be an impartial book reviewer with this project. Therefore in cases where I have reviewed an ARC, know that I've been selective in using a provider for which receipt of the book was NOT conditional of a review. In these cases I've been lucky in that I did enjoy the book, and CHOSEN to promote it with a positive review.
- (For Now) I will accept ARCs from authors recommending their own works, but providing me an ARC does NOT guarantee that I will review it, OR that I will review it ahead of its release. I won't review an ARC that doesn't cross my personal threshold for support and won't mark it up just to get it to that point. The most I'd do is try and read it before publication date, but with the size of my reading pile I can't really commit to that either. As mentioned previously, it'll serve better to be surprised rather than frustrated that it doesn't happen in these instances.
- I'll keep the reviews predominantly spoiler free but the comments might not be - particularly if anyone wants to ask questions or share a moment / element they liked etc.
- I am terrible at genre classification but I'm fairly consistent around most forms of Fantasy, Crime, Horror / Paranormal, Thrillers, a bit of Sci Fi... most things basically.
- On that note I'm not entirely sure how to format this landing page for my reviews so until a pattern / an idea forms I'll simply go chronologically as a bit of an archive.
- I'll likely Tweet when I've got a new review and probably upload a copy to Goodreads, or you could check back occasionally / rely on RSS. I'm fairly slow at reading, and especially in the case of rereading series it may be large periods of time between reviews.
- This page and these guidelines / insight (as well as my whole methodology) are subject to change in line with my own personal development / understanding. I don't want to be bound by outdated declarations I made at the time of writing.
Congratulations if you've made it this far... I know most people would just quietly adjust their behaviour but I didn't know how to balance that against providing a platform for authors (particularly marginalised authors) to promote their own works. It may not amount to much, but it's a free shot at a review that they'd not have found if I just started reviewing what I can find. This is all a bit of a muddle, but hopefully via some combination of my reviews and the recommendations posted in the comments you may find a good book to try by the end of it!
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Reviews
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The Tower of Fools - by Andrzej Sapkowski
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