Are you an author or publisher who would like their book reviewed? Please read below for more!

I am currently OPEN for review requests, should you be interested in me reviewing your book.

Please be aware, by requesting a review you understand that all my opinions are 100% my own. I will never mean to be harmful to the book, author, or publisher, and, if I don’t like the book odds are I won’t post a review of it so as to not damage the book’s reputation. I also reserve the right to refuse a review request should I not be interested in the book’s plot or genre.

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Who can request a review? 

The author or publisher can contact me. I’m open to requests from either. Just be aware, that if you are requesting a review you should be ready to send me a copy of the book. I am willing to read Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) and published books.

Are you open to participating in Book Tours for new books releasing soon?

Yes! I’m more than happy to participate in your Book Tour. Just send me the media packet and information like you would the review requested book.

For those new to this and doing the marketing on your own and aren’t completely sure what’s included in a media packet: book’s synopsis, author bio, author picture if you want to include it, book’s cover image, author’s social media links, book’s link for purchase, any other promotional images/materials you’ve created. Basically, everything I need to point people toward you and your book.

Will you accept self-published author work?

Yes! I am more than happy and excited to read and review indie authors or small press published work as much as I am to read and review bigger authors. Just be aware, I do hold indie and small press books to the same standard of editing that I do traditional publishers.

What if my book is currently in alpha/beta status and needs a little help in editing? 

Feel free to reach out to me if you’re interested in a line editor. While I do it on a case-by-case basis, and it’s not a free service I am willing to work on a sliding budget scale to assist and make sure your work is the best it can be. I don’t have a set price point because as an indie author myself I know how tight budgets can be, so if this is something you’re interested in or would like help with, feel free to send me an email and we can discuss a timeline and a budget, and a sample edit on the first three pages of your work.

Please note: Line Editing is making sure you’re using correct grammar, that sentences make sense and are structured well, and that word choices help to move the book along without getting too tangled in descriptions and flowery prose. What I don’t offer is developmental editing – which is making sure your plot arcs make sense, your characters are consistent, there aren’t any holes in because you forgot to wrap up a plotline, etc. If something sticks out to me hard, that’s more of a developmental edit, in an editing job I’ve taken on I will point so you’re aware of it, but I’m a line editor.

What genres will you accept? 

Fantasy – High Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Fantasy, Fairytale Retellings
Science Fiction (SciFi)
Mythology
Dystopian
Paranormal
Mystery/Crime
Cozy
Erotica – but there should be a plot to the story past the sex

In YA or Adult.
I’m not bothered by graphic scenes, both erotic or blood and gore, but it should be plot-based.

What if my book’s genre doesn’t fit the list above?

There’s always a chance that I’ll say yes to your book, even if it doesn’t fall into the above categories. Feel free to send me a request.

Just a note: I have higher odds of saying no to contemporary, religious (not to be mistaken for mythology),  poetry. They’re not overly my jam as a whole. Though I will say if your contemporary novel has witches, vampires, or other supernatural bits in it, there’s a higher chance it’ll interest me enough to say yes.

How will you structure your review? 

I have several reviews already up on my blog here.
I’ll have a picture of the cover of the book, either pulled from amazon, given to me by you, or taken myself to accompany the review and list the Author, Publisher (if self-published I’ll list the author as the publisher), Genre, Rating. I’ll then give a small synopsis of the book, and dive right into my review.

What if my request is for a serial or novella?

That’s fine, request away.

For serials, while I’m not a big fan of cliffhangers and having to wait, if possible I’d love to review the serial in its entirety verse reviewing part one and having to wait another couple weeks or months for part two, I’m willing to give it a review.

I’m very open to novellas. However, if the novella falls between novels and needs those novels for context? I request that you let me know before I start reading, so I can keep that in mind for the review.
I will say if it falls between a few books in a series, and you’re willing to offer up the book before it at least so I have more context for the novella, I would be very grateful.

You accepted a review request, but I haven’t seen you review it yet? Where is the review?

Reviews are done as I read the books that I have, and my interest at the time does play a part for when I get to some books. Some days I’m more inclined to read a story about a werewolf, other times I’m more interested in reading a cozy mystery. While I may have accepted a review request, unless deadline details were discussed and agreed upon in an email – because a book is being released soon so the more reviews the better for instance – I do not have a deadline for when I will post those reviews. For the most part, I will try to get to them in the order the book was received but I make no promises.

What this means – if you are looking for the review to be posted by a specific date, please let me know.

Also, if I didn’t like the book, and think that posting a review of it would be damaging to the book’s chances to sell or the author or publisher, I won’t be posting a review.
While it tends to be rare if I accept a review request, it is possible I will not like your book. And as my mother always said, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

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Do you have to receive physical books? Can I send you an eBook?

While I am partial to physical copies as a whole, I’m more than happy to receive eBooks as the medium. If possible, I prefer mobi files over pdfs – because I’ll be sending it to my kindle app to read and it formats a little easier that way.

How do I send you a review request? 

Via email. Please include in the Subject Line that it is a Review Request, and include the title of the book, and a small summary of it in the body of the email. As well, please make it clear if you are the author or the publisher representing the author, and if there is a release date pending that the review needs to go up by or if you have a timeline in mind.

If I accept, I’ll email you back in order to obtain a copy of your book from you.

You can send email inquiries to: meriscorner@gmail.com

I’m not an author or publisher, but I think you’d like a book. Can I send it to you?

While sending me unsolicited books doesn’t guarantee a review of them in any way, I am always more than happy to have more books both in my collection and ‘To Read’ pile. If you really want to send me a book you think I’d like or any letters or things, please feel free to mail them to:

Meri Benson
PO Box 384
Berwyn, IL 60402