I read pretty much constantly but I’ve never really done book reviews on this site.

That was partially because there’s no consistency in my reading habits. I may blow through ten books I know you’d like in a month and then not ready anything else relevant to this blog for the rest of the year. Do people want book reviews if they only come out on a regular schedule or are you happy to just hear about a cool book whenever I randomly happen upon one?

It’s also partially because I didn’t want the pressure of being considered a book blogger, especially because so few book bloggers review the kind of non-memoir, business adjacent non-fiction that is relevant to us over here at The Whine Seller. Not to mention the reviews themselves. If I’m posting reviews on my blog, do they have to sound all intelligent and professional instead of the kind of informal, brief thing I’d say about a book on Goodreads?

It just seemed like a lot of extra trouble I didn’t want to take on.

But, oddly enough, I somehow got on a list of book bloggers anyhow and now I regularly get authors reaching out with ARCs and asking me if I’ll review their book. And after enough of these books came in that actually did look like the kind of book I’d dig anyway, I finally decided to say, ok, sure. Let’s start doing book reviews on The Whine Seller.

You’re going to start seeing these pop up in dribs and drabs on the site in the next few weeks. And then? Well, whenever I have a book that’s worth sharing, I’ll share it!

As a reader, here’s what I can promise you about these book reviews…

• I will never post anything other than my HONEST review. In other words, if a book sucks, I’m going to just say that it sucks. So you can trust that if I say I liked something… I really did like it. I want you to be able to know you can trust that you are getting my real opinion.
• While some reviews will be of books I bought myself or got from my library, some I may get for free from the author. I will try to always specify which is which in the review itself.
• I will also be posting my reviews on sites like Goodreads, Amazon, etc. in most cases but those reviews will appear under my real name, not T. W. Seller. This is just to keep my life simpler because I already have way too many accounts to keep track of.
• Last, but certainly not least, if you can think of a book I’d like or that’s relevant to what we talk about on this site, please recommend it, even if it’s been out for a while. I may not have a chance to immediately check it out but I will add it to my TBR pile if it looks like something I’d dig.

To that end, here are some guidelines to follow if you’d like to submit your book for me to review…

• I will consider books on any of the following topics: productivity, time management, selling online, marketing, book promotion, intermediate to advanced self-publishing topics, writing how-to or business non-ficiton, working from home, eBay, Etsy, and basically anything else I write about regularly on this site. (And if you’ve got a book that doesn’t match what I blog about here but does match what we talk about on Unpublishable Pennings, note that when you send it and I’ll still consider it!) Sorry but absolutely NO fiction or memoir!
• While new and upcoming indie or traditional books are preferred, I’m happy to consider any book that’s relevant to my interests, even if it’s been out a while. I also welcome books of any length, though you’ve got a better chance of me reading it if it’s short ’cause I’m very short on time these days. Format wise, I’m happy with paperback or eBook, whatever works best for you.
• Understand that, if you send me your book, I will never post anything other than my HONEST review. That means it may be negative. Make your peace with that now or please don’t send it. I’m not out to crush any dreams here (keep in mind, I’m an author too!) but I’m not going to lie to my readers just to flufferize anyone’s ego.
• Please do not just send me your book unsolicited. You are welcome to email me a pitch for your book and, if I’m interested, I’ll let you know.
• If you need your book review posted by a specific date, let me know up front so I can see if I will have time to read the book by then. If not, understand that I will get to it when I get to it and if you are rude about that or harass me, you’re done.
• Please don’t spam me in a deluded effort to get me to buy your book or advertise for you. There is a big difference between a professional query to solicit a review and aggressively demanding I help you sell your book when you’re a literal stranger to me.
• Whenever possible, I will post reviews on my blog as well as Goodreads and Amazon.
• Lastly, please only offer books that are polished and publication-ready. That means edited, formatted correctly, ready for prime-time. If I wanted to read an error-ridden mess of misspellings and grammar mistakes I will read my OWN writing, thank you very much! 😉

Last, but not least, I’m doing this to provide value to The Whine Seller readers, by directing them to cool books they may not have heard of otherwise and to give lesser-known authors a chance to get their books out in the open. In other words, I’m doing it to be nice without any expectation of profit so I’d appreciate everyone’s kindness and patience during the whole process. I already have a whole stinkin’ lot on my plate and, while it may not be advisable to add something else on, I’m hopeful this could be a cool thing if we let it be.

Now, let’s get reading!