As you many of you noticed, I posted my last book review here (Crystal Promise: The Shattered Crystal, by James Funfer). Originally it was an Amazon review which I shared here and on Goodreads.

Starting sometime in May (date yet to be announced), I’ll be doing more of these. I won’t be publishing any reviews for well-known authors on this blog. So you won’t find any Anne Rice or Steven King reviews here unless the Household Name’s book blew me away. Otherwise I’ll leave those reviews on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

I have a bit of criteria I’m following for reviews…

-I will review a book only AFTER it’s been published, even for requested reviews.

*Note: At this time I do not want to become a part of host review-blog circles. Maybe later in the year.*

-My non-solicited reviews will come from free downloads I grab via Kindle from new or self-published authors or if by chance I win a book in a giveaway, and if I can’t pass up a good buy. I am totally not against paying for what I read. Authors deserve to be paid.

-As for review requests: Author or publisher must provide me with a print or electronic copy of the book.

-I am not limited to “new” authors. My goal is to review books by mostly by indie authors. I don’t care if you’ve got 5 books out there, or whether they’re doing well or not, I will review your book as long as you are an indie author and self published your past & current books. (See exceptions below.)

-If you are published through an independent or small publisher (like James Funfer & Branch Hill Publications), I will review your work. Please, no books from large publishers. My only exception to this are Harlequin-published books because I feel these authors do not always get the respect or exposure they deserve. Yes, you’ll see 600 reviews on Amazon regarding a book, but many of them don’t make a large profit and if they write well, that may be overlooked. I wish all authors to experience their own best seller at some point. Until then, we little guys must stick together.

Right now my blog is followed by about 630 people and I want to grow my following and help other bloggers grow theirs all while exposing my  fellow indie authors, and those published by small publishers and presses. If I review a book, I will ask the author to do a short blog interview too that I can post with the review so readers can get to know the author. If I accept a request – it’s first come first served. Once I get to your book, I’ll need 4-6 weeks to read and review the book. If I accept your request, I’ll let you know an approximate date your review will be posted here under my reviews menu.

My preferred reading genres are fantasy, paranormal, romance, historical anything – as long as the period’s research is quality, thrillers, mystery, occult/mythological, or any mixture thereof. I like Sci-fi if it’s mixed with fantasy. I read contemporary, young adult, coming of age, women’s fiction, Amish, family, and chick lit. I’ll review soft porn (i.e. Fifty Shades of Grey)…no kids, no violence, no sexual murder. I also read older children’s fantasy (i.e. Harry Potter). Got vampires, witches, immortals, and gods? I want to read that. I’m not too big on zombies. No zombies unless it goes against the same old, same old. The same applies to aliens.

As for anything labeled “Christian fiction”, I’ll read it as long as it is family-oriented, or there’s a lesson to be had in the pages. I want a story…not to be preached to. I do not accept non-fiction Christian books.

I like poetry and will review books on poetry. I’ve been writing poetry for 30 years. I am not an expert, but I’ll do my best to give a good critique.

In the non-fiction categories I read true crime, or biographies (preferably of royalty or serial killers…Don’t ask!). I do not read biographies of politicians…unless it’s a female politician who left a mark. Think Thatcher or H. Clinton.

Also, I will review anything Pagan, Wicca or Witchcraft related whether it’s fiction or non-fiction. Have a story where Athena and a group of witches saves the day? I want to read it.

Things I don’t read: hard core horror (think Saw); no pornography, and no sex between children and adults, or humans and animals. No non-fiction Christian. No self-help or related books. No manuals. No educational texts.

I am new to reviewing and I do not review like many traditional reviewers. For instance, there are no spoilers, and very little revealed about relationships between characters because sometimes that spoils too. I want to get better at it if you all will give me a chance.

I will not publicly inform a self-published author of grammatical or improper word usage errors in a review. I think that’s a terrible, merciless, hateful thing to do. I also do not give “star” ratings based on grammar, etc. My reviews are based on story, character development and my emotions. Self-published authors many times have no editor; they can’t afford it, and therefore edit their books over and over again by themselves. And many of them publish with mistakes that are later caught by friends or other authors who let them know privately what the problem is. If I find unkind errors, I will privately alert the author or publisher.

Gods know, I published Someday Always Comes the first time with a missing word on the back cover! Woe! Then I read the first printing to find errors. I fixed them. So there’s about 160 copies between print & e-book floating around with grammatical errors, a missing word or two, and incorrect use of the word “balled”, which should’ve been “bawled.” Anyway, while the errors did not affect the story, I was – and still am – horrified. I would’ve ran out in front of a bus before I’d publish mistakes on purpose. I edited that book for over 7 months. I am an only human. The past can’t be undone, so we must do the best we can in the present. Mistakes happen.

Okay… This was your news update. I’ll announce when I’m going to start reviews. I want to start sometime in May, but that is tentative…Could be June. But I’ll post sometime in May about the date regardless. I have stuff I am trying to get out of the way. At this time I cannot even accept a request. However, if you’d like to ask me any questions about submissions, please private message me at my author Facebook page or email me at my author email addy… wandasparyla@yahoo.com. Please put REVIEW in the subject line. Don’t be shy, if  5 – 7 days goes by and I haven’t returned your email, please email me again. I check my spam folder regularly, but you never know!

Thanks for reading!

~Wanda