Review Submission Guidelines
March 1, 2017
What you need to know for submitting your project for consideration for a Publishers Weekly review.
You’re finished with your book? Great! We want to see it—but not before it’s ready. By submitting your book to Publishers Weekly for review, it means your book will be judged by professional standards, the same standards Publishers Weekly applies to books submitted by traditional trade publishers. This means your book must be ready for a wide, general-interest readership that expects cleanly written, well-edited, and engaging books.
THREE IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR BOOK
PW Review Consideration is FREE!
You do not have to pay anything to submit your book for review consideration. There is no cost associated with submitting your book, or any aspect of the reviewing process should your book be chosen for review.
A Small Percentage of Books Submitted Will Be Reviewed
We receive over a thousand books a month from self- and trade publishers; unfortunately, we can't cover them all.
You Should Make Sure Your Book Is Really Ready Before Submitting
Your books will be vetted by our editors the same way as professionally edited books from major publishers. We offer free evaluations to help you make your book the best it can be.
To make sure your book is ready for review submission, check out our self-evaluations. (These are for informational purposes only, and do not determine your review eligibility.) We want to give your book its best chance for a review, and since we can’t review every book that’s submitted, the best way to increase your odds for review is to make sure it is up to professional standards.
For a book to be eligible for review consideration through BookLife, it must be available for purchase in the United States. BookLife was built to assist individual authors and illustrators with submitting their books for review consideration; if you are a publisher dealing with several authors, please use PW’s Galley Tracker. Note: You may not submit through both BookLife and GalleyTracker; if you do, your book will be removed from consideration.
Submitting your book for review is easy. Simply create a new project in your BookLife account, and then click the “Submit Project for PW Review Consideration” button to begin the BookLife review submission process of your completed project. Much of the information we need will be automatically filled in using the project and account information you have already provided. You will have the option to review and change any field—the book’s title, its cover image, the price; anything—before you finish. We also encourage you to include a brief summary of your project, such as a press release or promotional copy.
Note: Publicists are welcome to create accounts for their clients, but all accounts must be under the author’s name.
We accept all books in all formats, and once you’ve completed your review submission form, you’ll receive instructions on where to send your book, along with a confirmation code you’ll need to send along with your book if you’re sending a paperback or hardcover. If you’re submitting an e-book, simply upload your ebook file, and our system will take care of the rest.
For authors submitting books in a series for review, BookLife recommends you register one title at a time (and in chronologic order), thus allowing PW's editors to assess each book in your series independent of subsequent volumes.
We’ll keep you updated with emails as your book moves through the review process. The reviewing process is a time-consuming one, and it can take 12 weeks or longer. Please do not contact BookLife with review status requests; we are unable to respond. And, please remember: As much as we'd like to review every book registered with BookLife, we cannot. Our reviews process is highly competitive--both for self-published and traditionally published authors. We review a relatively small percentage of the books submitted in both cases. If your book is chosen, know that it truly stood out. Additionally, being selected for a review is no guarantee of one. There is a chance that unforeseen circumstances could result in the termination of a review.
If your book is declined for review, unfortunately, BookLife is unable to provide an individualized explanation for why. Please do not resubmit your book with a different ISBN or ASIN number. If you do, your book will be removed from BookLife. We receive thousands of books, and books submitted through BookLife are judged by the same standards as books submitted by trade publishers. We review a relatively small percentage of the books we receive from trade or self-publishers. We will not be able to respond to queries for an explanation.
We cannot return submitted books, whether accepted or declined for review.
If you have other questions, be sure to visit our reviews frequently asked questions (FAQ) page and BookLife's FAQ page.