Early Reviewers

From WikiThing

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[edit] How long will it take for the book to get to me? (AKA: My book hasn't come yet! Why do you hate me?)

It depends. The publishers ship the books directly - some are speedy, others less so. It can take up to a month or two for a book to come, sometimes longer if the publisher sends it media mail. We don't control this, and we can't track the books for you. Publishers ship everything from FedEx to media mail. Because LibraryThing never touches the books, we can't control how fast the publisher gets them out!

Check the Early Reviewers group to see when others are receiving their copies of the same book. Every month someone starts a "book watch" thread to keep track of when the books start arriving on doorsteps. If everyone got theirs a while ago, then you might want to contact us, but if it looks like many people are still waiting for the book then don't worry about it yet!

Don't worry, we give you at least a month's leeway, so not having reviewed the book for the preceding month so it won't hurt your chances for a new book.

[edit] How do you choose who receives Early Reviewer books? (AKA: I haven't been chosen yet! Why do you hate me?)

Winners are selected by LibraryThing, whose decision is final. Winning is based on a combination of factors, such as:

• Expressed interest
• Random chance
• How many books the reviewer has received from LTER
• The reviewer's reviewing history
• The contents and organization of the reviewer's LibraryThing account
• Other factors not revealed or not yet determined
• Lecanomancy

So as long as reviews conform to the LibraryThing Terms of Service, LibraryThing will NOT factor the content of your reviews into future disbursements. That means: write what you want; it will not affect your chances of getting books in the future.

You are not legally obligated to review books you receive through LTER. But subsequent LTER dispersal decisions may take your number of reviewed and unreviewed books into account. A book will be considered "reviewed" if a review is posted to LibraryThing and is comprised of at least 25 words. Reviews may include but not solely consist of a URL. (If you wrote it elsewhere first, just copy and paste the text).

[edit] What is Early Reviewers?

LibraryThing is teaming with publishers to provide advance copies of books to you, in exchange for reviews. The publishers are supplying the books, you get to read and review them, and we play matchmaker! :)

• See the list of current titles on offer
• Rules and conditions

[edit] How do I participate?

• Sign up. You have to have a LibraryThing membership--which is free--to apply for LTER books. No purchase is necessary.
• Check out the list of available books once it's announced, and indicate which one(s) you're interested in reading and reviewing. You can apply for as many books as you'd like, but you can only apply for each book once.
• We announce new batches of books monthly - you'll see postings on the blog and in the Early Reviewers discussion group. You may apply any time between when a book appears on the Early Reviewers page, until noon on the date listed under "Request by" for that book.

LTER is open only to residents of the United States and Canada 13 years and older. Some books are open to residents of other countries (e.g., the UK). Those books will be noted with a country flag. You can sign up for LTER no matter your country, but you will not be eligible to receive any books until we bring your country into our terms. We would love to open this up to LibraryThing members the world over. We are, however, a small company, and have not investigated the legal ramifications of doing so. Also, publishers often have rights country-by-country. We are working on this. Thank you for understanding.

Employees of LibraryThing and its affiliated companies, and members of those employees' immediate families, are not eligible.

[edit] How will I find out if I won a book?

At the end of each round for which you requested a book, we'll post a comment to your profile page letting you know if you did (or didn't) win a book.

[edit] How do you know where to send the book?

You give us your name and full mailing address when you sign up for Early Reviewers. You can check or change your address at any point -- make sure it's current! Check your address

[edit] I'm moving! How do I make sure I get my book?

Update your address for upcoming giveaways.

If you've already moved, or you're moving soon, we suggest you set up mail forwarding with your post office.

[edit] Where do I post my review?

First, add the book to your LibraryThing catalog. Then click the "edit" icon next to the book, or click "edit book" from the work page. Type your review into the Review (or URL) box, and click "submit" to save it.

A book will be considered "reviewed" if a review is posted to LibraryThing and is comprised of at least 25 words. Reviews may include but not solely consist of a URL.

More review tips can be found here.

You can post your review elsewhere too—on your blog, Facebook or even Amazon. In fact, we hope you do! See below for graphics you can use.

[edit] Where are there more privacy rules and regulations?

Make sure you're signed in first, then go here.

[edit] Where can I get LTER graphics for my blog?

How about Early Reviewers Graphics? You can use them with your review or just as a badge that you are part of LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

[edit] How can other publishers get involved?

Read our FAQ for publishers

[edit] I'm an author, can I offer up my books for Early Reviewers?

Currently, we're only accepting Early Reviewer books directly from publishers. We hope to let authors offer review copies of their books through our LT Author program in the future.

Authors interested in this program should contact Abby.

[edit] Can I approach publishers and ask them to participate?

Sure! We've put together a sample letter to publishers that you can use to get started. We're especially interested in finding publishers who have the distribution rights to send Early Reviewer books to countries outside the US and Canada.