From WikiThing

[edit] Early Reviewers

[edit] What is LibraryThing Early Reviewers (LTER)?

LibraryThing is teaming with select 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 can I get books from Early Reviewers?

• Sign up. You have to have a LibraryThing membership--which is free--to apply for books. No purchase is necessary.
• Check out the list of available LTER books once it's announced, and indicate which one(s) you're interested in reading and reviewing. The flag icons indicate which countries the book can be shipped to. 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 6pm on the date listed under "Request by" for that book.
• At the end of the giveaway period, winners will be selected. You will receive a comment on your profile page letting you know whether you've won a book or not.

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] Can I give away eBooks?

You can give out eBooks, but you cannot giveaway books that are freely available elsewhere. This means you cannot post eBooks that you also provide free access to online. You also must make sure to check the box indicating that the book is an eBook.

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

If your publisher isn't participating in Early Reviewers, then you can offer your books up for review yourself! Use our Member Giveaways program.

[edit] How do I remove myself from Early Reviewers?

Sign in to your Early Reviewer profile page, and click the link next to your name.

[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 long do I have to review the book?

You have 90 days to review before we penalize you (in future Early Reviewer picking). Now, sometimes books take a while to get to you (60 days is normal), and sometimes they just don't show. So, if that happens, you can mark a book as not received after it's been 60 days since you won it, so it won't count against you, here:
http://www.librarything.com/er_winnings.php?program=earlyreview

[edit] I can't remember which books I've won!

Check out the Books you've won page. This page shows you all the books you've won through Early Reviewers (not including Member Giveaway books).

Sometimes books take a month or two to show up, but if you suspect one has been lost in the mail you can mark it unreceived, so the lack of a review won't count against you for future batches.

[edit] Oh, then I'm just going to report all my books "unreceived" and I'll never have to review them!

Hey, don't cheat! In fact, if a member employs this too frequently, it's going to raise a red flag for us, and man, will you be sorry...

[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!

Some publishers ship FedEx, which doesn't deliver to PO Boxes. If you have a PO Box, please include a street address as well.

Check/change 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. LibraryThing is not responsible for books that end up lost in the mail, or never arrive.

[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 box, and click "submit" to save it.

A book will be considered "reviewed" if a review is posted to LibraryThing and is composed 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] The Early Reviewers page says I haven't reviewed one of the books I received, but I have.

Reviews are attached to books in your catalog. If you delete the book from your catalog, then it deletes the review from LibraryThing, and it will no longer count as reviewed.

[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 UPS to USPS media mail. Because LibraryThing never touches the books, we can't control how fast the publisher gets them out! To repeat, we (LibraryThing) have no control over when/how/if the books are shipped.

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 your book doesn't show up, mark it unreceived on the Books you've won page. The lack of reviews on books you never received won't hurt your chances for getting books in the future.

[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).

One thing you can do is check the Books You've Won page. If a book shows as received, but you haven't received it, mark it appropriately. If it says you haven't reviewed the book but you have, it's likely that your copy needs to be combined with the ER copy. BUT, it could also be a glitch. So, if you can't combine it, email me (sonya@librarything.com).

[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] 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.

[edit] Member Giveaways

[edit] What is LibraryThing Member Giveaways (LTMG)?

Member Giveaways is an informal way for any author or member to list books to give away. Anyone can give away books, you don't have to be affiliated with a publishing house. Optionally, you can request that the winner reviews the book, but the winner will not be penalized if they do not review.

[edit] How can I get books from Member Giveaways?

• Sign up. You have to have a LibraryThing membership--which is free--to apply for books. No purchase is necessary. If you're already signed up for LTER, then you're automatically signed up for LTMG as well.
• Check out the list of available LTMG books and indicate which one(s) you're interested in reading and reviewing. The flag icons indicate which countries the book can be shipped to.
• At the end of the indicated giveaway period, winners will be randomly selected. You will receive a comment on your profile page letting you know whether you've won a book or not.
• If you request a book from LTMG, you understand that another member will be given your mailing address.
• Winners for LTMG are picked randomly. Winners are selected by LibraryThing, whose decision is final.
• As with LTER, LTMG winners are encouraged but not required to review the books they receive.
• LibraryThing takes no responsibility for books sent or received.

[edit] How do I give away books with the Member Giveaways program?

To post a book for a Member Giveaway, at least one of the following must be true:

1. You are a LibraryThing Author
2. You have at least 50 books in your LibraryThing account
3. You have a paid LibraryThing account

If you meet these minimum requirements, then just click "Post a Giveaway" and follow the instructions screen.

• The author or member offering the giveaway decides how many review copies to offer (there is no minimum - you can offer just one copy if that's all you have), which countries they're willing to send them to, and what the giveaway time period will be.
• You are responsible for the shipment of all books, to the winner(s) selected by LibraryThing. LibraryThing takes no responsibility for books sent or received. Do NOT send books to LibraryThing; we're not trudging to the Post Office for you.
• You agree to never share the mailing addresses that you're given, and never to send anything other than the 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 Member Giveaways and Early Reviewers. You can check or change your address at any point -- make sure it's current!

Some publishers ship FedEx, which doesn't deliver to PO Boxes. If you have a PO Box, please include a street address as well.

Check/change 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. LibraryThing is not responsible for books that end up lost in the mail, or never arrive.

[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 box, and click "submit" to save it.

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

More review tips can be found here.

[edit] Can I give away eBooks?

You can give out eBooks, but you cannot giveaway books that are freely available elsewhere. This means you cannot post eBooks that you also provide free access to online. You also must make sure to check the box indicating that the book is an eBook.

[edit] How do I remove myself from Member Giveaways?

Sign in to your Member Giveaways profile page, and click the link next to your name.

[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.