R.’s Comments (group member since May 22, 2014)

R.’s comments from the Genre Specific Review Groups group.

Authors:

All reviews are now completed.

R.

Authors:

All assignments have been accounted for except for two reviews where the reviewer has let us know that the reviews will be unavoidably late. (This is acceptable.) This review group will be held open until those reviews are resolved.

R.

You've joined a review group. So what now? What is expected of a participant in a peer review group?

1) Let the moderator know if there are any conflicts. If an author has reviewed another author's book previously, we will make an effort not to schedule those authors to review each other's books.

2) Post to the review group topic, when you have received or obtained a review copy of any book assigned. This lets the moderator know that participants are aware of their assignments and are pursuing them.

3) Read the books assigned. Moderators allow reasonable time for each round of a review group. If a participant cannot complete a review on time, all that is required is that the participant notify the author and the moderator. (This can be by Goodreads message or by posting to the review group topic.) Skimming is not acceptable. To give an honest and thorough review, you have to read the book. These peer review groups are a learning and growing experience for all of us. If you have an issue with the book assigned to you, contact the moderator.

4) Write and publish an honest review of the books assigned. Normally, reviews are published to Goodreads, Amazon, and Amazon UK. The author may request that the review be posted elsewhere. If you both agree, that is fine. If the author and the reviewer agree that the review should not be published, that is between them. Just post a statement in the topic to that effect.

5) Once the review has been published, post links to each review on the topic. This will let the author and the moderator know that you have completed your assignment.

Authors:

Congratulations on completed all reviews on time.

R.

Arthur wrote: "I'm new to this forum ... how does a review group get going?"

The post in this folder titled "Explanation" may answer some questions.

Basically, a moderator determines that a new review group should be started. (This can be based on requests in this folder or other sources.) The moderator will create the review group in the Genre Review Groups folder. Members sign up for the review group, first come first served. Once enough authors have volunteered, the review group goes on to the scheduling and review phases.

R.

Bonnie wrote: "Looks good. Thank you so much.

BUT I SCREWED UP AND LISTED A KID'S PICTURE BOOK INSTEAD OF MY FANTASY. SO SORRY.

It should be Leya"

The book list in the initial post of this topic should reflect the correct book now.

R.

Authors:

I have generated a tentative schedule. It is published in the initial post of this topic. Please review it for conflicts before exchanging books. If there are no conflicts, we are scheduled to start the review phase on Monday.

R.

Ronit wrote: "I can't review or be reviewed by Bonnie Ferrante

Thanks

Ronit"

Then I cannot generate a working schedule. We will need another participant.

R.

Gita wrote: "I've reviewed Ellie's book. I can't be reviewed by Bonnie Ferrante either."

This will work only if Gita reviews Bonnie's book. If this is not acceptable to the group, then we will have to look for another participant to make a workable schedule.

R.

Authors:

We now have six participants and are moving on to the scheduling phase. Please let me know as soon as possible about any conflict not already mentioned. I will be publishing the review schedule in a day or two.

R.

In joining this review group you have agreed to review the books assigned to you on a two month schedule. This group is now in the review phase and is no longer open for sign up.

This is Children's Book 5 - Science Fiction and Fantasy, which can include any books written for children including picture books, chapter books, and middle grade that can be classified as Science Fiction or Fantasy. As with other review groups, you will be expected to read and give an honest review of the books assigned to you. Assignments will be made after the group sign-up has filled.

Participants are expected to post reviews to Goodreads. The review should be posted to Amazon (US and UK) as well, if the book is available there. This makes having accounts with both Goodreads and Amazon.com a requirement.

Contact the authors you are scheduled to review to arrange to receive a review copy of their work. Note that Amazon has made a minor change in how reviews are displayed. As long as a review that is not verified as a purchase is recent, it will be displayed on the book's Amazon page. Once it rolls off, it will still be counted in the ranking of the book, but the link to show more reviews has been modified by Amazon to show only reviews that come from verified purchases. Authors may consider gifting their book to assigned reviewers so that they will qualify as verified purchases. Reviewers may bypass this limitation by offering to purchase the books assigned to them. All of this is voluntary. Authors may still provide review copies for free, and reviewers can still post reviews to Amazon that are not from a verified purchase. This change in Amazon policy has no effect on Goodreads.

Please post to this topic, both when you receive review copies and when you post the reviews.

If you are going to be late with your review, either post to this topic as soon as possible or message the author and the moderator.

If your book has not been reviewed by the deadline for either round, contact the review group moderator. This is necessary to make certain that the review process is fair for everyone.

Note that any participant who makes no effort to fulfill his or her commitment to this group will have all reviews of his or her work resulting from this group deleted and his or her membership in the Genre Specific Review Group will be terminated.


THE AUTHORS AND BOOKS ARE:

1 Gita V. Reddy - Tara and the Giant Queen: A Fantasy in Giant Land

2 G.J. Griffiths - They're Recycling Aliens

3 Sandra R. Andersson - Outside

4 Ellie Firestone - Introducing Super Sporty

5 Bonnie Ferrante - Leya

6 Ronit Tal Shaltiel - WHERE ARE THE NUMBERS ?: THE ADVENTURE OF THE NUMBERS

7 Brian Michaud - The Ring of Carnac


THE ORDER OF REVIEW IS AS FOLLOWS:

April 3 to May 3

Gita V. Reddy reviews Sandra R. Andersson
G.J. Griffiths reviews Brian Michaud
Sandra R. Andersson reviews Bonnie Ferrante
Ellie Firestone reviews Ronit Tal Shaltiel
Bonnie Ferrante reviews Ellie Firestone
Ronit Tal Shaltiel reviews G.J. Griffiths
Brian Michaud reviews Gita V. Reddy

May 3 to June 3

Gita V. Reddy reviews Bonnie Ferrante
G.J. Griffiths reviews Sandra R. Andersson
Sandra R. Andersson reviews Ellie Firestone
Ellie Firestone reviews Brian Michaud
Bonnie Ferrante reviews G.J. Griffiths
Ronit Tal Shaltiel reviews Gita V. Reddy
Brian Michaud reviews Ronit Tal Shaltiel

Authors:

The review schedule has been published in the initial post of this topic. Please contact each other to make arrangements for review copies. Post a comment to this topic, when you obtain your review copies and when you publish your reviews.

R.

Authors:

That filled up quickly. I did not even have to broadcast a message announcing the group.

If there are any conflicts that have not already been noted, please post them to this topic as soon as possible. I will be generating a review schedule in a day or two.

R.

Alex wrote: "Hi, I've just joined the group, and can't find any posts about how it works as far as how many books I would be expected to review in the two month time period. (I'm sure the rules are here somewhe..."

Alex:

The review phase consists of two periods each a month long. Each participant is assigned one book per period to review. When the group is completed, each book should have been reviewed twice, and each author should have reviewed two books.

R.

Authors:

Your voices have been heard. A new Fantasy review group is open for sign up. Read the guidelines and post a link to your author's page and your book's page on Goodreads to sign up.
The address is https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

R.

In joining this review group you have agreed to review the novels assigned to you on a two month schedule. This group is now in the review phase and is no longer open for sign up.

This is Fantasy Review Group 12, which will include all types of books classified as fantasy. In particular, the request this group is based on specified: magic, wizards, witches, dragons, goblins, orkses, sprites, fairies, pixies, trolls and other magical creatures. (Yes, unicorns and mermaids are welcome.) As with other review groups, you will be expected to read and give an honest review of the books assigned to you. Assignments will be made after the group sign-up has filled.

Participants are expected to post reviews to Goodreads. The review should be posted to Amazon (US and UK) as well, if the book is available there. This makes having accounts with both Goodreads and Amazon.com a requirement.

Contact the authors you are scheduled to review to arrange to receive a review copy of their work. Note that Amazon has made a minor change in how reviews are displayed. As long as a review that is not verified as a purchase is recent, it will be displayed on the book's Amazon page. Once it rolls off, it will still be counted in the ranking of the book, but the link to show more reviews has been modified by Amazon to show only reviews that come from verified purchases. Authors may consider gifting their book to assigned reviewers so that they will qualify as verified purchases. Reviewers may bypass this limitation by offering to purchase the books assigned to them. All of this is voluntary. Authors may still provide review copies for free, and reviewers can still post reviews to Amazon that are not from a verified purchase. This change in Amazon policy has no effect on Goodreads.

Please post to this topic, both when you receive review copies and when you post the reviews.

If you are going to be late with your review, either post to this topic as soon as possible or message the author and the moderator.

If your book has not been reviewed by the deadline for either round, contact the review group moderator. This is necessary to make certain that the review process is fair for everyone.

Note that any participant who makes no effort to fulfill his or her commitment to this group will have all reviews of his or her work resulting from this group deleted and his or her membership in the Genre Specific Review Group will be terminated.


THE AUTHORS AND BOOKS ARE:

1 Ben Hammott - A Gathering of Dwarfs: Dead Dragons Gold - Book 1

2 Alistair Potter - The Last Trollid

3 Chrys Cymri - The Temptation of Dragons

4 Marco Marek - Hyperearth

5 Angel Leya - Skye's Lure: A Contemporary Fantasy Romance Mermaid eBook

6 Alex Avrio - The Alchemist's Box


THE ORDER OF REVIEW IS AS FOLLOWS:

March 29 to April 29

Ben Hammott reviews Chrys Cymri
Alistair Potter reviews Marco Marek
Chrys Cymri reviews Alistair Potter
Marco Marek reviews Alex Avrio
Angel Leya reviews Ben Hammott
Alex Avrio reviews Angel Leya

April 29 to May 29

Ben Hammott reviews Alex Avrio
Alistair Potter reviews Ben Hammott
Chrys Cymri reviews Marco Marek
Marco Marek reviews Angel Leya
Angel Leya reviews Alistair Potter
Alex Avrio reviews Chrys Cymri

Joni:

I view androids as a subset of robots. Therefore, the term robot could be used to describe both humanoid and other forms of computer controlled machines. Android should be used to describe only those machines that emulate human features. I think that most readers today have been exposed to these concepts sufficiently to make this distinction.

R.

Christy wrote: "So, I screwed up and sent KT the wrong book - one which is NOT a romance. Totally my fault - same series, different genre. She's asked if she can be excused from posting a review, and I've agreed, ..."

As long as the reviewer and the author have agreed to a resolution and the resolution is noted in a comment to the review group topic, there is no problem.

R.

J.P. wrote: "I know I keep asking this but- is there going to be new non-fiction/memoir group in the future???"

To request a new group, go to the Review Group Request folder and start a new topic. Specify the genre and any other specifications in the topic. If enough members express interest in the group, a moderator will start one. The first topic in this folder is an explanation of how this all works.

R.

Authors:

All reviews except two have been completed. The two authors who were shorted have been contacted to offer them a chance at an Alternate Review. This group is being closed.