RULES - PLEASE READ THESE FIRST BEFORE SUBMISSION

[Attila]

Welcome to the Short Stories section of the Swap Reviews group!

This review group works almost the same as the main group, but because of the nature of short stories, there are some differences. Please read these rules before posting your book or choosing a book from the pool.

Step 1: Find out if your book is eligible to participate in this pool. There is usually confusion about what a short story is. As a general rule, in this group, we accept books that are less than 25000 words OR can be read by an average adult in a maximum of 1 (one) hour. As a first step, please post your book in the [Is my book eligible?] thread, tell us how long it is, and if it’s longer than 25000 words, tell us why it can be read in an hour. (For example: “it’s a picture book that you can flip through fast,” or “it’s a Choose Your Own Adventure type book where you only read ¼ of the book” etc.) Please note that a collection of short stories is usually not accepted in this group because the total number of words in such books is closer to a full-length novel. Before doing anything else, please post your book in the [Is my book eligible? (Step 1)] thread, even if it’s clear that it fits the requirements. It’s a terrible feeling to put in the work of reviewing someone else’s book, only to find out that your own book is not even eligible to participate! I want to avoid this at all cost. :) So step 1: post your book in the [Is my book eligible? (Step 1)] thread! To make sure that you have actually read the rules, please write two numbers in the above thread, along with your book details. The first number you should write is nine hundred and seventy-three.

Once we’re sure your book can participate, the rest is pretty much the same as the main group. You must read and review a book from the Short Stories review pool prior to having your book placed in the pool to be reviewed.

Step 2: Choose a book from the [Short Stories Review Pool] thread. No reciprocal reviews! Please do not choose a book by someone who has already written a review for one of your books. Even if it was outside of this review group. Reciprocal reviews are frowned upon and usually deleted by Amazon. Provide your email address and the format you require so that the author can send the book to you. Do not pick a book that has already been chosen! Also, please pick only one book at a time! (This will be changed to more than one book, once we have a reasonable amount of books in the pool.) You may pick a book that has already been chosen, but only after all of the books have been picked, and there are no more to choose from. This means that if your book is placed in the pool, you may get more than one review. Once the pool is closed, however, you would need to review another book to get placed in the current pool. (And if you wanted a different book in the pool, you would have to do another review.)

If you are not able to post the review on amazon.com, you need to let us know! The author will decide if he or she is okay with a review elsewhere. If they do not accept a review elsewhere, and you are not able to post your review on amazon.com, then we will not be able to credit you for that review!

Step 3: Read and review the book you have chosen, and post the review on Amazon and Goodreads within one week. (This pool has short stories that can be read in an hour. One week should be more than enough time. Let’s keep things flowing. :))

Step 4: Post the link to both your Goodreads review and your Amazon review in the [Include my book in the Short Story review pool] thread. Then provide the name of the book you would like reviewed. This should be a book that was accepted in step 1! The name of the book is enough here, we should have all other details from step 1.

Step 5: Once your book is listed in the current Short Stories Review Pool and someone chooses your book, please be sure to send it over! Try to keep an eye on the thread. The mods will probably send out messages as well.

*The review guidelines are the same ones that are required by members of this group. We are all trying to help each other, not hurt one another. While all reviews should be honest and constructive criticism is certainly acceptable, please make sure you are respectful as well. If you are going to write something negative, find something positive to write about too. The sandwich method works well: start out with something positive, provide some constructive criticism (only if you feel it is worth mentioning), and then end on a positive note. Make sure you write a thorough review with at least three paragraphs. Please do not just summarize the book. Explain any thoughts and feelings that you had while reading it. If you can't find anything positive to say, you may want to email the author (or PM one of the mods if you feel uncomfortable) and provide your review with your reasoning on why you didn't like it. You may still choose to post it since it is your right to do so (we can't all like every book), but it would be preferable if you chose not to. However, please do not say anything negative about the author or completely bash the book. If you do, we will remove you from the group.

If your review is too negative to post, don't post it. Please, send it to one of the mods privately. We will still include your book in the pool. Your review does not have to be positive. It just has to be honest! By receiving your review privately, we will see that you truly did read the book. However, if we feel that anyone is being dishonest, we will not include his/her book in the pool.

Remember from above that you need to write two numbers along with the book details? The second number is five hundred and seventy-seven.

If you find out early on that the book is not to your liking and you would prefer not to finish it, let one of the mods know. The book can be returned to the current pool, and you can choose another one. One of the benefits to this system is that it will allow more flexibility. No one will get stuck with a book they aren't interested in. And of course, the primary benefit is that people won't get reviews unless they give one first! If someone doesn't follow through with a review, then the book can easily be placed in the current pool so that it can be reviewed by someone else. Please make sure you let a mod know if you don't receive your review. One of us will send a message to the reviewer, and if we don't hear back or if he/she is unable to review it, we will add your book to the current pool.

Any suggestions, comments, and/or questions are welcome. Please post these in the [Questions about the rules] thread. Thank you!