Group 270. Out of this World - Mod. E.M.

[E.M.]

The review group is the most successful group for peer reviews on goodreads. It hosts non-reciprocal reading/review rounds of ten authors with a variety of themes and genres, as well as ‘general’ rounds where any book is permitted, from non-fiction, to horror. When a round has ‘now forming’ in the title, there are places available, you can sign up. If it doesn’t, it’s full – look for another round or check back another time.

The Amazon rules state that authors/publishers are not allowed to specifically supply published books in return for reviews on Amazon. To comply with this rule, we don’t insist members review on Amazon, but we do insist that every participant in the round has the capacity to leave a review on their local Amazon store, so we all start with the same options.

The founding principle of the group is honest, non-reciprocal reviews, so please help maintain the integrity of the group by letting me know as you sign up if you have been reviewed by, or have reviewed another author in the group and do check back as the group fills to report any clashes. Usually places are allocated on a first come, first served basis.

This is an 'Out of this World' round
Fiction books classified as sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian, paranormal.

Please note it is always possible that the books you are assigned may contain material you find upsetting or offensive. If you can't commit to this, please do not sign up.

Now for the boring stuff, but please read it, it saves a lot of time if everyone is on the same wavelength.
Before signing up below with your Goodreads author and Goodreads book link in the thread below, please ensure that:

1. You have enough time to read and review 4 books within the 12 weeks of time allowed.

2. Your book is currently available for sale on Amazon (not pre-order) and it complies with the individual round theme, if there is one.

3. Your book is fit to be reviewed.
If it is not, due to editing or other issues, you risk poor reviews. This is your problem, not that of the reviewers or the groups. For a small fee, the group admin will look at the first few pages of your book to advise. The number one error new authors make is not having their book beta read and edited, by non-family members.

4. You can submit reviews to Goodreads and Amazon.
Amazon allows only those people who have spent $50 in the last year to leave reviews in each of their stores. If you are unsure about your Amazon reviewer status, try posting a ‘test’ review before signing up. If you are unable to post reviews on Amazon, please do not sign up.

5. You can provide (and accept) at least PDF files.
You are not expected or required to buy the books you are allocated to review, but as this will give a ‘Verified Purchase’ review on Amazon, it is welcomed when you choose to do so. Many authors have books available via KU and others might provide smashwords coupons. Most authors can provide mobi and/or epub files directly by email. Please note: International Copyright laws apply. You cannot sell, or give away material you have received without the author’s express permission.

6. You have completed your reading if you are currently in another review round in this group. You can be involved in the ‘one for one’ list whilst you are in a round.

7. You have an author profile set up before you join.

8. Your Goodreads profile allows people to message you, i.e. your profile is not set to private.

9. You declare any relationship you have with another member in the round.
Amazon will not allow reviews from the same household on the same book or if you are an editor, relative or close friend of another member.

10. You agree that your reviews will be unbiased and honest, whatever the star rating, and you will try to avoid ‘spoilers’. i.e. giving away the finale of a book. Please note the Review Group will back any reviewer's right to express their opinion about a book, but personal comments about a fellow author are against both Review Group and Goodreads policy.

11. You will not ask a fellow author to change a review of your book because you don’t agree with it.
If you think you have a legitimate concern, talk to the mod of your round, NOT the other author. Personal attacks, or pressurising other members WILL NOT BE TOLERATED and will result in you being blacklisted.

Please note:
We all want reviews, it’s why we joined the group. It is bad taste to expect other people to review your book and then not do the same for other people in the group. People that DNF and/or don’t post reviews will find it difficult to get into a subsequent group.

It is not necessary to leave any kind of disclaimer in your review, but ultimately, it is up to individuals. Reviews that state you received a copy ‘in return’ for a review will probably be removed/not allowed by amazon.com. ‘I received a free copy from the author without an obligation to review’ would be more acceptable if you feel the need to add a disclaimer.

Your Goodreads details and the rounds you participate in may be recorded by the admin mod on a database. We do not retain details of email addresses etc.

Allocation is entirely random and there will NOT be any rearranging of the listing to accommodate personal preference. The ONLY circumstance in which you may duck out of giving a review is if YOU provide a stand-in reviewer.

The only way this group can function is if we trust each other to behave honourably. And it IS perfectly possible to give a fair-minded review of a text that does not coincide with our normal choice of reading matter. If you need a few hints/tips, please see this thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I will do my best to fit everyone into the group they request, but occasionally, particularly in the case of our more prolific good standing members, I may have to decline a member request to fit the maximum number of people into a particular round. I will always endeavour to start another round as soon as possible with that member in mind.

It is permissible to review an author more than once if a different book is available.
If you need anything clarified please ask, either by goodreads personal message to me or on the thread below, before signing up. It’s a pain to have to keep rearranging the list because people haven’t read the above.

Your group moderator will be:
E.M. Swift-Hook


Member Links
1. Phillip Murrell
2. J.S. Fernandez Morales
3. E.M. Swift-Hook
4. W.D. Attenborough
5. Mark Huntley-James (Carro)
6. Neil Carstairs
7. Loralee Evans
8. Bruce Pedersen
9. Angela Panayotopulos
10. Ron Starke

Book Links
1. Trophy Hunters
2. The Lost Signal
3. Trust a Few
4. Aldric Oak & The Illumia
5. Streamrider
6. The Other Side of Winter
7. Kits and Cubbyholes
8. The Eighth Stone
9. The Wake Up
10. Slab Steele and the Venusian Exchange

[Phillip]

I would like to join with Trophy Hunters.

Phillip Murrell

[J.S.]

Hi! I would like to join with the The Lost Signal
Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

[E.M.]

I'm in with Trust a Few

Clashes so far - Philip has read me before.

[E.M.]

Welcome Philip and J.S. - please keep checking back to update me with any clashes as we fill the group. :)

[W.D.]

I will give it a go with:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

[E.M.]

Welcome W.D. - glad you have joined us and as you are new to these rounds, do please take the time to read through what you are committing to in the opening post of this thread. If any of it causes you any issue you can ask here or PM me :)

[Ron]

I'd like take another whack at this with: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

And I have read E.M. before.

[E.M.]

Welcome Ron - do keep checking in to be sure you have no other clashes as we fill :)

[Angela]

I'd love to join with my dark/dystopian fantasy THE WAKE UP (alternatively I've got THE ART OF WAR for those who've read it). So far I've read a few books by E.M. (am open to others!), one book by Phillip M. (but not the one listed above), and that's it for now. :)

[E.M.]

Welcome Angela -please keep checking back for any further clashes :)

[Carro]

hi
On behalf of my other half Mark Huntley-James - I'd like to join in with Streamrider - space opera.

So far I have reviewed books by Sanam Asif, Peter Martinuec, Thomas A Burns Jr and Miriam Yvette (not currently on the list)

Mark has not been reviewed by anyone currently on the list.

[E.M.]

Welcome Carro.

[Phillip]

To update my conflicts. I have read E.M. and Angela has read me. Both are currently in complementary positions.

[E.M.]

Phillip wrote: "To update my conflicts. I have read E.M. and Angela has read me. Both are currently in complementary positions."

Thanks for that Philip :)

[Loralee, Admin]

I'd like to join, if I could with my middle grade time travel novella.

E.M. has read me before, but not this book. I have read 1 book of Angela's before, but she has more, and I could read one of them.

No other conflicts so far.

Author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

[E.M.]

Welcome Loralee. Do keep checking back for clashes :)

[W.D.]

E.M. wrote: "Welcome W.D. - glad you have joined us and as you are new to these rounds, do please take the time to read through what you are committing to in the opening post of this thread. If any of it causes..."
Hi E.M. thank you for the heads up on the new group forming. I have read everything and looks good to me. I will be happy to support any member with their writing as I can. Looking forward to reading from members of the group.

[Bruce]

I'd like to join with my fantasy book, The Eighth Stone.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...



I'm new at this, so no conflicts. Many thanks

[E.M.]

Welcome Bruce - glad you have joined us and since you are new, please check you have read the OP and can fulfil on all the expectations of the group. Any questions, problems please post here or PM me :)

[Neil]

Hi EM

It's been a while since I took part in a review round, as far as I can see I have read and reviewed Loralee before, but not the book she has submitted

My offering is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

Author profile https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

[E.M.]

Welcome Neil - and welcome back :)

Everyone - I need you to post and tell me you have no clashes. This means I need to know you have never reviewed the four people 'above' you (the list wraps so 10 is above 1) and if you have reviewed the 4 people 'below' you, that they have another book you can review currently available. If you meet these requirements please post that you are good to go, if not and you do have a clash, please tell me what it is.

You can check if you have reviewed anyone before by going to your reviews, clicking the 'Author' heading to get them in alphabetical author order, and then checking through to see. You can check if someone has reviewed you in the same way through looking at their profile.

Once the vast majority of the group has reported in clash free, we can move onto the review stage.

[Loralee, Admin]

I am clash free.

[J.S.]

Clash free as well!

[Ron]

Clash free here.

[W.D.]

Clash free

[Phillip]

My only clash is I've already ready Trust a Few. I see there are plenty of alternatives. I could read the sequel, but I think The Fated Sky is probably a better fit for me.

[Neil]

clash free

[Carro]

Clash free

[Angela]

Good to go as well! :)

[Bruce]

Clash free, and have read all the rules. Looking forward to it.

[E.M.]

Looks like we are ready to roll then :)

START DATE: 04-Nov-20

END DATE: 27-Jan-21

Round 1 – post your review by 25-Nov-20
Round 2 – post your review by 16-Dec-20
Round 3– post your review by 06-Jan-21
Round 4 – post your review by 27-Jan-21

As AUTHORS you SEND your book file to:

270-01__Phillip Murrell
Ron Starke for round 1
Angela Panayotopulos for round 2
Bruce Pedersen for round 3
Loralee Evans for round 4

270-02__J.S. Fernandez Morales
Phillip Murrell for round 1
Ron Starke for round 2
Angela Panayotopulos for round 3
Bruce Pedersen for round 4

270-03__E.M. Swift-Hook
J.S. Fernandez Morales for round 1
Phillip Murrell for round 2
Ron Starke for round 3
Angela Panayotopulos for round 4

270-04__ W.D. Attenborough
E.M. Swift-Hook for round 1
J.S. Fernandez Morales for round 2
Phillip Murrell for round 3
Ron Starke for round 4

270-05__ Mark Huntley-James (Carro)
W.D. Attenborough for round 1
E.M. Swift-Hook for round 2
J.S. Fernandez Morales for round 3
Phillip Murrell for round 4

270-06__ Neil Carstairs
Mark Huntley-James (Carro) for round 1
W.D. Attenborough for round 2
E.M. Swift-Hook for round 3
J.S. Fernandez Morales for round 4

270-07__ Loralee Evans
Neil Carstairs for round 1
Mark Huntley-James (Carro) for round 2
W.D. Attenborough for round 3
E.M. Swift-Hook for round 4

270-08__ Bruce Pedersen
Loralee Evans for round 1
Neil Carstairs for round 2
Mark Huntley-James (Carro) for round 3
W.D. Attenborough for round 4

270-09__ Angela Panayotopulos
Bruce Pedersen for round 1
Loralee Evans for round 2
Neil Carstairs for round 3
Mark Huntley-James (Carro) for round 4

270-10__ Ron Starke
Angela Panayotopulos for round 1
Bruce Pedersen for round 2
Loralee Evans for round 3
Neil Carstairs for round 4

As REVIEWERS you will receive books for review from:

270-01__Phillip Murrell
J.S. Fernandez Morales for round 1
E.M. Swift-Hook for round 2
W.D. Attenborough for round 3
Mark Huntley-James (Carro) for round 4

270-02__J.S. Fernandez Morales
E.M. Swift-Hook for round 1
W.D. Attenborough for round 2
Mark Huntley-James (Carro) for round 3
Neil Carstairs for round 4

270-03__E.M. Swift-Hook
W.D. Attenborough for round 1
Mark Huntley-James (Carro) for round 2
Neil Carstairs for round 3
Loralee Evans for round 4

270-04__ W.D. Attenborough
Mark Huntley-James (Carro) for round 1
Neil Carstairs for round 2
Loralee Evans for round 3
Bruce Pedersen for round 4

270-05__ Mark Huntley-James (Carro)
Neil Carstairs for round 1
Loralee Evans for round 2
Bruce Pedersen for round 3
Angela Panayotopulos for round 4

270-06__ Neil Carstairs
Loralee Evans for round 1
Bruce Pedersen for round 2
Angela Panayotopulos for round 3
Ron Starke for round 4

270-07__ Loralee Evans
Bruce Pedersen for round 1
Angela Panayotopulos for round 2
Ron Starke for round 3
Phillip Murrell for round 4

270-08__ Bruce Pedersen
Angela Panayotopulos for round 1
Ron Starke for round 2
Phillip Murrell for round 3
J.S. Fernandez Morales for round 4

270-09__ Angela Panayotopulos
Ron Starke for round 1
Phillip Murrell for round 2
J.S. Fernandez Morales for round 3
E.M. Swift-Hook for round 4

270-10__ Ron Starke
Phillip Murrell for round 1
J.S. Fernandez Morales for round 2
E.M. Swift-Hook for round 3
W.D. Attenborough for round 4


Please remember the commitment you are making to your fellow group members. If you pull out after the start date for any reason it is the other members who will be faced with the problem of finding a replacement, or missing out on reads/reviews, through no fault of their own. Please don’t ask the moderators to chase after replacements as we just don’t have the time.

It is the responsibility of the author to get their book to their readers in a format the reviewer can manage. Everyone must be able to provide and accept PDF. You may buy or borrow the books you are due to read if you wish, and I’m sure the author will appreciate the verified review, but IT IS NOT COMPULSORY. There are no set dates for the start of each round. You can each work at your own pace, within the limits of the round deadlines.

All reviews must be posted to GR. We also encourage members to post on Amazon. When you have posted your reviews, please post the links to each of your reviews, not the book page in this thread.
The mod of each round will record whether members have posted reviews on Amazon and for the good of all, members who persistently fail to post reviews or DNF reviews to Amazon, will find mods less than willing to add them to subsequent groups.

Postings to other sites are by agreement by both author and reviewer.

If I’ve missed something that results in you being asked to review someone who has already reviewed you, please let me know asap.

To exchange book files, my advice is to use PM to give email addresses to each other (save the chance of spammers getting your addies from this open forum).

Setting up and modding these rounds is a labour of love, with a lot of emphasis on the ‘labour’. If you want to show appreciation for all the hard work we admins put in for the group, you could download one of our books as a ‘thank you’.

Happy reviewing, everyone :)

[E.M.]

Please read this especially if you are new to these review rounds.

Quick 'start-up' summary for anyone new who might be scratching their heads. You are reviewing the four books 'below' you on the list.

You can, of course, choose to buy any or all of the books or read the books on KU, if you are a subscriber and the books are available there. If you can buy it adds weight to your review as it gives the 'Verified Purchase' stamp on Amazon.

However, as not everyone can buy, you should PM the four people who will be reviewing you (the four above you on the original list of names) through their Goodreads author pages. Click on the down arrow beside the 'Follow Author' button under their picture and it opens a menu which will allow you to message them.

Ask what kind of file they would like or say you can only offer PDF, though unless a publisher uploaded it for you, you can always download a .mobi of your own book from Amazon.

Don't forget to ask where to send it so they can give you their email.

The four people who you are reviewing should be in touch with you in a similar way.

Please make sure you have exchanged ALL FOUR books - or have been assured by your reviewers they will buy your book or read it through KU - as soon as possible. Some people read fast and it can be very frustrating to have to wait a long time to get hold of a book you are committed to review.
Don't forget to post the links to your reviews here so you can be signed off for them.

Please post your review to Goodreads, your own Amazon store and any other Amazon stores you might have access to as well.

I shall be modding this round so PM me with any issues please.

[E.M.]

W.D., Carro, Neil, and Loralee - I have already acquired the books direct from the Zon through KU or purchase. No need to get in touch :)

I am looking forward to the reads!

[E.M.]

Phillip wrote: "My only clash is I've already ready Trust a Few. I see there are plenty of alternatives. I could read the sequel, but I think The Fated Sky is probably a better fit for me."

If you like the look of The Fated Sky over Edge of Doom, please feel free to go with that.

[Ron]

EM, I mentioned this when I joined, but I have reviewed Trust a Few before. Is there another book you'd prefer?

[Neil]

E.M. wrote: "W.D., Carro, Neil, and Loralee - I have already acquired the books direct from the Zon through KU or purchase. No need to get in touch :)

I am looking forward to the reads!"

Thanks, EM.

I can let Loralee, Bruce, Angela, and Ron know that I have got hold of their books through Amazon as well.

[E.M.]

Ron wrote: "EM, I mentioned this when I joined, but I have reviewed Trust a Few before. Is there another book you'd prefer?"

I would suggest Edge of Doom as that continues the story from the end of Trust A Few.

[Ron]

Will do.

I'll also be picking up any of the books assigned to me. No need to send message.

[E.M.]

Ron wrote: "Will do.

I'll also be picking up any of the books assigned to me. No need to send message."

Most kind, thank you, Ron.

[J.S.]

I'll also be picking up the books through kindle. No need to send them! :)

[Bruce]

I'll also pick up my books direct from Amazon, happy to add to everyone's sales figures :-)

[E.M.]

Thanks J.S. and Bruce :)

[Carro]

Streamrider all sorted to reviewers. Two doing KU, two acknowledged receipt.

I have received my round 1 book.

[Angela]

Thanks Neil and Bruce. :)

[Carro]

Thanks all. I have now received all 4 review books and they all open fine on my Android. So I'm all set up.

[Phillip]

Here is my review for The Lost Signal.

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/review/R3D3LEY...

[J.S.]

Phillip wrote: "Here is my review for The Lost Signal.

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/review/..."

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

[Phillip]

Here is my review for The Fated Sky.

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/review/REN1P3I...

[Phillip]

J.S. wrote: "Thanks for reading and reviewing!"

You're welcome. Thank you for writing and participating in the group.