What is the most challenging aspect of running a review site?
Finding adequate reviewers who are willing to review in return for e-books and a print every now and then. You have to trust them and be sure that they will not drop out before handing in the review. Because there is no contract (since this is fully voluntary), that is a difficult thing. Keeping up with the high amount of review requests and e-mails is also quite challenging when you have a full time job.
Are you currently recruiting more reviewers? If so, what are your guidelines?
We are constantly searching for new reviewers. Because of the high rate of new e-book review requests we are currently only accepting reviewers that want to review e-books, though. People interested in reviewing for Euro-Reviews can fill out a form on our website with some basic information like how many books they can review for us, what languages they speak, if they’ve reviewed in the past or are currently reviewing elsewhere as well. They also need to write a test review on a book they’ve read, or use a review they’ve done in the past. I see from there if they’ve got what it takes and if they ‘have’ it they can join and start right away.
How should an author contact you about a review request?
We review prints, e-books and (just a few) audiobooks. Authors can contact Euro-Reviews by visiting our website and reading the ‘About Us’ section first so they know who to contact and what information to submit.
How do you select the books you review? How do you determine which reviews to post on your site?
I try to upload as much requests as time allows me to and reviewers can select from that list. I never force someone to read a book they might not like. Everyone likes different genres, some like erotica, others don’t, so I always mention those things clearly so they know what book they are getting. I post all reviews submitted by reviewers unless I find them to be copied off from another site, badly written, or really offensive.
Do you think it’s okay for reviewers to resell the books they review? What about advance review copies?
I think it’s okay to resell prints because you can’t keep all the books if you review a lot - it might just get too crowded. Reselling e-books would be illegal. Advance review copies copies shouldn’t be sold either because they might be slightly different from the actual book and if it’s still unedited it might not do good to the author. Personally I keep all my books, unless they are really bad. The only really bad books I ever got were those I received when I did paid reviews for a (very) short time. The weekly deadline and the awful selection (9 out of 10 of the books were absolutely not my thing) made me quit quite quickly. So those are the only books I ever tried to sell. Nobody wants them though.
Article comments
1 - Margay
What a great interview - I whizzed right through it! I really liked getting to know Eveline and getting an insight into the international world of reviewing. Thanks so much for sharing, Eveline!
2 - Joy Delgado
Mayra,
Interesting review. Evelyn, you made me laugh with your comments about the books you tried to sell. I like the fact that your site is both English and Dutch too.
Joy Delgado
3 - Beverly McClure
Fascinating interview. The weekly column sounds interesting, and I like the idea of sharing stories related to the books and traveling. I know the ideas for a couple of my books came from places I visited.
Thanks for another great one.
Beverly
4 - Pauline Jones
Wow, this review site is new to me. Thanks for highlighting it. :-) Very interesting interview, too.
5 - A. F. Stewart
Great interview. Nice reflections on the reviewing process.
6 - Renee Knowles
Great interview, Eveline! Enjoyed reading about the process and Euro-Reviews!
Renee