Five Guidelines for Authors Requesting Book Reviews

January 5, 2026January 5, 2026Leave a comment

After over a decade of reviewing books, I’ve decided to (finally!) share some guidelines/tips for authors requesting book reviews from bloggers.

Time is Precious—and Limited

Many book bloggers receive boatloads of review request emails. Because reading and answering them all can be time-consuming, a lot of bloggers may put off or simply delete the emails that don’t give them the information they need in one read-through.

Now, different bloggers’ procedures can vary somewhat. If a blogger’s book review policy tells you exactly what to include in your review request email to them, go by that. But if their policy doesn’t give specifics about what your email should include, I’d recommend going by the five guidelines below.

Be Considerate!

1. Check the blogger’s website to see if they share their name. If so, and if you’ll be going on to contact the blogger, greet them by name in your email. Remember, you’re presenting your work to a person—not to an online machine just waiting for books to review. 😀

2. ‎Read the blogger’s review request policy thoroughly. It should give you a pretty good idea if your book and the blogger would be a good fit. (Note: Some authors might think, “This blogger’s policy says they don’t like my genre, but they just don’t know what they’ll be missing if they don’t read my book.” However, it’s actually rude to ask a blogger to review a type of book they specifically say they don’t accept or want.) It’ll save valuable time for both you and book bloggers if you focus on finding and contacting those whose genre and/or content guidelines your book meets.

3. Respect the blogger’s schedule. If the blogger says they’re swamped with books and they’re currently scheduling reviews six months out, don’t ask them to squeeze in a book review for you in two weeks. Or if a blogger says they’re not currently accepting review requests, respect that.

Minimum of Book Info

4. Give the blogger the information they need right off the bat. Your email should include all of the following details about your book:

• the title
• your author name—exactly as it will appear on the book cover and on bookstore websites
• the book’s genre
• the book’s length
• the book format(s) you’re offering for review
• the date or date range when you’d like the review, if you’ll need it by a specific time
• the book blurb/description, as it will appear on bookstore websites
• a direct link to your book online—on Goodreads, for instance (and be advised that some bloggers who include book cover images in their reviews won’t agree to review a book until they see the style and quality of the book cover design)

Again, Because the Blogger is a Person…

5. At the end of your email, be sure to thank the blogger for their consideration.

There you have ’em! Now, all the best to authors and book bloggers alike as we do the bookish things. 🙂

If Jesus Christ Were a Christian Fiction Author Today

April 18, 2025April 16, 20252 Comments

This isn’t at all my first time talking about the parables, the fictional stories, told by Christ the storyteller. But this time, I’m not asking how today’s Christian fiction readers might have viewed Jesus’ stories “back then.”

We’re centuries upon centuries removed from those ancient Bible times. Because we’re so far away from having to actually live in the reality of those times, many Christians may find it pretty easy to imagine themselves accepting Jesus if they met Him back then. Imagining themselves loving Him and seeking out His ministry, hearing and believing His words, and following His guidance as the Good Shepherd.

I’m guessing it’s what many professing and/or devout believers would naturally imagine about meeting and being in face-to-face relationship with the One Whose name they proclaim. I think a lot of Christians would imagine that having Christ around in the flesh today would even make it easier to accept and follow Him.

Because, hey. Human nature seeks tangibility, and Jesus Himself would be right here. In person.

It may not be as easy or comfortable for Christians to imagine themselves possibly being among the many who wound up rejecting Jesus when they did have Him right there. In person. It may not be as convenient for professing and/or devout believers to remember that it was many of the professing and/or devoutly religious people in Jesus’ time who rejected Him—because He didn’t fit that well into the religious framework they’d constructed.

• They talked down on Jesus for visiting and eating and drinking with sinners
(Luke 5:27-32, 15:1-2)
• They said that Jesus’ miraculous power was demonic
(Luke 11:14-15, Matthew 12:22-24)
• They criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath
(Luke 13:10-17)
• A fierce mob of people, led by religious leaders, claimed that Jesus was “perverting the nation,” and the mob lifted loud voices, demanding that Jesus be crucified
(Luke 22:47-71, 23:1-25)

That isn’t an exhaustive list of the instances when the religious people around Jesus didn’t accept or understand Him. But it gives an overall idea of what I’m talking about.

I think a lot of dedicated Christians don’t necessarily wish to imagine themselves participating or being complicit with the mob that screamed, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Or, at the least, Christians probably wouldn’t wish to think of themselves saying, “We heard Jesus is supposed to be a rabbi or a prophet. Some are even saying he’s the Messiah. But he doesn’t make enough sense for that.”

One key way that Jesus didn’t make sense to people was through His storytelling.

Again, I’m pointing out that Christ the storyteller spoke in parables. Occasionally, He’d literally mention God or prayer in the stories, but usually, He didn’t. While conveying truths through telling stories about common things, Christ sometimes explained the stories’ spiritual significance. Other times, He didn’t.

He told His disciples the purpose of His storytelling (Matthew 13:10-17), showing that being able to recognize God in a story, a situation, etc. depends on the condition of one’s heart. Christ also indicated that His disciples should have been growing in understanding, not always needing Him to spell out explanations of parables (Matthew 15:15-17).

“Are you still lacking in understanding?” He asked His disciples—because they should have started learning by then to discern the character of God, even without the kind of religious language or pointers they might have come to expect.

Well. I’ve often addressed how a lot of Christian fiction readers are looking for content like prayers, discussions about God, verses of Scripture, etc. in Christian fiction reads. As I have before, I’ll reiterate that there’s nothing wrong with being blessed by stories like that. I say that as an adult who’s been reading ChristFic for decades, since her preteens.

Still, during the time since I’ve gone from simply reading ChristFic on my own to being active in the ChristFic community, I’ve heard a lot of readers say that when stories are labeled as Christian fiction but they don’t include content like prayers, discussions about God, verses of Scripture, salvation messages, etc., then those stories may be “clean, but they’re not Christian.” Or they’re at least “not Christian enough” to really belong in the Christian fiction genre.

Now, again, although I’ve done so before, I’m not asking this time for today’s Christian fiction readers to imagine how they would have taken Jesus’ stories if they’d heard Him way “back then.” Back in the Bible days that we hear about so much, but we’re far away from living in the reality of those days.

The reality we’re living in is now. So, this time I’m asking Christian fiction readers to consider: What if we did have Christ the storyteller right here in person, in the present day?

What if He came authoring fiction in the way He already has, usually without literal mentions of God or prayer and such in the stories, and without always including explanations of the stories’ spiritual significance?

Would the religious framework you’ve constructed about Christian fiction have room to accept and embrace Christ’s stories?

And, no, I don’t mean would you accept and embrace His stories if He made a big announcement: “Hey, everybody, I’m Jesus Christ! Here’s my I.D. and some free fishes and loaves to prove it!”

No, I mean without an easy announcement or endorsement identifying exactly Who this author is—if instead it were up to ChristFic readers to discern the character of God through the author’s storytelling about common things…

Would a lot of Christian readers wind up rejecting Jesus’ fiction? Would they say that because the stories don’t tick certain ChristFic boxes—because the stories aren’t written with the kind of religious language and pointers those readers have come to expect—then it means those stories aren’t “Christian enough” for the Christian fiction category?

While Christians have essentially put His name on this genre of fiction, I wonder how well Jesus Christ would actually fit as an author in this genre.

It’s worth thinking about.

For Further Consideration

Some who’ve read through this post may think, “But it isn’t a very relevant scenario, to imagine Jesus like a modern-day author. The post says the reality we’re living in is now, right? Well, the reality is that Jesus Christ isn’t a Christian fiction author today. He isn’t one of today’s readers either—readers who need novels that are written to bring people closer to Him.”

However, considering Christ like a modern-day author is definitely a relevant scenario. Why? Because in Matthew 25:31-46, Christ pointed out that how we treat others in need is how we’re treating Him. “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” (Matthew 25:40, NKJV)

So, it’s relevant to consider how the Christian fiction community treats readers who need—and authors who write—stories like the parabolic ones Christ told.