Hi, I’m Kirsten Kowalewski, editor of Monster Librarian.

Please check out our FAQ before contacting me with a question, because if I’ve already answered it here, I’m just going to tell you to look here anyway, and if I’m emailing you about it then I’m not finding reviewers or editing reviews. Thank you.

If for some reason you don’t find your question answered here, feel free to email me at: monsterlibrarian@monsterlibrarian.com

 

Q:  What genres do you review?

A:  We mainly review horror  and horror-adjacent fiction (this includes paranormal fiction, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, poetry, graphic novels, short story collections and anthologies, and, very occasionally, related nonfiction. We do not review fiction or fiction collections shorter than novella length (17, 500  words as defined by the SFWA). We have separate sections for adult horror, teen horror and paranormal fiction, and scary stories for kids. Please keep this in mind when submitting an inquiry for review. Your legal thriller, true crime novel, time-travel romance, or heartbreaking literary novel may be an incredible piece of writing, but you’ll want to look elsewhere for review.

 

Q:   Can I send you my book/email you my ebook?

A:    Please email us with an inquiry first.

I honestly can’t believe I have to say this, but if you plan to address me by name, spell it correctly, and don’t attempt to use nicknames. 

If you’re an author contacting us directly, please provide us with your name, the name of the book, formats you are willing to provide (see next question for more on that) , and a brief description of the book in your request before sending us anything else. Yes, we have received emails requesting reviews of books that have left out this information.

We pass this information directly on to our reviewers. In most cases, they choose what they want to review based on the information you send us. The description should give us a reasonably good idea of what the book is about. “An ancient evil lurks in the lake” isn’t enough. What kind of evil? Nessie? A mermaid of doom? Cthulu tadpoles? If we receive a book or ebook that we have not solicited or agreed to review, we may not review it.

We will contact you if there is interest in reviewing your book. If you do not hear from us for more than a month you may contact us a second time.

 

Q: What formats do you review?

It depends.  Some of our reviewers can only review physical copies. Most will review .epub or .pdf files.  Rarely, we may accept another file type.

Please, please, please include the formats you are willing to make available as that may affect the likelihood of your book getting reviewed.

If you send a file with an expiration date and it becomes inaccessible, it may not be reviewed.

A note: Many of our reviewers do not use NetGalley or Edelweiss. I forward the copy you send me directly to the person who will be reviewing your book, something I cannot do with NetGalley or Edelweiss. So PLEASE attach your file to an email and send it to me that way. If for some reason the file is too large to email, we’ll work it out. 

 

 

Q:  Do you review children’s books?

A: Absolutely. I am a former children’s librarian and school media specialist and am definitely interested. Children’s books on this site are defined as books aimed at ages 12 and younger and may include picture books, easy readers, early chapter books, nonfiction on horror-related topics, poetry, folklore and fairy tales, and middle grade/tween horror. If you would like a review of a heavily illustrated work such as a picture book plan to send a hard copy. I will not review an electronic copy. At this time I am the only person who reviews titles for this age range, so your review may take a while to be posted. Email me at monsterlibrarian@monsterlibrarian.com .

 

Q:  Do you review ebooks?

A:  Yes, we review ebooks. I’ve mentioned this already above: if you are submitting an ebook, please include information about the format available in your inquiry.  Not all of our reviewers will read ebooks, so you may have to wait longer for a review. If we accept an ebook for review, I will contact you and let you know that we have a reviewer for your book.

Please attach the file to an email and send it to me at monsterlibrarian@monsterlibrarian.com so I can forward it on to the appropriate reviewer. Not all reviewers have NetGalley and Edelweiss accounts, and I cannot forward NetGalley and Edelweiss titles to others. If your file is too big to attach to an email, we will work it out. 

 

Q:  Do you review books by self-published/independent authors?

A: Yes.  However, please respect the time of both our reviewers and our audience. All self-published books should be edited by an objective third party before you request a review.  We prefer that you have a human being look over the book even if you have already run it through an editing computer program. We are not beta readers so make sure you have your best finished copy for us and can provide us with a publication date.

If you submit a book to us that is riddled with errors, we reserve the right to refuse to review the book.  Say that five times fast.

 

Q: Will you give me a positive review? 

A: Good question. Our reviewers are expected to write honest reviews. Make of that what you will.

 

Q: Will you post your review of my book on eleventy billion social media sites?

A: Probably not, unless you specifically ask me to do that really nicely. I will share the review on our Facebook page and on Instagram, but more than that is more than I can do with the time I have.  You are welcome to share the review on social media yourself, though, as long as you credit us. Please feel free to rave about how amazing Monster Librarian is when you do.

 

Q: Will you give me feedback on my book? 

A:  We are a review site. Any feedback you receive will be through the review, once it is published on the site.

 

Q: Will you publish my unsolicited poem or short story?

A:  No. We are a review site, not a publisher.

 

Q: Will you review my individual poem or short story?

A: We do not review individual poems or short stories. We do review poetry collections, short story collections, and novella-length works. By novella-length, we mean the work must be at least 17,500 words long, the criterion provided by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.  Yes, we know science fiction and fantasy are not horror, but to our knowledge the HWA hasn’t provided one specific to the horror genre.

 

Q: Do you review magazines?

A: Occasionally. However, we do not review each individual issue of a magazine. Contact me at monsterlibrarian@monsterlibrarian.com if you have questions.

 

Q:  How long will it take for my book to be read and reviewed?

A:  If we commit to a date, such as when we are asked to participate in a blog tour,  or as part of a special project, then we will do our very best to stick to it.  Otherwise, please understand that we have a considerable backlog and when a book gets reviewed is really dependent on the time and energy our reviewers have available to read and review books. Everyone who contributes to the site is a volunteer,  so please understand I cannot guarantee you a timely review unless I commit to a deadline.

 

Q:  I sent you an email a month ago and never heard back. What’s up?

A:  This is an all-volunteer effort, and sometimes things slip through the cracks. Also, our spam filter has from time to time sent review requests to our spam folder.  It’s also possible that we are trying to find a reviewer for your book before contacting you so you can send it directly to them. If you haven’t heard back from us within a month,  you can send us a second email. Please try to be pleasant, though. We are doing the best we can.

 

Q: Why do you review books that libraries can’t easily get ahold of?

A: Short answer: Because libraries, librarians, and readers will never learn about many great (or not so great) horror titles if all of a library’s books are ordered through a wholesaler like Baker and Taylor or Ingram, or if the reader’s main source for fiction is a retail (or sometimes even online) bookstore. Yes, this IS the short answer. We will provide a longer, more detailed rationale when we have the time and energy to do so. And it will be much longer. You’ll love reading it.  I promise.

 

Q: Where are you based?

A: We are getting more overseas requests, particularly from the UK. Just be aware that we are based in the good old USA. We’ll review books sent to us from other places, but please make sure you have the rights to send it to us here, or contact the U.S. publisher of the book.

 

Q: Do you do interviews/accept guest blog posts?

A: Yes, from time to time. We do not interview everyone who is available for one- again, we are volunteers and we have limited time and energy. I would love to be able to pay people what they’re worth, but that would be impossible– we barely cover our hosting fees.

We don’t accept paid advertising. If you are a writer who can produce quality content on a topic related to the horror genre, like this piece on The Shining  by Elizabeth Eckhart, or a PR executive with a fun idea related to the horror genre that will energize our reviewers and appeal to our audience (like this one,)we would be really interested in seeing your ideas.

Here is where I notify you that, unless otherwise indicated, by writing content for us you are assigning us nonexclusive world rights for that content. That is, we can use your written content, but that does not limit you from using it for your own purposes. If the content was written specifically for us, we request that you include “This was first written for and published at MonsterLibrarian.com” somewhere in your document. We will try to offer you the same courtesy, if you provide us with the information.

 

Q: I’d like to be a reviewer for MonsterLibrarian.com. How does that work?

A:  We are always looking for reviewers.  Email me at monsterlibrarian@monsterlibrarian.com for details. I promise, you’ll totally make my day.

If you write for us, you are assigning Monster Librarian nonexclusive world rights to the material. That is, we can use your written content, but that does not limit you from using it for your own purposes. Out of courtesy, I would appreciate it if you wait until we post it here before sharing it elsewhere.

 

Got a question that wasn’t answered here? Email me at monsterlibrarian.com@monsterlibrarian.com.