The document provides information about book reviewing for publishers. It explains that publishers will send books for free to reviewers and the reviewers keep the books after writing a public review. Reviewers are expected to objectively describe the book, discuss what works and doesn't work, and share their opinion without needing to say if a book is outright good or bad. The goal of the review is to be useful for potential buyers.

1. 1
Book Reviewing
FOR
DUMMIES
Adam John Trickett
www.iredale.net
adam.trickett@iredale.net
PGP Key: 0xAF0DB8C8
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

2. 2
The Publishers
• Apress & friends of ED
• O'Reilly Media
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

3. 3
The Deal
• They send us books for free
• We review them properly and post the review
in public view
• We keep the book
• They sell lots of books
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

4. 4
What Books?
• New books, usually less than 12 months old
• Don't have many reviews already
• Smaller niche topics
• Expected to be a big seller
• Ones we ask for
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

5. 5
What is a review?
• Describe the book
• Beginner level guide to foo
• Explain how it works
• Three sections
• Code examples and Q&A section
• Objective observations
• Has code errors
• Errata page is correct
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

6. 6
Subjective Bits
• Do not just say it's good or bad
• Say why it's good or bad
• Your opinion is only valid if the reader of the
review understands what you are saying and
who you are!
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

7. 7
Do I have to be nice?
NO
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

8. 8
Do I have to be nice?
You just need to
write a useful review
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

9. 9
In Summary
• Fred says “Begging Foo is good/bad do/don't
buy it”
• Fred knows Foo well because he said so
• He showed several examples where the book is
excellent/wrong
• He said key bits were included/missed
• It's a bargain/silly price
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

10. 10
The Review
• Belongs to you, you own the copyright
• The publisher needs it in the public eye
• The LUG web site
• Amazon.co.uk and other book sites
• Any community web site or podcast
• They do want permission to quote from it
• They need to know it's been done
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

11. 11
The Contract
• You write a review
• We (the LUG) publish it
• You get to keep the book
• BUT
• If you don't write an acceptable review in a timely
fashion, you return the book
• You are prepared to lend the book after you
reviewed it
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

12. 12
Links
• http://www.hants.lug.org.uk/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?BookReviews/FAQ
• http://apress.com/community/writeareview
• http://ug.oreilly.com/bookreviews.html
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.

13. 13
Thank You
Any
Questions?
Version 1.0.1 © Adam Trickett, September-2009 Distributed under a creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence.