What Writers Read Guidelines…

You must be a professional writer, established in your career and earning the bulk of your income from writing or journalism.
Books reviewed can be either fiction or nonfiction.
In some rare instance where a play or movie script has major literary value, it could be accepted. No guaranty. Contact What Writers Read… first to make your case.
Subject matter is wide-open. Simply, it should fit your definition of a great book.
The book you select to review must have influenced you personally: how you write or was responsible for a major change in your philosophical outlook. It can also be a work you admire for its craftsmanship or is outstanding in its use of language or plot development; of universal social importance (no flavors of the month social causes, or propaganda please). Or simply something that gave you great enjoyment to read and you want to share it with others.
Remember to tell the reader how this book had an impact on you. Make this very explicit.
Your book does not need to be recently published. If there is a work by Cicero or Christopher Marlow that strikes you as important and relevant, then go for it. New books are fair game too.
Do not review a book that is solely digital. Books with eBook versions are ok, but the review copy you work from should be a print book.
Do not review your own book (or parachute a friend in to review it).
Keep your review in the positive realm. This doesn’t mean if a book has a weakness, you can’t point it out. Just don’t go into an all-out trash fest. This is your recommendation for something good to read.
Reviews should be in the 1,000-word range. A few words over or under are fine just so long as they tell the tale, but definitely not War and Peace or Haiku-length. This does not include the book info or bio info.
Submit as a MSWord Doc, in Minion Pro or Times New Roman font, 12-point.
We’re looking for high quality writing, but the technical aspects of your piece should follow either the Canadian Press Style Guide or the Chicago Manual of Style for grammar, spelling, and human relations – dealing with racism, homophobia, nasty words and pronouns.
This is a literary endeavor so avoid sending a piece laden with bullet points.
Feel free to choose your voice. First person and third person are equally fine. Tenses are your choice as well (just don’t get too tense). If the editor is concerned with your choice of voice or tense, we will contact you to discuss the issues.
Avoid telegraphese. Don’t be afraid to create good images and lively prose. These aren’t movie scripts. Books are the on-switch for projector in the cinema of your mind.
Use good quotes to illustrate your points.
No poetry in your copy. Feel free to use elegant language and graceful imagery, but don’t overwhelm the piece. You can review good poetry.
Book info should consist of:
Title
Author
Publisher
Publisher’s email/website
Format (Trade paper, hard cover etc.)
Copyright Date
ISBN #
Number of Pages
Pricing in CDN/USD
In/Out of Print
Provide a digital scan of the cover. It should be 5X7” appr. At 96 PPI and 24-bit colour.
Bio material should be no longer than 65 words and include either the news outlet you work for or latest book. Feel free to include your email/website as an addition if you wish. Please write this in the third person. Include a recent bio picture – make sure it’s recent, we don’t want to have to card you.
Deadlines will be 60 days prior to publication.
Pitch first and write later. We will answer every query expeditiously.
Writers retain copyright to their work. Appearance in “What Writers Read…” is for one-time use only unless otherwise negotiated.
I can be reached at: [email protected] 613-285-7311

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