For Reviewers

We’re looking for well-written reviews of books by, for, and about women, author-published or published by small, independent, or university presses. (No, you do not have to be a member of the Story Circle Network to submit a book review—but you are very welcome to join us.) We prefer reviews of trade paper or hardcover books published in print format in the past two years; only rarely do we publish reviews of mass market genre fiction. We mostly publish reviews by members of our team but occasionally accept unsolicited reviews. If you would  like to submit a review of a book and you are not yet a member of our review team, please email teresa@storycircle.org.

If you are a member of the Story Circle Review Team, please log in (you’ll be returned to this page after logging in) to submit your review via our online book review submission form.

We are currently rebuilding our team and looking for writers who would like to earn a few gold stars for their literary citizenship badge. We work with new reviewers to ensure that their submissions are editorially acceptable. If you would like to be considered, please email teresa@storycircle.org. Reviewers select books from our available books. We will also add you to our email list and let you know when we receive new books that might interest you. 

1. Length. Please keep your review to about 600 words. We may edit your review for length, clarity, or style, or return it to you with suggestions for revision. Proofread your work, please. We will return reviews that require substantial editing. We may also change the category to which you have assigned the book.
2. Positive/negative reviews. Review copies are prescreened. It is our policy to present books that readers are likely to enjoy and learn from. If you find that you cannot review a book positively (that is, if you cannot give it at least at least three stars on Amazon), please contact the editors. If you receive a book with many editorial problems, you may either refuse to review it and tell us why; or, review the book, but reduce your star rating accordingly and include a sentence or two indicating the reason. (Example: The story is well-told and timely, but the book needed more professional editing.)
3. Submission. Submit all reviews via our online book review submission form (below).
4. Rights. When you submit a review to us, you are giving us first-time rights to publish it on our website. You retain the copyright to your work and are free to publish it elsewhere after it has appeared on our site, with this credit, This review was originally published at Story Circle Book Reviews, and a link back to our page on which your review appeared. If you wish to submit a review that has previously appeared elsewhere, or if you have questions about exceptions to this policy, please contact the editors.
5. Posting your review elsewhere. If we sent you the book, your review should first appear on our website. After we have notified the book’s author/publisher of the review posting, you may post elsewhere, with appropriate credit.
6. Posting on Substack, Amazon, and Goodreads. Unless you tell us not to, we may publish your review on our Substack. We will post your review on Amazon and Goodreads. If there are already 30 or more reviews of the book already posted on Amazon, or for other editorial reasons, we may choose not to post yours. In that case, you are free to post it.
7. SCN Journal publication. You are also giving us one-time, non-exclusive rights to print your review in the Story Circle Journal.
8. Contacting the author. You are asked NOT to contact the author before or while you write the review. The editors will notify the author/publisher of your review and forward their responses to you.
9. Reviewing a book by a friend or acquaintance. Ethical standards for reviewers require that you disclose any relationship you have or have had with the author, the publisher, or the subject of a book you’re reviewing. We do not usually publish reviews by members who participate in an SCN group with the author.
10. Requesting review copies. Reviewers may request up to two books at a time. (First-time reviewers may request one.) Reviews should be completed within six weeks after receiving the book.
11. Suggesting a book for review. If you’ve seen a book that is suitable for an SCBR review and you would like to review it or believe it should be added to our available review books, email the editors with your suggestion and a link to the book on Amazon or the author’s website.