BookLife, Publishers Weekly's website and monthly supplement dedicated to self-publishing, has launched BookLife Reviews, a paid reviews service open exclusively to self-published authors.
BookLife Reviews will be written by Publishers Weekly reviewers, but remain distinct from Publishers Weekly reviews. The service is designed to help self-published authors reach readers by providing them with credible and reliable assessments of their work from reviewers with expertise in their genres and styles.
BookLife Reviews differ from Publishers Weekly reviews in that they are longer—approximately 300 words, compared to 200-250 words for a Publishers Weekly review—and are focused on reaching readers rather than booksellers and librarians. Authors are guaranteed to receive a review, and may elect whether to have it published in the monthly BookLife supplement, which is bound into the print edition of Publishers Weekly. Participants will receive their reviews within four to six weeks of submission. Self-published authors are also still invited to submit their books to Publishers Weekly for review consideration at no cost.
Overseeing the program as the director of BookLife Reviews is Rose Fox, who has moved into the role over the past two months after more than a decade as a reviews editor at Publishers Weekly, where they specialized in genre fiction and co-hosted the Publishers Weekly Radio podcast for several years. Fox is also the co-editor of a crowdfunded anthology and has strongly supported reviewing self-published books in PW over the past 10 years, including selecting a self-published romance novel for the 2019 Publishers Weekly Best Books list.
"An honest and detailed review from BookLife Reviews highlights a book’s strengths and analyzes its potential for reaching an audience while giving the author a valuable assessment of ways that future editions or future books can be made even better," Fox said. "Our insights help each author target their marketing efforts to the readers who are most likely going to enjoy their book. Marketing can be complicated and daunting; a BookLife review will help to guide the author through."
