Book Post Media Q & A
Dear Book Professional,
We at Book Post are eager to hear about your new titles! Our goal with Book Post is to bring books coverage to a broader reading public, and we welcome your support and news of your work. (Booksellers, scroll down!)
Read more about Book Post here. Read more about me, the editor, here.
Publishers: What are we looking for?
We are anxious to have highlighted for us the titles that you think have a persuasive claim on the general reader—not necessarily bestsellers, but those books that you think combine strong literary or analytic merit with general appeal. In fiction: Who might be the next Margaret Atwood or Toni Morrison or Richard Powers? In nonfiction, who has really delivered on the promise of their subject? We do not review many books and our labor is to identify those that stand out.
Advance material
We work from catalogues mostly and find Edelweiss and Netgalley very cumbersome. A seasonal list of some sort directly from you, ideally a PDF of a catalogue that links to your website, either by email or on a periodically updated URL, is very helpful to us and more likely to make your books visible.
Digital or physical?
Most of our reviewers work from physical copies. It is a matter of great urgency for us to receive review copies quickly on request. A link to a PDF proof in promotional materials is useful and saves time. E-galleys are awkward because it is difficult for me to share them with reviewers. It is useful to have the contact information for publicists attached to titles in promotional materials to expedite follow-up requests. Of course we very much welcome physical copies you send us proactively: it saves time and draws attention to your title, and may alert me to a book whose merits are not obvious from catalogue copy.
Shipping address
Book Post, 291 14th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11219
Do we run excerpts?
Yes, we do! Usually in our “Diaries” section, where we are looking for reflections of seven hundred words or so by writers on writing and reading, broadly defined. Sometimes in our “Notebook” section we publish nonfiction excerpts related to the book or writing industries. We pay for excerpts; they reach by emailed newsletter our free readership of around 7,000, many more if you help us to distribute online.
How far in advance do we need to receive material?
The further in advance the better, but we are able to act quickly and don’t have a fixed schedule.
Do we do appearances and events?
Yes! Book Post editor Ann Kjellberg is happy to receive inquiries about participating in author Q&As or introducing author appearances or co-sponsoring events.
What do we need from you?
Please share our reviews with your followers! We often have reviews of your work by writers of substantial reputation and we try to coordinate with publicists on opening our paywalled material to a public readership to allow our posts to be shared broadly. Your shares help us grow our audience and build a sustainable book review model.
And please subscribe! It is disheartening for us in book reviewing to hear publishers lament the absence of books coverage and then do nothing to support financially those of us who are trying to make it happen.
Writers: Do we accept pitches?
We generally commission reviews and do not work from pitches, and have limited bandwidth for processing them in a timely way, but potential reviewers are welcome to give us a try. We ask that they include links to comparable past work.
Booksellers: Our partnership program
Every season with partner with a different independent bookseller to link to our books under review (we take no affiliate fee) and draw attention to the importance of independent bookselling. Our partnerships include a welcome post from me (find them all here) and an offer of a free subscription to customers who spend more than $100. Write to us at office@bookpostusa.com to learn more.
Let us know what else we can tell you! And thank you so much for working with us to help readers find your work
All the best,
Ann Kjellberg
Founding editor, Book Post