Fashionista Piranha Review Policy
Last revised February 12th, 2015.*
To Authors & Publishers (and anyone else who wants to know):
I am always happy to discuss your current projects with you; feel free to drop me an e-mail at fashion.piranha @ gmail . com! However, to help you determine if Fashionista Piranha is a good fit, let me tell you a little about myself and how I manage my reviews.
I am a bookseller at Village House of Books in Los Gatos, California, with a background in art history and archaeology museums. On average I read between one and three books a week, but depending on the time of year this will vary.
I don't review every book I read, but I try to review every book I'm sent to review. That is, if an author sends me an ARC I will write a review, but if I pick up a used copy of The Scarlet Letter at a used book store, I won't. I try to be fair in my book reviews, but if I really didn't enjoy a book I can be rather...cranky. Luckily, this has only happened two or three times since I started sharing my reviews here. If I think the review might be too harsh, I'll e-mail the author/publicist and if they'd rather I'd not put the review up, I won't. No harm, no foul.
Books I Usually Enjoy
Genres That Don't Always Work Out
Art (both tutorials and history), Fashion, Photography
Business - sometimes I love it, sometimes I don't. It's pretty hit and miss.
Biographies/Memoirs
Celebrities/Entertainment. Fashion designers are the exception.
'Classic' Literature Revisited
Horror - violent bloodbaths are a no go
Graphic Novels
Mysteries & Thrillers
History + Historical Fiction
Poetry
Horror - ghosts and monsters
Romance - I like to make fun of it, which is probably not what you're looking for
Literature and Fiction
Urban/Hip-Hop fiction
Non-fiction
- Fiction that is written for 'women of a certain age' often will not work for me simply because I'm not there yet.
Science Fiction/Fantasy - especially fairy tale revamps
- Any genre: Books that have a lot of 'brand name' dropping do not do well here. It's a real pet peeve.
Travel literature
- Any genre: If it's a series, I really prefer to start on the first book.
Young Adult
After finishing a book, if I decide that it is one I don't want to keep I will hold a contest for it here on Fashionista Piranha or I'll give it away to a friend. I don't sell ARCs.
Fashionista Piranha updates four days a week: Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. However, on occasion the blog will be put on hiatus for a week or two if school has gotten too hectic or my work hours have picked up considerably. This is usually announced through a notice is posted on the blog. I try to read books in the order I receive them, but if something is not yet published I will hold off posting the review until the month the book appears in stores.
Right now, I'm extremely backed up in my reading, so I can't promise that I'll post reviews by a certain date. This is why I am not currently able to participate in blog tours/book tours. I try to e-mail links to my reviews to the author/publicist who sent me the book, but I don't always remember, so feel free to send a follow-up e-mail if you haven't heard from me.
My reviews will also appear on Amazon, LibraryThing and BookCrossing; if you would like me to post the review somewhere else just let me know!
~Suzi Hough
The Fashion Piranha
* The typing up and codifying of a review policy was inspired by Paula Krapf of Author Marketing Experts, Inc, after she wrote an eloquent article explaining what publicists when they're looking to distribute their precious books. (I've never worked with her, but one of my friends recommended I check out this particular blog post.) Since I get a lot of e-mails from different people that are not a strong match with my blog, I'm hoping this will help folks decide if this shoe fits before they slip it on.
To Authors & Publishers (and anyone else who wants to know):
I am always happy to discuss your current projects with you; feel free to drop me an e-mail at fashion.piranha @ gmail . com! However, to help you determine if Fashionista Piranha is a good fit, let me tell you a little about myself and how I manage my reviews.
I am a bookseller at Village House of Books in Los Gatos, California, with a background in art history and archaeology museums. On average I read between one and three books a week, but depending on the time of year this will vary.
I don't review every book I read, but I try to review every book I'm sent to review. That is, if an author sends me an ARC I will write a review, but if I pick up a used copy of The Scarlet Letter at a used book store, I won't. I try to be fair in my book reviews, but if I really didn't enjoy a book I can be rather...cranky. Luckily, this has only happened two or three times since I started sharing my reviews here. If I think the review might be too harsh, I'll e-mail the author/publicist and if they'd rather I'd not put the review up, I won't. No harm, no foul.
Books I Usually Enjoy
Genres That Don't Always Work Out
Art (both tutorials and history), Fashion, Photography
Business - sometimes I love it, sometimes I don't. It's pretty hit and miss.
Biographies/Memoirs
Celebrities/Entertainment. Fashion designers are the exception.
'Classic' Literature Revisited
Horror - violent bloodbaths are a no go
Graphic Novels
Mysteries & Thrillers
History + Historical Fiction
Poetry
Horror - ghosts and monsters
Romance - I like to make fun of it, which is probably not what you're looking for
Literature and Fiction
Urban/Hip-Hop fiction
Non-fiction
- Fiction that is written for 'women of a certain age' often will not work for me simply because I'm not there yet.
Science Fiction/Fantasy - especially fairy tale revamps
- Any genre: Books that have a lot of 'brand name' dropping do not do well here. It's a real pet peeve.
Travel literature
- Any genre: If it's a series, I really prefer to start on the first book.
Young Adult
After finishing a book, if I decide that it is one I don't want to keep I will hold a contest for it here on Fashionista Piranha or I'll give it away to a friend. I don't sell ARCs.
Fashionista Piranha updates four days a week: Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. However, on occasion the blog will be put on hiatus for a week or two if school has gotten too hectic or my work hours have picked up considerably. This is usually announced through a notice is posted on the blog. I try to read books in the order I receive them, but if something is not yet published I will hold off posting the review until the month the book appears in stores.
Right now, I'm extremely backed up in my reading, so I can't promise that I'll post reviews by a certain date. This is why I am not currently able to participate in blog tours/book tours. I try to e-mail links to my reviews to the author/publicist who sent me the book, but I don't always remember, so feel free to send a follow-up e-mail if you haven't heard from me.
My reviews will also appear on Amazon, LibraryThing and BookCrossing; if you would like me to post the review somewhere else just let me know!
~Suzi Hough
The Fashion Piranha
* The typing up and codifying of a review policy was inspired by Paula Krapf of Author Marketing Experts, Inc, after she wrote an eloquent article explaining what publicists when they're looking to distribute their precious books. (I've never worked with her, but one of my friends recommended I check out this particular blog post.) Since I get a lot of e-mails from different people that are not a strong match with my blog, I'm hoping this will help folks decide if this shoe fits before they slip it on.