Review Policy

HOW I REVIEW

I like to go in-depth in my reviews.  I used to follow the same bland, repetitive review outline. There was no substance, no passion, no life to my reviews. I like to think I've improved since then. Now I like to discuss specific scenes, characters, actions or plot points. I like to dissect the reasons behind actions instead of simply commenting on the actions themselves. I think this is something I have picked up from my work on my fandom Instagram. I like to think I write better now, I'm more expressive, descriptive, and eloquent. I also like to think that my reviews are informal enough to feel like I'm having a conversation with someone, which makes it easy to connect with my writing. I don't follow a set outline anymore, I just write what I feel. Sometimes I talk more about romance, sometimes the action and intrigue, the characters or a specific character. It's different for each book because every book is different. And I now always proof-read before I publish, so at least that's a step up. Who knows if I've actually gotten better at this, but I enjoy reading my own writing.

INFORMATION INCLUDED IN MY REVIEWS

Every review I post has a lot of information in it. In my mind, it's broken down into sections, so I'll lay it out for you.

The first thing you will see is an offensively large picture of the cover. Size matters, people. Not really, I'm just a sucker for covers and feel like it looks better when it's bigger. 

Next are the boring details. These include:

• The title
• The author
• The series and what book number it is (if applicable)
• Page count
• Release date
• Publisher
• Link to Goodreads / Amazon
• Book summary, encased in a blindingly pink square

After that comes the body of the post, the review. It includes:

• Spoiler alert (if applicable)
• Review
• Rating

That should be the end of it, BUT NO. There's more.

If the book has different editions or covers I'll add those too. It looks cool and it's the kind of useless knowledge I personally enjoy possessing.

Next I list every other book the author has ever written and I link to the book's Goodreads page, a place to purchase it, and my review, if I have one.

I have a couple reasons for doing this:

1. It looks fucking beautiful. Like, wow. The aesthetic. It is just so satisfying and I love the blue and pink colors
2. This blog is about spreading the love of reading. I want to help authors get their work found, and I want to help readers find them. If someone read my review about a book by a certain author, they might want to find other books by the same author. By listing out all their books and providing easy links, maybe I can make that process easier for someone.
3. I also want to increase traffic on my blog and keep readers on here as long as possible. If someone read my review and liked how I wrote, maybe they would want to see what I think about other books by the same author. So I link to my other reviews.
4. The next reason is its own section...

I AM AN AMAZON AFFILIATE

This means every purchase link you see on this blog will lead you to Amazon, and if you purchase a book from that visit, then I will get a small percentage of the profit. So I add all these extra books and links to each post because on the off-chance that someone might get excited about a book they didn't know their favorite author published that I linked to and they buy it, I get a few cents. I haven't made any money off it yet, but I keep hoping lmao.

So my motives are mixed. I really do want to help, I really do want to make it easy for authors to get exposure and readers to find new books, and I really do want to help myself out a bit. At least I'm honest though, right?

AM I REALLY HONEST, THOUGH?

Yes. Absolutely. Every single opinion expressed on this blog is my own. My reviews are not influenced, swayed, bought, or in any way less than my complete and honest opinion. I don't like bullshit, and I'm too much of a wimp to lie, so I find it's easier and just all-around better to be completely up-front and honest. I take my status as a reviewer (even though I'm not a big deal at all and probably no one reads me) very seriously, and I don't want to lose any trust people might have put in me. I share a lot of thoughts on this blog, and I may sound crazy sometimes, but at least you can rest assured that any amount of crazy I display is mine.

REQUEST A REVIEW
If you are a publishing company, author, or agent, and you have a book you want me to read...I will absolutely do that for you. A free book and I get to write a self-important review and think my opinion actually matters? Sign me up!

Seriously though, I will read any book you want to send me. I really enjoy trying new genres. I can also be very professional when the occasion calls for it, and I will not abuse any information or power you give me. I will not use an copy for review or ARC for my own personal gain, whether it be monetary or other. No matter what my opinion of the book was, I will keep my review professional. I will keep an open line of communication and send you a link once my review is completed and posted. I appreciate you fueling my desire for new literature and understand my job is to provide you will advertising.

If you want to contact me, my email address is: crammedbookshelf@gmail.com

YOUNG ADULT DEBUT PROMOTIONS (FOR AUTHORS)
This is a project I thought up a few years ago when my blog was really popping. I like to find new authors and help them debut with a bang. My goal with this project is to give the author as much exposure as humanly possible.

If I have reached out to you and don't want to send you a whole page of information via email and instead send you a link, this is what I want you to read. This is where I explain the nitty gritty details of the post and the process. I want to make this process as easy as possible, give you as much publicity as possible, get to know you along the way, and read an awesome new book.

Here's how my posts are set up:

• Feature of the author
• Interview/guest post/excerpt
• Feature of the book
• Review of the book (if possible)
• Giveaway

Each of those bullet points is included in every post with the exception of the review. I like to include a review of the book in the post, but I understand you, the author, don't always have control over who receives an ARC so it isn't the end of the world if I don't get a copy. However, the reason I reached out to you in the first place was because I thought your book looked awesome, so I will always at least try and get an ARC.

If I do happen to get an ARC, read the book, and don't enjoy it all that much, I won't include the review in the post. If I rate the book below 3 stars, I will post the review at another time. The post is supposed to hype your book up and a poor review would just dampen the mood. I don't want to ruin the party.

We can do any combination of an interview, guest post, and excerpt. The more, the better, in my opinion. I really want my followers to get to know you and want to buy your book because they feel a connection, so whatever options will allow you to show your personality, I am all for. It is completely up to you what you want to do, I am good with anything.

Each post will feature a giveaway sponsored by you, the author, or the publisher. This gives my followers a reason to visit the post, creates goodwill, and helps generate hype for the book. The way I view it, the giveaway is what makes the post a YADP post instead of just another run-of-the-mill interview or guest post. It makes it official.

Since the giveaway is sponsored, you or the publisher decide the prize and whether it is INT or US. I host the giveaway, have it run for a week, then forward you the winner's address. In the entries, I will feature any social media profile you wish, or any action you want the entrants to take. For example, following your Twitter or adding your book on Goodreads. My goal is to get as much for you out of this giveaway as possible, so don't hold back on the requests.

I will post a week before your book's release unless otherwise requested. This drums up excitement ahead of the release, allows the giveaway to end on the release day, and keeps the post relevant a little longer since anticipation for the release is rising. However, if you want me to post another time, I absolutely can.

At the end of the day, I am incredibly flexible and want you, the author, to have as much control as possible. I really enjoy the process of communicating with you and putting the post together. Collaboration is so fun to me, and I really enjoy getting to know you along the way. So, if you are an author and would like to be featured, or a publisher representing an author, contact me at crammedbookshelf@gmail.com.

GIVEAWAY POLICY

How my giveaways work:

• I use Rafflecopter for my giveaways, so to enter you just have to provide a name and email address
• You do not have to follow my blog to enter. I am not using these giveaways for personal gain, I have all entries that would benefit me (such as following me) as optional.
• That being said, I expect all entries to be real, meaning if you say you followed me, you better follow me. I expect honesty.
• Rafflecopter selects a winner at the end of the giveaway
• I will then email the winner and gather their address

Now, here's where we get into the nitty gritty

• I will not collect or share any info you provide me by entering a giveaway
• That being said, I will share your information if the giveaway is sponsored. All YADP giveaways are sponsored by the the author/publishing company, which means that while I host the giveaway, they send out the book. So, in that case, I will send them your address
• I am not responsible for how these authors/publishing houses use your address
• I am not responsible for how quickly you receive your prize

USING LABELS
To keep my blog organized, I use labels. I categorize each of my posts based on what kind of post it is (ex: Review, Waiting on Wednesday). I also label based on rating and author. So all my posts about that author or about books I've rated 5-stars can all be found in one place.

HOW TO AVOID SPOILERS

Since I like to discuss books in depth, I share a lot of spoilers. I don't want to ruin anyone's life or have a bunch of angry readers busting down my door because I spoiled the ending of their favorite series. So, here is my solution.

At the beginning of every review that contains spoilers (so, probably all of them), I will post a spoiler warning in large, bolded text. Then, I will do something absolutely genius. And I'm not going to be humble about this one, I truly do think this is genius. Brace yourself.

I will set the text color of the spoilers to white so they blend in with the background of my blog.

GENIUS RIGHT?! I know. It is.

So this means nobody will be able to see the spoilers unless they want to. And to do that, they kind of have to work for it. Each individual spoiler within the review will be marked with [Spoiler: *insert white spoiler text here*]. So the brackets hold the spoilers, and to reveal the spoilers simply use your mouse to highlight the text. The blue of the highlight will reveal the spoiler text even though it's whited out and you can see all the little secrets from the book.

Damn it feels good to be a genius. Honestly, this is probably the smartest thing I've done in my entire life. This way people who haven't read the book but want to know what I thought can read without fear of being spoiled, but people who want all the dirty details can see all the tea. It's the best of both worlds, and I don't have to stress about censoring myself.

And I'm going to end on that high note. Yeet.