Tag Archives: Long and Short Reviews

A Free Author Promo Opportunity at Long and Short Reviews

 

Winter Blogfest graphic on a blue background with white snowflakes dotting the top and sides. The graphic reads, "Long and Short Reviews Winter Blogfest. A Prize on every post! December 21-January 1."

Long and Short Reviews is a large, well-respected book review site that has been around since 2007. They are currently seeking out guest bloggers for their Winter Blogfest which is scheduled to run December 21 through January 1.

This is an amazing free opportunity for authors from any genre to meet likeminded writers and introduce yourselves to new potential readers.

Here’s what you’ll need to do to participate:

  • Write a 250-500 word guest post that is holiday or winter themed
  • Offer a small prize (for example, a free copy of one of your ebooks or anything else you choose to offer)

It’s that simple.

The Winter Blogfest is open to everyone and every winter holiday. You could write about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, the Winter Solstice, New Year’s, other winter holidays/celebrations, or the winter season in general.

In past years, they’ve published guest posts about special holiday recipes, people’s favourite memories of the season, funny stories about celebrations that maybe didn’t turn out the way the author thought they would, the history of certain holiday figures, foods, songs, etc., and so much more. As long as it’s not pure promo, let your imaginations run wild.

Participants also have the option of including links to their website, social media accounts, etc. if they wish.

Go to Long and Short Reviews for instructions on how to submit your entry and for more information. I look forward to reading your entries if you decide to join in.

The deadline to submit a guest post to this event is December 11. Spread the word!

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The 2020 Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge Topics Have Been Released

List of Writing Prompts for the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge.

Happy New Year! Long and Short Reviews has released the list of topics for their second year of Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge posts. There isn’t a topic for today, but I will be participating in it again beginning next week.

If you can’t read the graphic above, here is the list of prompts and the dates they’ve been scheduled for. Everyone is welcome to join in!

January

8 – My Goals for 2020

15 –  Books I Can’t Wait to Read in 2020

22 – New Hobby I’m Trying (or would like to try)

29 – Best Book/Movie/TV Couples

 

February

5 – My Celebrity Crushes

12 – Books I Reread or Want to Reread

19 –  Types of Exercise I Enjoy

26 – My Favourite Memory and Why

 

March

4 –  Characters Who Remind Me of Myself and Why

11 – One Skill I Wish I Had But Don’t 

18 –  The Weirdest Thing I Learned Reading Fiction 

25 – Favourite Things to Do in the Spring

 

April

1 –  Favourite Book Series and Why

8 – Topic(s) I Could Give an Impromptu Speech On

15 –  Characters I’d Invite to a Dinner Party

22 –  My Silliest Pet Peeve

29 – Reasons Why I stopped Reading a Series I Loved

 

May

6 – Favourite Holiday of the Year and Why

13 – A Villain That I Wish Could Be Redeemed and Why

20 – How I’d Fare in a Zombie Apocalypse

27 – Books Set in My City or State

 

June 

3 – Things I Wish I Were Better At

10 –  Favourite Poems, Short Stories, or Novellas

17 – My Life in Photos or Gifs

24 – My “go to” Book or Movie for a Pick-Me-Up

 

July

1 – The Last Place I Traveled to and Why

8 –  A Project or Hobby of Mine Inspired By a Book

15 – Things I Collect

22 –  Character Names in a Book I Can’t Pronounce

29 – Stuff on My Bucket List

 

August

5 – My Favourite Tropes of X Genre

12 – What I Wanted to Do When I Grew Up vs. What I Do

19 – Favourite Book or Movies Quotes (and Why)

26 – The Strangest Thing(s) I’ve Eaten

 

September

2 – Topics That Make Me Stop Reading a Book

9 – Topics I Never Get Tired of Talking About

16 – Books with the Most Words I Had to Look Up

23 – Favourite Things to Do in the Autumn

30 –  The Non-Fiction Book Everyone Should Read and Why

 

October

7 – Recipes From My City/State/Country

14 – Re-reading Books: Why or Why Not? 

21 – My Earliest Memory 

28 – How I Decide What to Read Next

 

November

4 – Favourite Songs or Musicians

11 – Movies That Were Better Than the Books

18 –  Funniest Things That Have Happened To Me

25 – Recipes from Fiction Books That I Want to Try

 

December

2 – An Average Day in My Life

9 – A Profession From a Book I’d Love to Try

16 – Books That Would Make Great Gifts

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Happy 12th Anniversary, Long and Short Reviews!

There are four balloons in this graphic. The text reads: "Long and Short Reviews 12th Anniversary Party. August 26-30, 2019. Win $100 Amazon GCs and more! Dozens of winners."

Long and Short Reviews is a well-respected book review site that I’ve been a fan of for many years. They review titles from many different genres: erotica, romance, sci-fi/fantasy, mysteries, horror, young adult books, and more. Many of the authors they work with are self-published or from small publishers.

I love the fact that they amplify the voices of writers who aren’t already well known. Over the years, their reviewers have earned the reputation of being honest but fair. I’ve discovered so many new authors and stories there since I was first introduced to this site.

This week, Long and Short Reviews is celebrating their twelfth anniversary! They’re having a blogging bash from today until August 30 and are giving away dozens of prizes, including some $100 Amazon gift cards. All you have to do to enter is click on the link above and follow the instructions in the guest posts you read there.

Generally, the guest bloggers ask you to do something like leave a comment or answer a question about their post for one chance to win. There are multiple ways to enter per post, and you can do more than one of them if you’d like.

I will be back to my regular blogging routine tomorrow with a Top Ten Tuesday post. In the meantime, I hope you’ll join me over in the various comment sections of Long and Short Reviews over the next several days. Winning a prize definitely sounds like a nice way to end the week, don’t you think?

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Go Wish Long and Short Reviews a Happy Anniversary!

Long and Short Reviews, my favourite book review site, is celebrating their 11th anniversary this week.

They’re publishing special guest posts every day between now and Friday. They will also be giving away dozens of prizes, including a $100 Amazon gift card.

I hope you’ll all check out their celebration this week and enter into the contest. Good luck!

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5 Reasons Why You Should Become a Reviewer for Long and Short Reviews

Today’s post is a little off the beaten path when compared to the topics I normally blog about here, but it’s something that I’ve been thinking about discussing with my followers for a while now.

First of all, you might be asking yourself what this site is and why I’m telling you about it. Well, Long and Short Reviews is a book reviewing site that I’ve been a huge fan of for many years. They are the most professional, trustworthy, and well-run review site I’ve discovered so far, and I’ve spent countless hours researching this topic.

Long and Short Reviews comes to mind every time one of my author friends talks about their need for more book reviews. There are so many amazing stories out there that really deserve more recognition. One of the best ways for them to be discovered by people who would love them is if reviewers take the time to write about them. The more reviews an author can get, the more chances they have to find their perfect audience.

There Are Many Books to Choose From

Long and Short Reviews receives more requests for reviews than it’s current pool of reviewers can read.

Whether you’d like to read erotica, romance, mysteries, science fiction, paranormal, horror, fantasy, young adult, or children’s stories, there’s something for every reader there.

They have short stories, novellas, and full-length novels in all of these genres, too. The vast majority of the books they have available for review are e-books, so it doesn’t matter what part of the world you’re from. Any reviewer who is comfortable writing in English is encouraged to apply.

Every volunteer reviewer is also free to review from as many or as few genres as they please. Some of them only read one genre while others are known to write reviews from a wide variety of genres. No one is ever assigned a particular story. They are always free to make that decision for themselves.

All of the Reviews Are Honest and Snark-Free

One of the biggest reasons why I like Long and Short Reviews is their policy of only posting honest, snark-free reviews.

If one of the reviewers notices an issue with a story, they aren’t afraid to speak openly about what didn’t work for them and why that part of the plot, character development, pacing, or other aspect of the storyline could use some more development.

Nothing is sugar-coated, but it’s also never snarky. Any criticism a book might receive is always written with the goal of helping the author become a better writer in the future.

The kindness of their reviewers is seen in every review, from the ones that receive the highest possible score to the ones that receive the lowest possible score. I’ve seen multiple examples of authors thanking reviewers there for pointing out the parts of a story that didn’t work for them and explaining their reasons for feeling that way.

It’s a Great Way to Support Authors

As I alluded to above, writing reviews are one of the best ways to support authors. I have a wide circle of friends who are writers, and many of them talk about the difficulties of finding potential fans out there.

Every review that is published increases the chances of someone stumbling across an author they’ve never heard of before but are going to love.

I always read the reviews before I buy a new book or borrow it from the library. Doing this has steered me towards certain titles and away from other ones on many occasions.

Not every story is going to appeal to every reader. By taking the time to type up reviews of the types of books you like, you increase the chances of them being discovered by other potential fans.

Yes, I’m including less-than-stellar reviews here as well. While some criticisms that are objective like not using standard punctuation marks, many other parts of the reviewing process are highly subjective.  One person’s pet peeve in a particular genre might be stuff that another reader doesn’t mind or even really likes.The more reviews a book has, the higher the chances are of it being found by new fans who are in the market for that exact kind of story.

The Community Is Warm and Supportive

The comment sections of the reviews and blog posts on Long and Short Reviews are a wonderful place to browse if you have some free time this week.

I’ve met so many interesting people as a result of spending time on this site.

Some of the authors there have been submitting their books for years. They’ve built up relationships with the reviewers and their readers over that time that occasional spills over into the comments section.

There are also relationships being built in Saturday Seven, the weekly book meme this site created a few weeks ago that you may have noticed I’ve been participating in. It’s going to be a lot of fun to see how that community grows in the future.

You May Discover New Favourite Authors

This is by far the most subjective point on this list.

I obviously can’t promise when it might happen for you or even if it will happen at all. So much depends on what you like to read and what kinds of tales are sent in for possible review in any given month.

With that being said, Long and Short Reviews has many Indie authors and small publishers who are regularly featured there. I’d never heard of most of them before I began following this site.

A few of the authors I first discovered on this site have since been added to my very short list of authors on my I Must Read Everything They Write list.

Given how much of my free time I spend reading and how high my standards are for my must-read list, this is a pretty big compliment. If an author makes it to that list, they’re virtually always bound to stay there for good.

If You’re Interested…

If any of my readers are interested in signing up to become a reviewer, this page has all of the rest of the information you’ll need to apply. Go check them out on Twitter or the book reviews section on Long and Short Reviews to get a feel for the kind of casual, conversational writing style they’re looking for.

Don’t hesitate to speak up if you have any questions. The people who run that site are quite friendly and helpful. Of course, I’m happy to help you out, too!

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