One of my online writing groups contains a handful of book reviewers along with authors and marketing personnel. Recently the book reviewers had a discussion about how they got into book reviewing and the types of books they’ll review. This got me thinking about the types of book reviewers I’ve seen.
Through my internet travels I’ve found there are several types of book reviewers. This is not a complete list so feel free to leave a comment with any of the other types of book reviewers you’ve seen or leave a link as an example!
The first type writes reviews to share with others. They review books they’ve purchased or been given. Sometimes they have their own domain name with web pages but often they post their reviews on a hosted blog site. One of the joys is that the reviewer has a unique voice and you never know what kind of book will be reviewed next. This reviewer may or may not be specialized. For example, a majority of the reviews are children’s books or simply any book that comes across their desk.
The second type writes reviews for a specific publication. They review books sent to them by the publication (or author on behalf of the publication). All reviews are available only through the publication in print format or on the publication’s site. Payment for the review varies for each publication. It could be the book itself, a monetary payment, or both. These are usually a bit more formal regarding the content of the review such as always including a synopsis, the ISBN number and/or purchase information.
The third type of reviewer is the hybrid reviewer. Reviews may be done on a personal web site or blog and for a specific publication. If the same book appears in both places the review is usually different. The reader will be different so the review is geared towards the audience.
All of the reviewers have value as they can all influence whether or not you want to read a specific book.