Review the..reviewer

Hey all, if you are not aware I'm the local PDF reviewer. Hi!!

I've been that for about a year now and while I didn't have a strong start I think I've made improvements on organization and getting the reviews done. Many that I got early one never got reviewed, and for that I apologize. However, for the most part each product I have recieved since the start of this year has been reviewed in a month's time. Right now I am a little behind on that, and if your curious I recieved 18 pdfs to review in the month of August, only 9 in July, 12 in June, 5 in May, and a whopping 32 in April. I have no realy idea how many products other reviewers get but at times it does seem like I get a bit. I'm not complaining, I'll never refuse a review becasue my load is too big.

The purpose of this is to hopefully increase some dialogue between me and you all. I'm not sure how important reviews are to the pdf community. I know print publishers have said that reviews really don't effect them that much, but I think they do help PDFs a bit more. Reviewers and Publishers don't seem to talk that much. Reviewers at times seem to be a nessicairy evil. You all sned out review copies and they meet the reviewer black hole, that is you get very few reviews. As I've heard this from different people its really one of the reasons I've tried to get everything I've recieved reviewed.

I urge any of you who have questions or comments to me, post them here or e-mail me (cgath@insight.rr.com). Feel free to review the reviewer if you like or just stop by to say hi. Any question on how I do things or really anything is welcomed.

-Your friendly neibhorhood PDF reviewer Crothian

Edit: And just in case anyone needs the E-mail of me it is cgath@insight.rr.com
I can also be PMed here at En World if others have that ability. Or leave a response here. I am hopefully easy to contact for people that want to.

Hi Crothian!

I'm one of the people that spammed you with stuff this last month.

Well, I can be a test case, if you like. My product has not been reviewed as yet, (not more than the short reviews you get on rpgnow, that is, for which I am very thankful regardless) and I will be happy to let you know what effect (if any) eventuates should you review mine.

I really appreciate that you offer this service, and have found your past reviews insightful and a useful guide in assessing products that have been of interest prior to purchase. In particular I liked your review of Quintessential Aristocrat by Mongoose, which was instrumental in my putting it on my wishlist for when I have more dosh.

Warm regards,
Evan

Hi Crothian!

I'm one of the people who keeps shipping you product with the hopes of good reviews.

Okay, I'll stop kidding here. I think your reviews are good, and they certainly fit the format that many people are looking for in a review (a basic overview of the material, with the pros and cons of each section as you see them), then a recap of your overall opinion of the product.

I like that you give your bias at the beginning of a review (I like blah books, I don't particularly like mini-PDFs, as well as the ENPub connection, etc).

Now let's ask the vital question - how big is your backlog right now?

Its either 14 or 21. I got a lot of small products from a company and it looks like that one of them is a compilation of all, but I haven't gotten to them yet so really have not looked that greatly in them. I also have 3 print books, though I rarely get sent print books. Its so rare in fact I've only ever gotten 3 print books to review. One of them is the 4th in a series of modules and since I've never read the first three, I may talk to the publisher and not review it as I don't feel that comfortible reviewing the last in a series of books.

Reviewing Crothian (3.5 compatible)

This is not a playtest review.

I received a Crothian in the mail the other day. To be honest, I was expecting something a little meatier, but the conservative style makes up for it.
...


Nell.

Crothian said:

Its either 14 or 21. I got a lot of small products from a company and it looks like that one of them is a compilation of all, but I haven't gotten to them yet so really have not looked that greatly in them.

Click to expand...

Plot Device*looks sheepishly at his toes, and kicks the ground a little

Okay, so I think I figured out who they are from So, is it meant to be one product or eight?

Call it one product.

I am selling it peice by peice for those interested in only the bits, and sending the collation to anyone that buys the whole thing. So one product is the best assessment.

Regards,
Evan

Thanks. Didn't mean to call you out like that, hope it wasn't a problem for you.

I usually just wait until publishers send me stuff or contact me about a review. That seems to be the industry norm. People are more then welcome to send my pdfs as attachments or just links to download. I have a good enough speed connection that either works. I have, rarely, contacted publishers to get a review copy. But that was the gooid guys at Fiery Dragon since they put out a pdf of Of Sound Mind and I had just the week before ran it, and Buy the Numbers which sounded so different then anything else I'd seen I just had to do have it and review it. I don't know if there is a better way of doing this, so any suggestions would be great.

PlotDevice said:

Call it one product.

I am selling it peice by peice for those interested in only the bits, and sending the collation to anyone that buys the whole thing. So one product is the best assessment.

Regards,
Evan

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan amigo. I wish more print publishers would do this when they zap their dead tree versions to e-mail. "Well, you didn't buy it in print so we assume that you just want it in PDF version!" "No, I just wanted a few of the PrCs and some feats..."