philreed said:
The problem I have with sending out comps is that it's reached the point where I have to send 5 comps to get 1 review. Many people that request to review something never write the review.
I am sorry to hear that. I am not surprised as a lot of folks think a "comp" is a freebie not a payment
IMO if you take "money" or in the case of a game product a "comp" for it you have made an agreement to review it. There is no guarantee the review will be favorable (the product could suck) but it should be unbiased (or slightly positivly biased) professional and timely
I figure if Phil sent me one of his excellent PDF's (for example) thats $5 or $10 worth of product -- Since the review will take 30 minutes to an hour thats a "mini job" for $10 an hour --
This gets into substantial hourly earning if you are sent a hardback -- If someone were to comp me say a $36 book it will take me a couple of hours to write the review -- thast $18 an hour -- its a decent sum of cash
Now I admit to being fully mercenary -- I won't write a review unless I am "paid" or I really really want to evangelize and there is no current review. OTOH if I am comp'd you will get your review
I will caveat that -- a publisher however cool and generous is best asking a reviewer if they can/are willing to review before sending -- I am sure that most do but it would be a slight imposition if say an unexpected PDF arrived in my E Mail with a little note "I'd appreciate if you would review this" as I might not have time and I would hate to feel obligated --
No matter how small the endaevor whether a review of a PDF or a small game company hard copy product professionalism is always a good thing