Publishers and Reviews

[Eosin the Red]

I'm afraid that any review I would write would be useless to most readers.

Nah. I am one of those gents that use little of what I buy for my game. I haven't taken a splat book out of my shelf in some time. I like the read and I like stories. WW did this very well. I only played the game 8-10 times but had 30-40 product titles. I always thought I was wierd, buying gaming books that I knew I would not use. It looks like I fall into the decidedly normal, mature gamer (mature in biological terms )

I also prefer magazine reviews, they understand that I want the review to be a good read and the reviewers to have personality. Some who write frequent reviews (ENstaff) do this at least to a small degree.

 

[Crothian]

I suppose that everyone reviews from their own frame of reference, and mine seems to be a bit different from most of the other reviewers. I spent some time as an art student, then studied history and literature. I have *real* problems with lousy art, and am extremely irritated by sloppy grammar in a published product. I also seem to value products for their fluff more than most people. Finally, I am so sick of feats and prestige classes I could scream. Add all this up, and I'm afraid that any review I would write would be useless to most readers.

And that is why you need to do reviews assuming you want to and have the time. The reviews work best when we get the people with different views. There are so many people who use this site and the there will be people who appreciate your point of view.

 

[Crothian]

Another topic I wanted to bring up is publishers sending out review copies and not getting them reviewed. I understand that with our own local reviewers that they just get too much stuff and I fully understand that. I was just wondering what the publisher side of this is. Do you take the risk and still send them out knowing it might not get reviewed? Do you contact the reviewers and see who might have time?

Also, I recently heard the story of people soliciting reviews from one company at Gen Con for one certain product and none of them ever posted a review. Is this a common occurrence?

Related to that, the company gave me a review copy on the terms I'd get it reviewed by a certain deadline. I agreed and the review should be up shortly, but I was wondering if others have tried a similar approach and how well it worked?

Again, thanks for your time.

 

[Dextra]

Gee, wonder who you're talking about?

With electronic products we're lucky: just email a link to a secret location, and email lots of people the URL, so at least we don't worry about exorbitant postage rates.

We send out said URL to all the major review sites (with the exception of the sites who are on our pooplist*) as well as our colleagues in the industry, then pick and choose amongst those who solicit copies. So yes, we "buy" reviews. We don't buy good reviews, though (we earn them <g>). We're also having a contest to encourage people to write reviews or leave comments about the product. We really do care about reader input, and take every comment seriously. The review process (as well as feedback on the product forums) provides valuable insight into how we can improve future projects, and the one being discussed (we've already got some errata for Everyone Else), for example. Since many of our books go to print after the electronic release, it also gives us a chance to make corrections (and effectively extends our playtest circle!)

I've found this thread very interesting, finding out what other publishers think about the topic, and how they handle negligent review sites.

*Review sites get on our pooplist by soliciting review copies and not writing reviews. Unsolicited review copies I understand... people get busy. But if you approach me for free product, you better deliver, and soon. Don't ask for free product if you're not ready to write a review. More ranting on this topic is available http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28043 .

 

[Psion]

Publishers like reviews they can get pull-quotes from.

Welcome to the "sound byte" school of reviews.

WW/S&SS pulled a "sound" byte from my R&R review and put it in all their magazine ads. The least they could have done was put my name to the quote. Sheesh!

 

[Ghostwind]

One of the struggles a reviewer has is finding time to review every product he receives, especially if he has other responsibilities such as a career and a family. Certainly there are times when products get skipped. I know every publisher wants to have reviews of everything they send to a reviewer, but I also believe they realize that sometimes, it just isn't possible because they are competing with other companies who want the same thing. If you look at an average month's worth of releases, you have anywhere from 10-20 releases from various publishers. While this may not sound like a lot of books, consider that on the average, reading the product and writing the review most likely takes between 3-5 hours (depending on the size of the book). In short, there simply isn't enough time to review everything unless you're a speed reader and a fast typist. Therefore, a reviewer must prioritize the books he receives and do his best to get to them in a timely manner. I haven't always been able to turn a review within the 30 or 90-day window that publishers like to see, but I also haven't had a publisher complain about the lateness. As long as the review is well-written and shows that you took the time to read the product, I believe the publisher will be satisfied with the outcome.

 

[MEG Hal]

As long as the review is well-written and shows that you took the time to read the product, I believe the publisher will be satisfied with the outcome.

Yea what he said.

 

[Frilf]

Well, we've supplied a number of sites and reviewers with free product to evaluate for reviews. So far, only 2-3 have not done anything at all. Of those 2-3, 2 were apologetic about not getting to the review in a timely manner (they emailed us, btw, we didn't send the brute squad around ) and promised they'd review it in time. So, really, we've been very favorably impressed with the reviewers and the reviews we've gotten thusfar.

We always ask reviewers ahead of time, too, if they have enough time or inclination to do a review. We never send anyone materials they don't ask for or agree to receiving.

I also agree with Dextra on the solicitation of free product/not delivering a review issue. That is *quite* annoying. Only happened once, though, so we've crossed our fingers.

Could I possibly ramble any more? Probably, but won't.

Cheers!
Ian

 

[froggie]

Absolutely! We pay attention to the reviews and listen to what the fans say and want or would like to see.


Bill Webb
www.necromancergames.com

 

[DonB]

Too much product to review? Absolutely!! That's a problem for virtually every review medium in every genre. Reviewers for everything get stacks and stacks and stacks of books. Trying to keep up with everything is impossible - easier if you're doing electronic reviews (rapid issue frequency, no space limitations), but I think most people realize that with a print publication, you're competing for space.

Partly you want to look at how different publishers send out reviews copies too - big companies who send out a lot of review copies (not just game companies but book publishers do this too) sometimes have standing orders that ship one of everything. No muss, no fuss, no staff time. I think WotC used to do this, but I'm getting more stuff with actual press releases/publcist letters in it. Someone who's doing this can't realistically expect that everything will get reviewed - that's definitely the danger with sending out unsolicited review copies. The review venue doesn't (or shouldn't) owe you anything.

OTOH, a solicited review copy is something else. If I specifically approach a company looking for a review copy, it's because I already know I want to review it/have it reviewed. If I can't review something like that, I'd try to make sure the company knows it (fortunately, I haven't had to so far!). Requesting copies is actually my favored way of going though - I don't feel bad because I've got stacks of unreviewed material, plus it help build a rapport with companies' marketing people. And it gives smaller companies who can't afford to do mass-blankets of material a chance to know they're putting their resources somewhere that's actually interested.

Someone said they saw a company at GenCon offering review copies, but only if a review was guaranteed. If I was on the receiving end of that offer, I'd be very tempted to tell them what to do with the product. Oy. That's just wrong. Almost on the level of a reviewer saying "we'll review your book, but only if you advertise with us."

Don


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Don Bassingthwaite
Gaming Editor, Black Gate
www.blackgate.com