Submit a Book

We don’t do blog tours/interviews/etc. with authors we’ve never read. Continue on if you want a book review.

Can I submit my book to you for review?

Yes, if it’s speculative fiction as defined by wikipedia (science fiction, fantasy, etc.) and…

• not published through one of the six traditional publishers or their imprints. Books from independent publishers of all sizes and self-published authors are equally welcome.
• available as an ebook on Amazon or Smashwords. We only review the final published ebook copy, we don’t accept ARCs prior to publishing or hard copies of any kind. The ebooks out there (from both trads and indies) range in quality, and readers want to know how ebooks hold up with regards to both story and formatting.
•  a review copy in .mobi or .azw is available (we have Kindles)
• priced under $10
• more than 15,000 words (but any format is good, including short story magazines/anthologies, and CYOAs)
• not paranormal romance, not a children’s book
• YA is only reviewed if it is enjoyable for an 18+ audience

Note on horror: Horror with sci-fi, fantasy, or supernatural elements are welcome.

Note on romance: We don’t typically review books heavy on the romance, but we may if the romance is atypical, a subplot, or doesn’t necessarily lead to a HEA.

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How do I submit a book for review?

Email your book submission to adarnasf[at]gmail.com and we will consider it for review. Follow the guidelines in this section if you want us to read your email. Not all books received will be reviewed due to time constraints.  If a reviewer likes the sample and would be interested in reviewing the book, the reviewer will email you for the review copy and will provide an estimate on when the review will be published.

Include the following in your email:


(1) “Book Submission – [Title of Book]” on the email subject line.
(2) Send one email per book submission. No multiple submissions from the same author. Authors, if you don’t hear from us, wait 3 months before submitting another book.
(3) Just address us as Adarna SF reviewers.
(4) A link to the book’s Amazon Kindle or Smashwords page. Don’t link us to the sample chapters on your personal site.
(5) Genre
(6) Word Count
(7) Optional: If you prefer a specific reviewer to review the book, add their first name on the email subject line like “Book submission – Awesome Book (Pref: Matt)” and we may take the preference into consideration.
(8) For submitting sequels: If you’re submitting a sequel to a book already reviewed by an individual reviewer, feel free to send your submission to that reviewer’s email address directly.

Don’t email us the following:

(1) Don’t attach any file and don’t gift us Amazon books unless we ask for it.
(2) Don’t re-submit books even if there is a new cover or edits are made. We only look at the version first sent to us. If you submitted a book to Frida before the blog relaunch, there is no need to send it again.
(3) Don’t email us repeatedly asking if we’ll review the book. If we’re interested, we will email you back.

We post all reviews to this blog, the Goodreads book page, and the Goodreads group shelf. Books that receive a rating of 3 stars and higher will also have reviews posted on the Amazon and Smashwords page for maximum exposure. Here is a guide to the rating system.

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Additional Matters

How often do you review books?
Adarna SF publishes reviews at least once a week. Our review schedule generally doesn’t get longer than two months, and new books are added to the schedule every week. Individual reviewers select books to review on the basis of whichever they found most interesting.

We try to keep our blog content a bit diverse. Reviewers publish at least five reviews until they review a book by an author they have already reviewed.  Our reviewers can also review the same books (although this happens rarely), but we ensure that we publish at least five reviews between the first review and the second.

What books do you focus on?
Speculative fiction for adults. We’re okay with mature themes like graphic violence and body horror, but not sexploitation. Erotica is fine as long as it comes with plot. 

My book received a bad review on your site and on Goodreads. Will you take it down?
No, reviews are final. Providing a reviewer a free copy of the book does not guarantee a positive review. The value we provide to writers is additional publicity, and the value we provide to readers is our judgment. We do our best to be honest, consistent, and informative. Even if the book didn’t work for individual reviewer, hopefully s/he was still informative enough to help get the attention of the target readers.

The only exception to this rule is that in some cases, we will remove a reader-submitted review if it grossly misrepresents the work.

Readers are not expected to agree with reviewers at all times, so throwing a Jacqueline Howett is a very bad idea. There are better ways of leveraging any attention that the work receives.

Please note: Reviewers will contact you if we are interested.
Reviewers are volunteers and we receive a lot of book submissions, but we consider every book. Given our limited time, it’s better spent reading and reviewing books rather than responding to every email. If a reviewer is interested, we will email you back. If we haven’t contacted you in 3 months, then assume we have moved on to other submissions. You are still welcome to submit other work.

Do you know of other bloggers who review indie SF?
Frida has been curating a list of blogs with an SF/F focus at Indie SF Reviewers. Simon Royle’s Indie Book Reviewers List has a comprehensive list of book bloggers of all genres.

Last update: September 17, 2011