Any authors, publicists, or publishers interested in having me read and review your book should contact me at the following address: meredith.nudo@gmail.com. I would suggest familiarizing yourself with my review style before soliciting my opinion, as I am very blunt and not afraid to outright state what I believe. Because I stand firmly behind the First Amendment, I will not refuse to review a book simply because I disagree with the premise – though if I’m offended by the content, you’ll know exactly why I’m offended. I do not believe in whitewashing or glossing over anything, because that completely hinders a writer’s ability to evolve. If you can’t handle constructive criticism or are seeking a quick shot of guaranteed ego-stroking positivity, then I am not the droid reviewer you’re looking for. My qualifications can be found in the “About” page of this website.
I do not hold self-published authors to different standards as those distributed by the mainstream. While I certainly understand that preview copies and ARCs may contain a few spelling and grammar errors – and won’t hold that against any of those I may receive – I still believe that ALL writers NEED to have a firm grasp on the language in which they are writing. Writers without editors ought to learn how to take the initiative to make necessary corrections themselves. Perhaps this sounds harsh, but I do not believe it is fair to shift my criteria based on publisher. Audience, yes. Genre, yes. Fiction or nonfiction, yes. But publisher is a no. There are incompetent mainstream writers and eloquent self-published writers, so who releases the book ought not have a bearing on how I review it.
Since I believe in honesty and transparency, those considering me as a reviewer – advanced or otherwise – should understand my limitations. I believe every book is owed a thoughtful and thorough review, and if I have anything below a basic working knowledge of a genre or subject I do not believe I could give it a fair chance. Bear in mind that while I do consider myself weak in these areas, if you are STILL interested in contacting me with any of the books outside my area of expertise or academic experience then I WILL NOT turn you down. The only way I can add to my experience and worldview is to expose myself to as wide a variety of books and subjects as possible, so if you are willing to help me evolve as a reviewer, I am willing to help you evolve as a writer.
My academic specialty is postmodernism and metafiction, though I am open to reviewing almost anything that comes my way. However, keep in mind that because of this emphasis, I DO NOT consider myself qualified to review MOST examples of the romance, high fantasy, western, spy/espionage, contemporary horror, or contemporary mystery genres. Though that does not mean I am not willing to give them a chance at all. I feel as if my strengths lie mostly in reviewing postmodernist/meta fiction, contemporary fiction, science fiction (especially cyberpunk), drama, young adult literature, graphic novels, and low and/or postmodern fantasy. I will be posting reviews of “classic,” “canonical,” and/or “necessary” works I am reading for the first time as well, so if you are a publisher releasing a new edition of an older, well-established piece then I feel as if I am qualified for this as well.
As for nonfiction, I will not turn my nose up at any subject, though I am not well-versed in business, economics, chemistry, physics, math, or technical fields such as engineering and computer science. That does NOT mean, however, that I will turn my nose up at opportunities to read books on these subjects – especially if they are targeted towards non-professionals and/or those with an elementary grasp of the topics at hand. They are subjects I would certainly enjoy exploring if I can get in on the ground level. While I would not consider myself an expert on most of the nonfiction fields featured on Burning Leaves beyond any stretch of the imagination, they are at least ones where I have some prior knowledge of and/or experience with.
The only two genres I absolutely WILL NOT review on this site are self-help and cookbooks. While I acknowledge them as certainly necessary, there are a couple of reasons for this avoidance. Self-help books contain a staggeringly high level of subjectivity – one could argue more than other type of books – and what I consider useful, helpful advice may possibly have an adverse effect on someone else. I would not want to take responsibility for positively reviewing a self-help book, only to find out that someone looked to it and had an entirely opposite experience. Too much potential for liability issues. As for cookbooks – while I love the culinary arts and would certainly read and review books on the field itself, I believe they ought to be judged more on the quality of the recipes rather than the copy. Since I don’t have the time or the money to be investing in sampling most recipes from most cookbooks, I would not be able to post anything terribly constructive about them.
Anything else? I’ll give it a chance!
Thank you for taking the time to read this over and consider me as a potential reviewer. I look forward to hearing from you!
~Riot/Meredith
