What We Review
Catholicfiction.net reviews novels and short story collections as well as related non-fiction books, such as biographies of Catholic writers, works of literary history and criticism, and books on the craft of writing by Catholic writers. We are interested in reviews of both literary classics and the latest popular Catholic novels, in every genre.
For the sake of keeping readers informed of what’s out there, we’re also interested in reviews of mainstream novels with themes of special interest to Catholics. We will even review overtly anti-Catholic novels in order to provide a “caveat lector” service to Catholic readers.
Who We Are
The site is a project of Idylls Press, but our reviewers, whether directly connected to Idylls Press or not, approach their subjects from their own distinct viewpoints. The only thing we all necessarily have in common is our Catholic faith and our love for fiction. And, as our collection of reviews (and reviewers) expands, we hope to see an ever wider—i.e., truly catholic as well as Catholic—variety of approaches and sensibilities in these pages. Also, reviewers own the copyrights to their own reviews and are free to publish them elsewhere as they choose.
Comments & Alternate Reviews
We offer readers the opportunity to comment on all our reviews (see our comment & discussion guidelines), which we hope will promote ongoing conversation, and will even encourage counter-reviews in cases where there may prove to be some disagreement among thoughtful readers on a book’s virtues or vices. Or just to point out a different aspect of a particular novel.
Why Review for Us?
We are beginning to receive a regular stream of review copies from publishers and authors, and in many cases can provide our reviewers with the new books to review, free of charge. Otherwise, Catholicfiction.net is not at present a paying market.
We do, however, offer our reviewers their own web page on the site and their own sidebar that appears alongside each of the reviewers’ reviews. Since our readership is growing by the month, reviewing here can be an excellent means of promotion for authors, especially those with published books. (Go to the “Our Reviewers” page to see examples.) On their individual pages and sidebars, reviewers are welcome to post a picture, a brief biography, and information about their own published works, including links to Amazon pages, etc. .
We are interested in reviews of both literary classics and the latest popular Catholic novels, in every genre. For the sake of keeping readers informed of what’s out there, we’re also interested in reviews of mainstream novels with themes of special interest to Catholics (even overtly anti-Catholic ones, to provide a “caveat lector” service to Catholic readers).
Review Guidelines
While Catholicfiction.net is eager to do its part in the much-desired Catholic literary revival, we do not believe that this worthy cause is well served by giving every newly published Catholic novel a glowing report. Just because a novel seeks to promote Catholic faith and values, for instance, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it is a) well written, b) tells a captivating story, or c) is an entertaining read. Sometimes even a book’s design and typesetting are bothersome enough to warrant comment. Similarly, though a thoughtful reading of a novel may suggest that the novelist’s viewpoint is less than orthodox, from a Catholic point of view, even in important matters of faith and morals, it doesn’t follow that there is nothing of value to be gained from reading the book; we would hope our reviewers would point out a such a book’s virtues, even when they see fit to warn readers of problematic aspects.
Our main criterion, then, is a spirit of charity as well as discernment.
In general, reviews should be between 400 and 1000 words in length All reviews should contain brief synopses of plot and main characters, but we strongly discourage a blow-by-blow account of the complete story, and certainly wish to avoid publishing “spoilers”—the giving away of key story developments and surprises. Whether a familiar “classic” or the latest Ralph McInerny mystery, we don’t want to be the ones responsible for “spoiling” a reader’s sense of discovery! In such cases where an important plot point needs to be divulged for a review to make sense to readers, we urge our reviewers to give a suitable “spoiler alert.”
Similarly, it’s often very useful in a review to point out a book’s appropriate readership. Some more adult-oriented novels may not be appropriate for younger readers, and some so-called “Young Adult” or “Childrens” books are notwithstanding thoroushly delightful reading matter for those of us who count ourselves in the “children of all ages” category!
The Review Process
Here’s out it works: We are contacted regularly (usually by email) by authors and publishers wanting their book reviewed. In response, we ask them for a short description of the book, the publisher, number of pages, ISBN, etc., and why (if it’s not obvious) a site devoted to “Catholic fiction” should review it. A .jpg picture of the cover is always nice, too, or an Amazon link. Then, if we see that the book is up our alley, the Editor (Debra Murphy) includes their book/description in an email list of potential review books sent out every so often to our group list of reviewers. Interested reviewers put in their dibs for a given book on a first-come basis, and Debra notifies them when they’ve got first dibs.
Finally, Debra emails the author or publisher with the name and address of the assigned reviewer and they either snail mail a hard copy of the book directly to the reviewer or (on rare occasions) email a .pdf version if the reviewer has stated that he/she doesn’t mind reading it that way. So far our authors & publishers have been fairly prompt about getting books in the mail.
Reviewers then email Debra (the editor) with their reviews—there’s no hurry, by the way–=either as a Word or OpenOffice doc or Rich Text File. Debra is usually able to get the reviews up in a day or two, but usually spreading them out so that no more than one new review goes up per day. (If we get enough reviewers, that, of course, could change.) Our main aim of course is to have new material going up on a nearly daily basis.
And of course we are always delighted when reviewers submit reviews of “classic” Catholic novels or short story collections that they have already read, or pick up on their own! We are always looking for a liberal mix of “new” fiction and “classics”.
First Time Reviewers
We usually ask first time reviewers to send us a review of a “classic” novel, preferably one that hasn’t been reviewed before, although second reviews are welcome, too, if you feel you have a different “take” on a classic Catholic novel. (See our Catholic Fiction Reading List for inspiration.
9;mail C 7;tholicFiction.ne;t
So, if you are an avid Catholic reader and writer, interested in contributing to Catholicfiction.net, please spend a little time familiarizing yourself with our site, then Email CatholicFiction.net
Recent Comments