Reviewers’ Guidelines
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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.
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.
We offer registered readers the opportunity to comment on all our reviews, 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..
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 books they are 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, whose readership is growing by the month, and this 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, 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). Moreover, 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 promoted by giving every newly published Catholic novel a glowing report. All reviews must be written in a spirit of charity and balance, of course, but we think it important that a reviewer point out what he/she views as a book’s shortcomings as well as its virtues. 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 thematic aspects. .
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!
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 contact us using this form:
