Guidelines for Reviewers
Feeling intimidated? It's just a blog post. It's okay to be casual, funny, serious, or just your own self. We're just a bunch of moms talking to other moms — that's why we're called “MotherTalk”!
When you're ready to post your review, please keep these guidelines in mind:
- 1. Post your review on your blog, within the allotted time frame. Just send us an email to let us know it's live and we'll link to it from the MotherTalk Web site.
- 2. When reviewing a book, instead of telling us what the book is about, tell us what you thought of the book, or what your experience was reading it. If you get stuck, use these questions to jumpstart your thinking:
- What was your favorite thing about the book?
- What impressions stayed with you when you were done reading it?
- How was the book different than what you expected, or surprising?
- What did the book teach you or inspire you to do different or better?
- What made the characters believable? Likeable? Familiar? (or not?)
- If you loved it, what could the author have done to make the book even better?
- If you didn't like the book, what qualities might appeal to others?
- What kind of person or group would you recommend this book to? (For example, book clubs, women struggling with depression, Stephen King fans, vacationers looking for a good beach read, etc.)
- How has the book affected you as a person? As a mother? As a [fill in the blank]?
- How has the book changed your opinions or feelings about the topic at hand?
- In what ways did the book take you out of your comfort zone?
- 3. When reviewing a product or cause, just tell your readers about it in the same way you'd tell a friend. What you liked, what could be better, and any other thoughts that pertain to it.
