Why your book didn't get reviewed

One of the questions writers often ask is, "Why didn't my book get reviewed?" There are a lot of reasons for this, but one of the main ones is also one of the most surprising:

Because the reviewer never got a copy of the book.

Case in point: A bestselling crime writer has a book coming out in 10 days or so. I reviewed a couple books by this author previously, and was generally pleased with them, so this latest work was on my radar screen as a strong contender for review.

(My editor likes it when I can include a bestseller or two in my roundup column, so I'm always on the lookout for candidates that I think are worthy of review.)

The problem is, I never received a copy of the book. Usually I get ARCs of upcoming titles at least a couple months before the release date. This is necessary so that reviewers can plan and write their reviews. (My lead time for deciding what I'm going to review is usually at least a month before my column actually appears in the newspaper.)

I don't know if the publisher didn't print galleys or they just didn't send me one. I do know that for the author's last book, which I reviewed, I never did get a galley and had to practically pull their teeth to get a copy of the book to review. I also know that they did print ARCs -- they just didn't bother to send me one.

So I contacted the author directly and asked him to make sure his publicist sent me a book as soon as possible. He said he'd take care of it.

Well, a finished copy of the book finally arrived yesterday. Unfortunately, I've already written my September column, and obviously this book wasn't included. So I won't be reviewing it. I doubt I'll even have time to read it, as I've now moved on to October and November books.

Frustrating? A little, I suppose. But I just read a different book and wrote about that instead. The real losers are the author, the author's fans and the publisher. This is not an isolated incident either; it happens all the time.

No matter how long I work in this business, I don't think I'll ever understand why publishers do the things they do.

Comments

[Bill Peschel]

My introduction to the bizarro world of publishing was back in the mid-90s when I took over the newspaper's book page. HarperCollins would make sure they would send us their catalog, and made equally sure they would never send the requested review copies.

[Sarah]

This exact scenario happened to me last month with my September column, too - this after repeated requests, and the book would have been a perfect fit for said column. Oh well.

[Cameron Hughes]

This happened to me with Charlie Huston's The Shotgun Rule. I personally talked to the guy at Random House, called him, and tnen never got the book. I would have liked to have written about it, but I just have too much I need to cover

[I.J.Parker]

Hmm, I hope they got my message at Penguin. :)

[Jeff Cohen]

David: PLEASE tell me the ARC got there...

[David J. Montgomery]

Jeff, yes, I got the book. :)

[Jon Jordan]

We run into this an awful lot. Publishers don't quite understand the idea of lead time.

I had an author email me in November a couple years ago and ask us to review his book which came out in June. I was already working on January. The worst part was that we had talked before the book came out and I made very clear he should make sure to get a book to us.

And I love getting catalogs and then never being able to get the books. Or maybe a postcard telling me the book is out even though we never saw a copy.

[AlisonGaylin]

Very informative post, David -- definitely makes you want to check in with your publicist more often. :)

[PJ Parrish]

David,
Depressing but not surprising. The same thing happens for awards. Publishers neglect sending in books to the Edgars, Thrillers, etc. One year when Kelly and I were judging best first novel for Shamuses, we were surprised that a highly touted (and Edgar winner!) didn't get sent in. Much later, we were asked by the author if we had gotten it and we said no. The author confronted the publisher who said it was sent. Classic covering their ass. But it was the author who lost out.

[Dana Kaye]

Thanks for touching on this; too often authors send me books months after their release. One guy even e-mailed me to ask if he could send me an ARC, to which I said fine, and it didn't arrive in my mailbox until 3 months later. Timing is everything.

[Lillian]

Sadly, ARCs are expensive, and as we publishers print fewer and fewer the distro list gets shorter. Often we fight to do more on first novels or nonfiction we feel would get good word of mouth, and a more established author (whom we think will stay at a certain level) might get only a handful for key accounts and top reviewers.

If we publishers got more feedback from those who receive (or don't receive) ARCs and galleys, it would help us fight for more copies the next time. Make sure your concern goes to the right person. Is an assistant who messed up the mailing going to pass along your complaint? Tell your editor!

Also, sometimes we feel as if we are mailing into a black hole, and don't want to see these precious copies on eBay or at the Strand. And help us find some assistants willing to pop these babies into jiffy bags! Most of the best assistants want to work in editorial or publicity.

[Pete]

This cuts both ways you know. We are a small independent publisher with (relatively) short print runs. We allow for a number of ARCs but, to be honest, get very fed up with the poor and frequently arrogant response of the potential recipients.
If we send ARCs 'unsolicited' we know they'll just be binned, we never get them returned as unwanted or even acknowledged (wanted or otherwise). If we send out catalogues/AIs/press releases to elicit requests for ARCs we also get no response or even acknowledgement.
Mainstream media are the worst, genre publications are a bit better, and freelance reviewers who write for both print and online publications are the only ones who seem to have any manners at all.
It's difficult enough as a small press to get noticed by newspaper/magazine reviewers anyway, but when you get treated so shabbily and rudely you feel like you should stop bothering to engage with these media dinosaurs.
As far as I can tell, if your author doesn't have the same agent/publisher/friends as the reviewer and you're not promoting a guaranteed bestseller from a large publishing house your book has no chance of being reviewed.