My Dear Fellow Poets.

As I continue on my own writing / publishing journey, I’ve noticed that there are just too many obstacles and difficulties in the dreaded phase of BOOK PROMOTION. The endless research, the dead-end contacts and websites, the dozens of unanswered emails and inquiries, screaming into your own social media void about this wonderful book that you’ve created and love so much and nobody else seems to care about -- it's the worst. 

So, here's my proposal to hopefully make things a little easier for the both of us --

Let's, you and me, do a book review exchange!

But before we start, please consider that this exercise can get a little tricky.  Feelings can get hurt, intentionally or not.  I want to put forth some guidelines that we both need to follow in order to make this thing work successfully, to our mutual benefit.

Guidelines for the both of us:

• The reviews should be honest, respectful, kind, thoughtful, and generally positive.  That doesn't mean we're throwing out false praise, but instead recognizing the hard work of the other author by emphasizing their accomplishments and what they got right.  Any criticisms should be quite gentle and balanced out with something positive, even if it is something small. 

• If either of us feel like our rating of the other is going to go below 3 stars, the plug can be pulled on our exchange, no hard feelings.

• No AI.  I promise you I will not use AI to read, summarize, or comment on your book and need you to return the same courtesy.

• No money or favors will be exchanged or requested.

• Let's have fun with it!

Here's how we can make it work:

• You'll fill out this Google Formwith your info to let me know that you're interested in exchanging a book review with me.

• I'll check out your info, decide whether your work is up my alley and then I'll respond, letting you know if I'd like to go forward with the review exchange.  (If I say no, it could be a multitude of reasons, such as my own time constraints, so, please, no hard feelings.)

• If yes, then we exchange books free of charge -- a digital or hard copy.

• We'll read each other's books carefully and thoughtfully and write up an honest-but-kind review (minimum 5 sentences) with a rating (up to 5 stars) to be posted on sites like Goodreads, Amazon, and / or Library Thing.  We can use other sites too; these are just ones that I frequent.

• Prior to posting, we'll personally exchange our reviews with each other via email to double check that we're on the same page, and that each of us is following the Golden Rule by being respectful, kind, and thoughtful in our evaluations.  Either of us can choose at any time to pull the plug and not have the reviews published.

• We'll get our reviews done within 2 weeks of agreeing to do the review exchange.

Here's my promise to you:

• For the initial request, I'll reply to you as fast as I can.  Right now, I have no idea how many poets will be interested in this exchange.  I might take a few days, or a couple weeks, but not more than 30 days. Once we're in contact, I won't leave you hanging.

• I'm not going to write anything negative about your work.  My goal is to uplift, help out, and celebrate fellow creatives, not make them feel bad.  

• If I feel like my rating of your work is going to drop below a 3, I will contact you as soon as I can so we can pull the plug on the exercise without wasting too much of anyone's time. 

• I'm not going to ask you for money, favors, or anything else.  I'm doing this for fun, connection, and to be a good literary citizen.  If we become correspondents / friends in the process, that's cool with me.

• I'll never use AI to read, evaluate, or comment on your work. 

• I'll follow the Golden Rule.  My review and rating of your work will be honest, kind, thoughtful, respectful, and focused on the positive. I will show you my review / rating for your approval before moving forward to the posting step.

• No hard feelings from me if this doesn't work out!

You can find info about my Books on this site.‍ ‍Since my chapbook irl just came out, I’d prefer you chose that one to review, but there are other options.