Give a decline reason?

[Evangeline Han]

When declining a review pitch from a PR or author, do you give a reason for declining?

 

Evangeline

http://sugarpeach.wordpress.com

[Jennifer Kitchens]

Personally I do.  I usually have basic reasons - it doesn't fit my review criteria, etc.  I don't get too many that I'm simply not interested in by the pitch so I don't have this problem much unless it's something I don't review (aka, not a romance, is a short story, etc)

 

Clean Romance Reviews

[Mk - PopcornReads.com]

I also provide a reason. I have some reasons that are pretty standard but I also let an author know if their subject matter or books sounds like it's outside of my comfort level or the genres I review.

 

To be honest, most of the time I have to decline to review something because I'm fully scheduled with books to review too far out into the future.

 

Mk

PopcornReads.com

[Jordan Butcher]

The only reason I decline a review is that it's not the genre that my readers are into. And I tell them that in a very polite way. I make sure to include that it has nothing to do with them or their book just that it isn't the type of genre we review.

 

Jordan Butcher

The Ink Puddle

[ManOfLaBook.com]

I usually give some sort of reason. I try to be honest ("I simply don't have time", "not my genre", etc.).

 

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Kathleen Higgins-Anderson]

The only time I will decline a review is if the book isn't in one of the genres that interest me, or if my scheduled virtual book tour events calendar is booked solid and I can't fit them in. I will also let the PR or author know that if I do consider doing a review, that there is a waiting list with a 4-8 week time frame before I could get a review to them, this way it also gives them the opportunity to decline being placed on the list.

 

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/

[Sophie Gonzales]

I usually do, but I admit that I don't all the time. I just try to be as gentle about it as possible sometimes. :-)

[Marian Perera]

If I decline as a result of reading the author's pitch and noticing typos or other warning signs, then no, I don't provide a reason. Lying usually makes me uncomfortable, and telling the author the truth is opening a can of worms.

[Grace]

Agreed.  The number one turnoff in a book for me is bad editing/grammar, so if I notice it in the pitch, there's no way that I'm going to read the book.  Then again, I haven't gotten many non-spammy review requests.  If it comes into my inbox as part of a mass e-mail, I probably won't even bother responding.

 

________________________________

Books Without Any Pictures

[Evangeline Han]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been having to reject several review pitches lately due to the sexual content in the book. My main problem is declining politely without being offensive.

[Stormi Johnson]

I usually give them a reason as I know I hate sending out emails and never getting a response. So I try and respond back to say either yes or no. :)

[Untreed Reads]

Speaking from the perspective of one who approaches book reviewers quite frequently I can assure you any indication that the e-mails are being read is great comfort. Something as simple as being told that now's not a good time can prove to be boost to morale.

What's more helpful to both the reviewer and solicitor is declining titles because they're a specific genre. Understanding someone's preferences lets me narrow the books I'm pitching to something the reviewer might actually be interested in checking out. Saves me a little time, saves you a little time and decreasing the amount of inbox clutter.

But at the same time I understand people are busy and don't take it personally when I never hear back about a particular release pitch. I hope that everyone who receives pitches from me also understands that there's a lot of review sites to contact and only so many ours in the day, so I can't always make my e-mails as personalized as I might otherwise.

Thanks for allowing my two cents.

[Joseph Arellano]

I think it's optional, but you should have your book review policies/rules posted somewhere on your blog site.  Joseph

http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com/