A guideline to submitting reviews
The rules member reviewers worked under, restored from the June 2006 capture, with notes on how they read today.
Registered member reviewers are asked to submit at least one review per month to remain active. Those not submitting at least one review per month will be retired to an inactive status (their information hidden) until a review is submitted to reestablish their status as an active reviewer.
Ratings for reviews are based on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the highest (best) option. The four elements of a review are outlined below.
Overall rating. This rating is to outline what your impressions were of the whole story, including concepts, characters, plots, flow and general enjoyment.
Second category. Dependent on the site sub-genre and should be self-explanatory (History Rating, Paranormal Rating, and so on).
Sensuality. The sensuality rating can be a little tricky. Often a book may have a great deal of sex, but may very well not actually be sensual, so consider carefully when rating this element.
Comments. Reviews without comments will not be posted. Reviews are designed to provide the potential reader with an idea of how you (as a reviewer) felt about a particular book, storyline or character. Your reviews can often make the difference between whether or not a book will be purchased. Try to include as much detail as you can on particular elements that you like or dislike (without giving it all away) that might pique the interest of the potential reader.
Review comments should entail 3 to 7 paragraphs and include a basic outline with character introductions. Please do not use all capitals.
We reserve the right to not post a review for any reason without notice to the reviewer.
reading them twenty years on
Most of this has aged well. The one-review-a-month rule kept the reviewer list honest: names on the page belonged to people who were still reading. The 3 to 7 paragraph range is close to what readers still find comfortable, long enough to say something, short enough to finish on a phone.
The sensuality note is the part worth framing. Plenty of review sites before and since have reduced heat to a count of scenes or a row of flames. The ARW guideline asked reviewers to separate quantity from effect, which is harder and much more useful to the reader who wants a slow burn and keeps getting handed a manual.
What the rules did not cover was how to handle a book you disliked, how to review the ninth book in a series for readers who have not met the first eight, or how to talk about heat without euphemism or embarrassment. We took those up in a longer piece at the Writers' Desk, How to write a romance review people will use. For how ratings fitted into the rest of the site, see How it works, and for the results, the reader reviews archive.
the scale at a glance
| Element | Scale | What it measured |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 1 to 10 (Young Adult: 1 to 5) | The whole story: concept, characters, plot, flow, enjoyment |
| Sub-genre rating | 1 to 10 | How well the book did its sub-genre's job, such as history or the paranormal |
| Sensuality | 1 to 10 | How sensual the book reads, which is not the same as how much sex it contains |
| Comments | 3 to 7 paragraphs | Outline, character introductions, likes and dislikes, no spoilers |
Questions readers ask
How long should a romance review be?
The old guidelines asked for 3 to 7 paragraphs, with a basic outline and introductions to the main characters. Reviews without comments were not posted at all.
What does the sensuality rating measure?
Heat, but not only quantity. The guidelines warned that a book can contain a great deal of sex without being sensual, so the score was meant to reflect how the intimacy reads, not how often it happens.
Can I write a negative review?
Yes, and the useful ones say exactly what did not work, without insulting the author or the readers who loved the book. The site reserved the right to decline any review, but a low score alone was never the reason.
Should I mention the ending?
No. The rule was to give enough detail to interest a potential reader without giving it all away. In a romance the ending is usually happy; how they get there is the part not to spoil.