CM Reviewer Guidelines:

Canadian Review of Materials has lots of volunteer reviewers -- dozens and dozens -- so we can't promise that volunteers will quickly begin receiving a stream of titles to review. If you want to add your name to the list please go the Reviewer Information Page, fill it out, and send it in.

If you're already a reviewer, or if you're part of the Collaborative Book Review Project, you may want to read over our reviewer guidelines.

No review can cover everything relevant, though in the next section we list elements to consider in writing your reviews for CM. We like to begin reviews with a representative excerpt of one hundred or so words. Obviously, there are some titles (picture books, say) where an excerpt would have to be smaller, or perhaps would not be appropriate at all. The total length is flexible; 500 words might be a good average, but you might want to go shorter, or even much longer for a deserving title. Also, we have five basic ratings:

• Not recommended

• not mentioned (that is, leaving it up to the reader)

• Recommended with reservations (which get specified)

• Recommended

• Highly recommended

Something have begun recently at the request of publishers is a starred rating system. We rate out of four, so please include a ***/4 (or whatever) as well. This is not just a transposition of the descriptive ratings, but an overall judgment. For example, you might say that a title is Recommended with reservations because it was greatly over-priced, but still feel the inherent quality was high enough for it to receive three stars.

Beneath is a template for the information we need in a published review -- if you're missing some of the information; don't worry, just make a note of it in your copy so we have time to track it down.