Our Mission Statement and Review Requirements

Welcome to the Carcharodon Book Blog! Here we are dedicated to uncovering and promoting Independent Publications from Self-Published Authors and Indie Publishing Houses.

We love devouring your books!

We believe in the value of unsolicited writers and understand the near-impenetrable barriers of the mainstream publishing industry. The 21st Century has come though, and with the advent of the internet, prospective authors now have an avenue to publish their individual works that many traditional publishers might deem "unsaleable", not for the quality of prose, but rather for a number of marketing reasons.

And we are here to support them!

Our Rating System

At Carcharodon Books, we have devised a simplified rating system of five stars, with each individual star deriving from five core categories:

• Characters — Are all of the characters well-developed, three-dimensional beings? Does the reader feel a solid connection to them? Are secondary characters necessary to the plot?  
• World Building — Does the author convey a believable world? Is enough information given about the character's surroundings? Does the world feel alive and fully-functioning?
• Story — Is the story enjoyable? Is it unique or derivative?
• Execution — Does the narrative flow naturally? Do events unfold in a timely manner?
• Writing Style — Is the prose mature and entertaining? Are metaphors used effectively?

Half-stars will be rewarded for a moderate rating in a particular category, but when posting to larger book review sites, such as Goodreads and Amazon, we always round up!

We do not deduct stars for the occasional editorial gaff. Did you know that even an experienced proofreader will only identify approximately 97% of errors, even in solicited publications? If we happen to notice a couple of errors, we will inform you personally so you can rectify them.

Submission Rules

Naturally, there are a few rules and regulations that we need to enforce so that both parties can be happy with the final outcome. 

1. Our first and foremost priority is to Independent Authors. Therefore, we currently do not accept solicited publications from mainstream publishers. We only accept Independent Publications, either by Self-Published Authors or via an Independent Publishers. We exist to help the little guy!
2. Your book must be in a published form, or be a maximum of three months from a tentative release date. This is to ensure that prospective authors do not abuse our system to receive a complimentary edit or proofread.
3. Reviews are final. However, we understand how devastating a negative review can be upon the marketing capability of your book, so we will not publish a review with a score of two stars or less on this blog or previously discussed websites. We will correspond with you privately and supply constructive feedback on what we believe can be improved upon. A polite review will still be posted on our respective, personal Goodreads accounts. 
4. Good reviews will be posted to our Blog, personal Goodreads page, Amazon, and up to two websites of your choosing, so long as it is not an over complicated process. (Suggestions include Barnes&Noble and iBooks).
5. We reserve the right to reject your book from being reviewed at any time, though we will endeavour to read and review all books we receive. If for whatever reason, we decide not to move forward with a review of your book, we will inform you directly. Please be aware that sending us a hard copy of your book does not guarantee a review.
6. We do not accept monetary incentives for reviews. Offering payments will not push your book up through the queue.
7. Please be aware that at any time we may be inundated with book reviews. We will try to give you a rough timeline for when to expect your review, but this date is not final. 
8. We accept books in the following formats: Hard Copy, PDF, ePub, Mobi. Audiobooks are also acceptable.
9. We accept all genres!
10. Please contact us with a query letter (via email) before sending your whole book.

Submission Format

For all queries and submissions, please contact:

• carcharodonbooks [at] gmail [dot] com

When sending your initial query letter, please format your email Subject Line as follow:

• "Query [Book Title/Author Name]"

Please include the following details in your query letter:

• An introduction (Just tell us a bit about yourself!)
• A brief summary of your book, including the Title, Genre and Word Length
• The release date of your book/or the tentative release date if your book is not yet published
• Any relevant links, such as your Amazon or GoodReads page
• The First Chapter/The First 20 pages (Please embed this in the body of you email.)