Publishers Weekly and Library Journal

Greetings from Day 2 at the Massachusetts Library Association Conference. I'm currently at a workshop featuring review editors from Publishers' Weekly (PW) and Library Journal (LJ), two of the journals that we use at the WPL to select our materials. I was a little late for this workshop because I had to help set up a Youth Services workshop, but I think I came in at a good time. Instead of a traditional panel discussion, the librarians on the panel asked questions, instead, and then opened up the discussion to the audience. The panelists were Jonathan Segura from PW, Barbara Hoffert from LJ, Nancy Aberman from the Reading Public Library, and Kathy Miksis from the Reading Public Library.
Some of the important aspects of reviewing:
1) If reviewing fiction, don't give away the whole plot. I find this interesting because adult book reviews do tend to hold in the plot, while young adult book reviews don't always seem to hold true to this rule. I wonder why. Perhaps because those who read young adult reviews tend to be adults, and not the actual audience for the book. (Though I read the YA stuff!)
2) Because of the advent of databases such as Book Index with Reviews (to which we subscribe) and Amazon.Com which feature capsule reviews from these sources, the actual reviews from the sources need to be formatted differently. Electronic records are going to be the permanent record.
3) Question: How you do select your reviewers?
PW : Put up a call on their website for reviewers. They also look in house for reviewers. Occasionally, people do e-mail PW who want to review, but it depends whether or not the magazine is looking for reviewers. The reviewers are paid a small stipend. They try to figure out what the experience and expertise of the reviewer are. This is easier with non-fiction. Jonathan is a big fan of the paranormal genre, featuring vampires, etc.
LJ: Also agreed that it is easier to pin down non-fiction reviewers. (LJ is always looking for reviewers. Go to their website). In the case of a new reviewer, LJ needs to become familiar with the book that is assigned, as well as read between the lines. New reviewers are always asked to submit two reviewers before being considered. This is because Barbara wants the candidate to become familiar with the task of writing a 200 word review. Barbara has never had to fire anyone, but there are people who leave, and reviews are also scratched. "Our reviewers are fabulous!"
4) What should reviews contain?
PW: A good review needs a summary, discuss whether the book is supposed to do. Negative reviews are harder to write, for this reason.
LJ: Fiction tends to be easier to write with a shorter word count, while social science usually isn't. There is a flow that goes with a 200 word review.
5) What is the mission of your magazine?
PW:They don't review reference, self published books, travel guides, etc. (The book room for Publishers' Weekly is very small. ) Try to get all of the big titles from the big publishers. They also try to cover the small independent publishers. What is the best for the readership? (which is changing) PW also receives two copies of each book, which also causes some storage problems.
LJ: They don't require two copies of books, mainly because of storage issues. LJ does not review children's books (see School Library Journal), and books in other languages, with the exception of Spanish books for their Criticas journal. LJ did not review self published books, but Barbara mentioned that the world is changing in regards to independent and small publishing.
6) What about books with large advertising budgets and book tours?
PW: In order to keep up, need to review this book, because the mainstream will be aware of the book and wonder about it.
LJ: Agreed, but publishers need to recognize that LJ does publish negative reviews, so if it's not recommended, the reviewer will not be afraid to say it.
7) Covering debuts
PW: The expectations are different for those who are established authors as opposed to those who aren't.
LJ: Barbara likes to do debuts, and the magazine features a New Fiction roundup. It's hard to get attention for second books because publishers find it easier to track sales information for a first novel. Because of this, Barbara likes to track second time authors, as well.
8) Question: Would it save space to not review books that libraries are going to purchase, anyway, such as best selling authors, etc.
LJ: Need to acknowledge these books, but perhaps it would be better to have them be capsule reviews.
9) Question: Why don't librarians use more online reviews, instead of passing around copies of the magazine?
(note: We've started doing that, here. Marialice reads the print magazine of PW, and I read online and this way Tom gets our suggestions earlier).
10) Question: Do your galleys come with cover art?
PW: Sometimes.
11) Question: Who decides what receives starred reviews? What is the criteria?
LJ: Now, the individual editor decides with the individual review who receives the starred review.