For readers. As literary fiction disappears from the pages of major book reviews, it becomes harder to find good books to read. With tags for style and influence and easy access to excerpts, Dactyl Review is unlike any other fiction review site,helping readers find the particular kinds of “literary fiction” they prefer. Because we’re not a commercial site, we don’t favor the newest books or books by best-selling authors. We publish reviews of only the best literary fiction, older and new, as judged by other literary fiction writers.
For writers. Helping to promote and support the kind of work you admire will help build a readership for your own work. Reviewers with the highest percentage of positive feedback will be noted in the top ten reviewers section. Literary fiction writers who want help getting their books reviewed can participate in a review-exchange, for more information click here. All books reviewed on this site may be submitted for consideration for the Dactyl Foundation Literary Fiction Award ($1000).
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Who Can Submit a Review
Any published literary fiction writer can contribute a review. No reviews of one’s own work will be accepted. A contributing reviewer must provide a title of one or more of his/her own book-length works of literary fiction to qualify. Reviewers should also provide a link, if available, to their own author websites.
What to Review
We accept reviews of books both new and not-so-new. In fact, we encourage reviewers to consider the under-appreciated and older titles of any contemporary author. (No reviews of long-dead authors, please.) Only reviews of book-length “literary fiction” will be accepted, including short story collections. We accept reviews of books that have already been reviewed on this site. You can also submit any review that you have posted or published elsewhere, as long as you have permission to do so.
How to Submit a Review
Enter your review in the form below. (Use html code to indicate <em>italics</em>.) Please pick two words that describe style and/or influence (not subject or genre, see tag cloud for suggestions). Also please include a 200-500 word excerpt from the book that illustrates the author’s style best. Put the excerpt at the end or incorporate it into your review, whichever you prefer. Reviewers should support all opinions with evidence from the writing. Reviews must be 500-2500 words in length, excluding excerpt.
Your review will not be posted immediately, but will be held for moderation. If you submit more than ten acceptable reviews, you will be given a username and password and the option to add more reviews directly.
Poorly written, unfair or inappropriate reviews (i.e. reviews of books that cannot be called literary fiction) can be critiqued and voted off the website.
Other Things You May Want to Know
Dactyl Review will not hold copyright on any review and you are free to publish elsewhere. This site is maintained by Dactyl Foundation. If reviewers choose not to take referral fees for books reviewed, any referral fees earned will be donated to Dactyl Foundation to support the review.
