For Authors & Publishers:
Q: I’m an LDS author/publisher. How do I get a spotlight post for my new book?
A. Click this link and read the post. Then send me the info I need.
Q: You’ve totally messed up the spotlight for my book—wrong cover image/wrong genre/wrong or broken link. Why are you so lame?
A: Oops, sorry. I get information for my posts from your website, your publisher, Amazon, or GoodReads. If your book info post is wrong, it means it’s wrong elsewhere as well. You might want to go check it out on the sites I mentioned above and update it.
Another possibility is you’ve updated the book info since I created the post. Or maybe your book summary was so brief that I couldn’t quite figure out the genre, so I guessed. If you send me an email with the correct information and ask me politely, I’ll be more than happy to update your post.
If the links are broken or go to the wrong site, again, send me an email with the correct information and I’ll happily fix it.
(Yes, someone actually asked me why I was so lame!)
Q: My book has a spotlight post but it’s not on the list of releases. Did you forget?
A: Probably not. I do a lot of posts at the beginning of the month and schedule them to go live on future dates. Then I come back every week or two and link them up in the yearly release lists. If it’s been longer than a week, email me about it.
Q: How do I sponsor the site?
A: Click this link and read the post. Then send me the info I need.
Q: Will you review my book?
A: No. I do spotlight posts, not reviews. However, I do leave comments.
Q: Do you do a link swap with authors?
A: No. It would spiral out of control really quickly. But I link to your site from your book’s spotlight post. If you regularly review books as part of your blog, I’ll add you to that list. Click here for details.
Q: Can I buy an ad on your site?
A: Yes. Click this link and read the post. Then send me the info I need.
For Readers:
Q: How do I win a free book?
A. Every month we give away free books. Look in the sidebar under “Win These Books!” to see which books are being given away. Then click that big green button that says, “Click to Enter” to go to the post with the Rafflecopter form on it. If you want all the nitty-gritty details, go to the Win These Books Giveaway page. If you want to give away your book, read the Be a Sponsor page. These guidelines govern all the monthly book giveaways.
Unless it’s July. If it’s July, we’re having our annual Summer Book Trek. That month usually turns into a crazy, book giveaway, free-for-all. And it’s tons of fun!
Q: How do I participate in the Book Club?
A. Read one of the monthly book selections and post a review online. Click this link to read the details.
Q: How do I rate a book?
A. Click a star. Click this link to read the details.
For Book Bloggers/Reviewers:
Q: I have a book review blog. Can I do a link swap with you?
A. Sure! Click this link to read the details. Then send me the info I need.
Other Questions:
Q: Some of your book posts have links to a lot of online resellers. Others only Amazon. Why?
A: Affiliate links to online bookstores are the main (usually, only) source of income for this website. I don’t earn a lot. Doesn’t come close to covering my time. Amazon is the only affiliate that actually earns money for me. (That is why I usually wait until your book goes live on Amazon before I do the post.)
Every once in awhile, I’ll do a test of other sites (B&N, Kobo, etc.) for a few months. I have never earned anything from these other affiliates. As of April 2015, I am linking to Amazon (for the income) and IndieBound (because I support local bookstores). If the book is only found on Deseret Book, I’ll link to it there.
Q: I’ve noticed that some of your older posts no longer have book covers on them. Did you delete them?
A: Not on purpose. It’s a long story, but the short version is that when I updated my website software it unlinked the covers from the posts. I’m gradually replacing the covers.
Q: I love your site! Do you have a button?
A. Yes! Click this link to grab the code.
Q: Have you read all the books on this site?
A. No. I read quite a few of them but hey, I’m only human! A listing on this site does not mean I’ve read, liked or endorsed the book. It simply means it’s written by an LDS author.
Q: Then why do the books have star ratings, if you haven’t read them? And is there any way to know which books you’ve read and recommend?
A. Anyone can leave a star rating—including YOU! If you’ve read the book, just click the star that shows how much you liked it. It’s also nice if you leave a comment. (See more details here.)
I award stars and leave comments just like anyone else. I don’t want my one opinion to carry any more weight than the opinion of anyone else who stars and comments on this site. So, sorry. Unless you read through every comment on every post, you won’t know which ones I recommend.
Q: Are you the same person/people that do the Whitney Awards?
A. No. While I fully support the Whitney Awards and I participate in judging the books, I am not officially connected to them in any way. I spotlight all fiction by LDS authors, including children’s books and novellas that do not meet Whitney requirements. You can read those requirements here.
A spotlight post here does not mean the book is eligible for a Whitney Award, nor does it mean it has been nominated for a Whitney. It’s up to you to figure out if a book you nominate matches the Whitney criteria.
Q: Where are the yearly summary posts that you did on the old site?
A. Discontinued. Sort of. They were long and cumbersome and took a lot of time to create. And they were ugly. They’ve been replaced by this. Click on the button for the year you are interested in.
Also there’s a really awesome Search field in the sidebar. You can enter an author’s name, book title, or keyword. If you enter a title or author name, put it in quotations to refine the search. Ex: “A Book About Dogs” or “John Doe”.
And I’ve added tags to each post for the release year, author name, and series name. If you’re on a post for an author you like and want to see if they have other titles, click the tag with their name at the very bottom of the post. If it’s a series, click the series name tab to see all the books in the series.
Q: Why don’t you spotlight LDS non-fiction?
A: Because I enjoy fiction and this is a labor of love. But you’re more than welcome to start your own site that spotlights non-fiction.
Q: Are you the original LDS Publisher?
A. I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.