Submission Guidelines: Book Reviews
Book Reviews Editors: Lindsey Stefan & Jean Schwab
First, please send a query to lmreviews (at) literarymama (dot) com.
We seek reviews exploring literary work that reflects a wide-ranging understanding of motherhood as experienced through multiple lenses and bodies. We review both newly-released work and older books that we consider to be important to the genre.
Please send a Word or Google document to lmreviews (at) literarymama (dot) com telling us why you’re the person who should be reviewing this book and why Literary Mama readers should be interested in your review. Include “Reviews Submission” in the subject line of the email.
We will be in touch regarding your initial query. If approved, we will ask for your review to be sent as a Word document attached as “Content” to the submission form. Select “Reviews” from the “Department” dropdown menu.
The book review must demonstrate a reasoned, fair, well-balanced, and supported critique of the work, offered in a positive tone. If you include a summary, please be sure it serves a purpose in illustrating a point or reinforcing a thesis rather than giving away the plot.
Refrain from attacking the author; please restrict a critique to the author’s craft, ideas, execution, and argument. We publish reviews that help us understand how a book adds to the conversation about motherhood. If you cannot recommend a book, we prefer not to review it.
We’d like to see reviews that consider craft as well as content. For example, you may want to comment on literary style; use of literary elements such as metaphor, symbolism, narrative structure, narrative flow, cohesion, and development; use of example and illustration; and appeal to the intended audience. Provide quotes and detailed examples from the book that bolster or support your ideas. Quotes should be integrated with framing and discussion using Chicago Manual of Style formatting.
We like for reviews to feel friendly and engaging for readers. For instance, some reviewers reference their own experiences that connect with the book or the author’s body of work. However, please keep in mind that the book itself should be the primary focus of the review.
Literary Mama does not accept submissions that make use of Generative AI for any part of the writing process. We also do not accept reviews of books written using Generative AI for any part of the writing process.
Format: Specify the book title, author, publisher, publication date, price, and ISBN at the top. 12-point type; left justified; one space between paragraphs. Please also include a potential title for your review.
Genre: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young adult, etc.
Length: 800-1500 words.
If you do not receive a response from us within three months, please feel free to reach out again.
Review our General Submission Guidelines and check out this blog post for more tips. Here are a few great examples:
Accessing Abilities While Parenting With a Disability: A Review of Jessica Slice’s Unfit Parent
Activism, Resistance, Persistence: A Review of Helen Charman’s Mother State
Beautifully Strange Stories: A Review of The Great Grown-Up Game of Make-Believe
Motherhood, Disability, and Inheritance: A Review of Unfinished Acts of Wild Creation
Stills From the Life of a Writing Mother: A Review of Mothersalt