Frequently Asked Questions

Below are frequently asked questions about LitPick. For over twenty years, our mission has been to promote reading and writing as well as to connect authors with readers.  This is our passion and we love what we do.  Therefore, please don't hesitate to send us your questions, suggestions, and comments. We are always looking for new ways to achieve our mission. Happy LitPick-ing!

Who are we?

LitPick Book Reviews sends new and recently released books to adults and students for review.

We are a worldwide network of adult and student (preteen and teen) book reviewers. 

Parents, teachers, librarians, and other educators can involve their readers as book reviewers too, either as individuals or in book clubs or reading groups.

What can we find at LitPick Book Reviews online?

At LitPick Book Reviews, we have picture books, middle grade, young adult, and adult books to read and recommend. LitPick book reviewers review these books, and we post their book reviews for all to see.

Do LitPick reviewers get to keep the book they review?


Reviewers receive a complimentary review copy of a book in exchange for an honest review. Yes, reviewers keep printed review books after their book review is posted on our site. Reviewers can also keep eBook review copies. However, the LitPick honor code for reviewers includes a pledge not to share print or eBook copies with anyone else out of respect for the authors and publishers who have entrusted us with these new books.

Can any author or publisher have their titles reviewed by LitPick Book Reviews?


Yes, we are always looking for new books for our reviewers to review. We particularly love helping indie and self-published authors, and we like books from a diverse range of genres as well as for different age levels.  Our reviewers' ages range from third grade into adulthood, but we also invite authors and publishers to submit quality picture books for review. 

Learn How To Submit Your Book For A LitPick Review

We also can Create An Engaging Video Book Trailer for placement on YouTube, Amazon, and your website and social media pages!

 

I would like to know if the program assigns books to adults and to students that are age-appropriate for them? 

Adults choose their own books to review. On the other hand, students choose the books they want to review from a booklist online which is screened for them based upon their age. We do NOT assign our adult or student book reviewers books to review.

Although we do not believe in censoring literature, we have a filter on our site so that students under 17 years old cannot Request a Book to Review that has been designated “Mature Young Adult” or “Adult.” 

Each student book reviewer (not adult LitPick book reviewer) is required to have an adult sponsor (parent, teacher, librarian, homeschool educator, etc.). We ask that these adults help the student select an appropriate book for him or her to review from our booklist online that is available to them once they login after registering as a book reviewer. We have a long list of books that are available for review. For each book on the list, there is a suggested age range and genre, along with a description of the book. 

We encourage the adult sponsors of each of our student book reviewers to help their students select age-appropriate books to review.  "Age-appropriate" is a relative term since each student matures at a different rate. If an adult has trouble judging how appropriate a particular book may be for a student, we suggest that the adult search the Internet for more information on the book before allowing the student to choose it to review. 

Please watch LitPick - The Movie for more information about our review process assigning books to younger reviewers.

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How can people outside of the United States become LitPick book reviewers?


Individuals or groups of people from outside the United States can become LitPick book reviewers of eBooks. There is no administrative or membership fee required. We have hundreds of eBooks on our online booklist that are available for review, and we welcome reviewers from all over the world to join us.

How can my school or library subscribe to your reviews?


Join our growing list of LitPick book review subscribers.  Here's how!  

You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter which features current book reviews and more.

Is parental permission needed for students to participate as LitPick book reviewers? 

LitPick does not require parental approval, although in order to sign up as a LitPick student book reviewer, each student MUST have an adult sponsor (parent, teacher, librarian, homeschool educator, etc.). When signing up a student group, adult sponsors of groups should consider getting permission from parents or legal guardians to share email addresses with LitPick. We have created a consent form to help you. (Spanish version of our consent form)

 

I have a group of fifth graders that I would like to sign up, but they do not have personal email addresses. Will this be possible?


If students have school email accounts, then the teacher can sign them up for LitPick using school email addresses and passwords that the teacher creates (and records).

If the students do not have school email accounts, here's an article that explains how to get multiple uses out of one gmail account. Basically, if a sponsor sets up a gmail account and then uses a +student name or number, he/she will be able to get all of the emails sent to that account.

From there, you can set up filters so each student could have a folder where their mail gets dropped into directly. 

http://techverse.net/create-multiple-custom-email-address-one-gmail-account/

Can adults review books for LitPick Book Reviews?


Yes, although LitPick originally began as a student book review site, adults are now welcome to review for LitPick.  We have a lot of great new releases for adults which need reviews.  We also encourage our adult reviewers to read and review Mature Young Adult books for us too. We continue to strive though to obtain reviews for authors and publisher from reviewers in the target audience of their titles.

 

How can we start a book club with LitPick?


A teacher, librarian, or parent can sponsor a LitPick book club or reading group by signing up their readers for a group membership. Groups of people can review the same title on LitPick as an eBook. We have hundreds of eBooks on our list that are available for review.  Limited quantities of print review books make it difficult for us to furnish multiple copies to large groups, but educators and parents have used the LitPick program for their book clubs by allowing each person to choose a different print book from our list to read and review.  Once a week or month at club meetings, a different person then presents their book and book review to the group for discussion. This way, other people in the club can decide if they would like to read the book too. The many different review copies can then be donated by reviewers to the library's book collection.

How can I help with LitPick?

You can join LitPick as a volunteer. A group of very skilled and dedicated adults who share our passion for promoting reading and writing generously volunteer their time to help us run our site and provide feedback to our reviewers.  Please contact us if you are interested in finding out about becoming a LitPick volunteer and joining our team.

Is reviewer information kept confidential and not given or sold to others?

 
Absolutely! The information we collect from reviewers is kept confidential.

Some authors and publishers prefer to maintain control of their books, and instead of sending us copies, we need to request that they send review book copies directly to our book reviewers. In these cases, we need to supply the authors or publishers a reviewer's email or mailing address so they can be emailed an eBook or mailed a print book review copy. The authors and publishers know that they are not to use the reviewer's information for anything other than to send them a new review book. The information we collect from members is also kept confidential.