The letter below is from Jim Cox of Midwest Book Review. I am passing it on, as it has many great tips for those who want have their books reviewed. Jim Cox always shares a wealth of great tips.
Dear Publisher Folk, Friends & Family:
 
This month I want to talk about the value and differing functions of the cover letter and the publicity release when accompanying a book being submitted for review to the Midwest Book Review or to any other reviewer or review publication.
 
The publicity release (sometimes called a press release) is a simple one-page document that contains the following information:
 
Title
Author
Publisher
Publisher address
Publisher web site
Publisher email
ISBN
Price
Page Count
Publication Date
A one paragraph summary description of the book.
A one paragraph author biography.
 
The publicity release is a universal document that once created goes out to any and all reviewers, booksellers, librarians, media outlets, etc. and tells me as a reviewer all I need to know about the book and everything necessary to create an “info block” for the review that will allow any bookseller, librarian, or member of the reading public to fill out a purchase order for the book if motivated to do so by the review.
 
The cover letter is a customized one-page document that tells me as a reviewer why I was selected to review your book. For example, you came across the Midwest Book Review web site and were duly impressed; you heard that we give priority consideration to small presses and self-published authors whenever possible; we chatted by phone and I invited the submission; you saw one of our monthly book review publications and your book is a good thematic fit for one of our monthly columns; we were recommended to your attention by some third party, etc., etc.
 
For authors who have gone through a POD company to produce their book, the cover letter should also include your personal contact information (an email or snail mail address) so that I can send you a copy of the review of your book directly. Too many POD companies simply do not forward our reviews (or anyone else’s) to their author clients — this is especially true of CreateSpace.
 
The review copy of the book submitted along with the PR and the cover letter should be pristine. No scarring, marking, stamping, or mutilating. Your book is in competition with around 2,000 others in any given month and must look its best if it is going to have any chance of being selected for review.
 
Think of it as a kind of literary lottery. If you win, if you are among the 600 to 700 titles selected for review each month, you will have a review for your own marketing program, plus that review will be archived on the Midwest Book Review web site for five years, plus that review will be furnished to Gale Cengage Learning for inclusion into their Book Review Index and be sent out to thousands of community and academic library systems throughout the United States and Canada.

If you would like to submit a guest post on any aspect of writing on Success with Writing, we would be happy to feature it. If you go to submission tab, you will see how to submit, as well as have the opportunity of telling me if you would like to would like to be a regular contributor. When uploading a file for submission, you are also able to upload three jpgs. Please feel free to put a last paragraph about you and a link to your profile. No html please. You can also include a head shot. Inappropriate articles will not be published. Please do not include more than three links within the article. It confuses search engines. Thank you. ~MDH