This guide was originally written for the Melbourne PHP User Group and the O’Reilly web site. It has been reproduced here in case someone finds it useful.
This document serves as a guide for book reviewers, however some of the same principals apply for reviewing software, hardware, services, events and web sites. Good reviews are not easy to write. Saying that a book was good or bad is easy, but explaining why takes a bit more thought.
For the sake of usefulness, consistency and professionalism there are a few rules we’d like everyone to abide by when contributing reviews.
As a guide, reviews must be at least 50 – 100 words for short reviews, and 300 – 500 words for long reviews. The main aim is to describe why you liked/disliked the book. You should also give a brief indication of your experience on the topic. For example, a highly experienced Linux user might not get much out of reading a title such as “Linux for Newbies”. The point is to make it clear why you liked or dislike the book. It’s a good idea to stay focused on the title and topic, and making references to related titles that might be of interest is quite appropriate. This should go without saying, nevertheless, please do not use any offensive language or mean spirited styles of writing. The goal is to produce useful reviews.
We all make mistakes, and two eyes are always better than one. Once you’ve completed a review, please submit it to the committee for proofing. We will then make it available on our site, and possibly send a copy to the publishers for their use. We also encourage you to add your review to places like Amazon or the publishers web site directly. Please note that these sites will have their own requirements that will differ from ours.
We’ve designed a basic style guide below that will assist you in formatting your review for publishing. It helps us, and should help you when making sure all the required information in supplied.
Book Pic Here
Title: Linux for Newbies
Author: Joe Smith
Publisher: ACME – 1st Edition (March 1, 2002)
ISBN: 060402838476263REVIEW BODY
Epsum factorial non deposit quid pro quo hic escorol. Olypian quarrels et gorilla congolium sic ad nauseum. Souvlaki ignitus carborundum e pluribus unum. Defacto lingo est igpay atinlay. Marquee selectus non provisio incongruous feline nolo contendre. Gratuitous octopus niacin, sodium glutimate. Quote meon an estimate et non interruptus stadium.
Epsum factorial non deposit quid pro quo hic escorol. Olypian quarrels et gorilla congolium sic ad nauseum. Souvlaki ignitus carborundum e pluribus unum. Defacto lingo est igpay atinlay. Marquee selectus non provisio incongruous feline nolo contendre. Gratuitous octopus niacin, sodium glutimate. Quote meon an estimate et non interruptus stadium.
Epsum factorial non deposit quid pro quo hic escorol. Olypian quarrels et gorilla congolium sic ad nauseum. Souvlaki ignitus carborundum e pluribus unum. Defacto lingo est igpay atinlay. Marquee selectus non provisio incongruous feline nolo contendre. Gratuitous octopus niacin, sodium glutimate. Quote meon an estimate et non interruptus stadium.
STARS (a graphic)
Reviewers Name
