Internship!

[stacer]

So today they asked me to review a picture book for the Guide, which is the big book published every 6 months for pretty much every children's/YA title (somewhere in the several thousand range), using a 6 point system very similar to ours here, except it doesn't use half points. Each review is 60 words, so you have to cram a lot into a little paragraph--especially for picture books, where you have to discuss both text and pictures.

Yay! And they even pay a whole $10 per review.

(The Guide is separate from the Magazine, which only reviews the best books. Usually they won't review a really bad book just to say it's really bad--a review in the Horn Book Magazine is enough, usually, to say it's a great book. They might make an exception for a particularly notorious book--for example, no matter how well or poorly they might consider J.K. Rowling's writing, they wouldn't consider *not* reviewing Harry Potter. Not a good example, really, but you get the idea.)

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

So you'll be reviewing one book?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

and we'll get to publish it after the guide is published?

[stacer]

I dunno whether that'd be kosher or not. And the guide doesn't get published till Jan. or Feb. It won't be in the style of reviews here, anyway--it's 60 words long, and it's for a picture book. Have we ever reviewed a picture book here? Though I think you all might enjoy the book. It's about a king who decides he doesn't need all the trappings of a golden carriage, a palace, etc., so he leaves the servants behind and goes to rent a 3rd floor walkup apartment on the edge of town. Pretty fun.

I'll look in the guidelines, but I have a feeling that any review I do for them they'll have exclusive rights to, as they have services that put those reviews online.

[Entsuropi]

I think it's pretty safe to say that commercial entities wouldn't be impressed with review sharing.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

yes, but often they don't have any say on whether the author is allowed to. usually magazines buy first serial rights (American or World), our unstated agreement is we get internet rights, but neither first nor exclusive rights. Unless they explicitly say they get exclusive publication rights in certain formats, then it doesn't matter what pleases them.

[Entsuropi]

Unless Stacy wants to keep the position, that is.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

no, they can't fire her for distributing your own intellectual property that they didn't buy all the rights too, unless they want to be sued for unlawful termination.

[stacer]

At any rate, I don't think it really applies here anyway. Seriously, I don't think you're really interested in having this particular review. I'll do more reviews, honest. How about Mopsa the Fairy? That's an interesting one I just read.