Welcome to Book Envy Review & Book Envy Reviews (BER). And, as of January 23, 2024 let's welcome our new review partners: Erotic Romance Reviews (ERR) & The Busy Book Bee (TBBB). Collectively (using the first letter from each entity) we refer to ourselves as: BET Book Group
By combining our experience pool of critical readers, we feel it will streamline your turnaround time for a potential, positive fiction book review.
Please Note:
1. This website is geared for Authors & Writers. We Do Not get involved with the general public or media in anyway.
2. We Do Not Sell Anything & we will NEVER ask you for any type of currency.
3. We Do Not review Poetry and Nonfiction materials. Only Fiction manuscripts are considered for a potential, positive review.
4. We Do Not Respond to any type of email communication! The only correspondence you will receive from us is a Congratulation email if your material meets our very strict review process.
5. We only review manuscripts sent to us—that’s it! We keep it simple.
At BER, TBBB & ERR we do not sell books, and we Do Not take money for any type of review. And we will NEVER ask you for money. Bottom line: Our Review(s) Cannot be Bought! Your book must warrant our positive review.
This is a FREE Service!
We keep it simple by reading your
manuscript—book, and if we feel that your material is exceptional—in the Top 5% in your genre then we will give your book a positive review(s); and our permission to use our review(s) any way you wish.
Our Review(s) are FREE!
Please allow up to 12 weeks for a potential review(s). If by the 13th week you have not received a correspondence via email from us then it’s safe to say your material did not get a review. Please note, this is only our opinion, and there are other reputable review sources who may feel differently. Please send your manuscript to other venues for their input, and for their hopeful possible review.
We are asked all the time what is the difference between BER, ERR & TBBB. And the simple answer is: We are BET Book Group-the same group of book enthusiasts who read your material—your dream. It takes two different critical readers to concur for one positive review. And it takes three evaluative readers to concur for the very rare two or more positive reviews.
Our Review Standards at BET Book Group are very stringent. Your manuscript is critiqued on the following criteria:
1. Opening: will your first 10 words grab our attention? Your opening paragraph, and first 100 words are critical! How strong is your beginning? As avid, critical readers we love to be immediately immersed into your world. Does your story get to the point very quickly, or does it drag?
2. Tenfold: will your first 1,000 words hold our attention—compel us to read more? Will your first 10,000 words be profoundly gripping to continue to read the next 30,000 up to 100,000 words to your novel's ending? In today's day and age, people get bored quicker, and they are time starved. If your novel drags, and if there's too many useless fillers, we stop reading. Your manuscript—novel should have at least 40,000 words, and must hold our attention from start to finish.
3. Character Development: is your protagonist compelling enough to hold our attention for 40,000 plus words? Is your main character an authentic underdog? What challenges and adversities do they face throughout the story? If your other characters inside the "quotation marks" sound similar to the protagonist then you have a major problem. Your supporting cast of characters must feel genuine, and they must have their own identities. Is your deuteragonist (second main character) compelling enough to have their own book? This is one of the biggest problems with most novels—weak characters, along with a weak plot and useless fillers.
4. We love Surprises, and 'we were not expecting 'that' to happen' to happen! We love—yearn for engrossing story plots that captivates us to your ending. This is how your guest—your audience gets their time and money's worth.
5. Value Exchange: we will only give a positive review if we feel your book is worth at least double the asking price, even though your admission price—cost of your book is half that amount. Speaking of Endings, will your guests—readers be thrilled once they're done reading your book? Will your readers be thrilled that their hard-earned money and limited time was well worth your price of your book? Most people will spend twenty dollars or less without too much thought. Did your
audience—reader get their twenty dollars worth? If you are charging more money for your book, is your audience getting their money's worth? The best possible outcome for your guests is an ending that thrills them in the most positive manner along with: they wish your book would never end. Will your readers profoundly miss your characters at the end? Will your guest desire more reading entertainment from you in the future? And, would your guests rave about your book?
IF your book gets One Positive Review from us your manuscript is considered to be Superb AND in the Top 5% in your genre: Congratulations! Job—writing is well done! You are allowed to use our review praise statement.
IF your book gets Two or more Positive Reviews from us we consider your writing and book to be Paramount AND in the Top 1% in your genre: Congratulations! You are allowed to use our reviews & praise statements.
FAQs
1. Do I need to include with my submission the front & back cover, and the spine? No. If you have it, great, but not necessary. And we do not judge the visual appearance of the outer part of the book: front, back, and spine. So, we literally do not judge a book by its cover. We are ONLY interested in a Fantastic Storyline and your Writing Creativity as an author.
2. Does my manuscript—book need to be published or self-published in order to be considered for a potential review? No. Your manuscript can either be published or unpublished. It doesn’t matter and it makes no difference during our review process if your work is in the public domain or not.
3. Do established authors get a quicker response time for a potential review? No. We review the manuscripts in the order received. We do not give preferential treatment to any author.
4. If someone asks me for money from you guys in exchange for a good review, what should I do? Nothing! Because it’s a SCAM and NEVER give out your banking information or credit card to us! NEVER! We will NEVER ask you for money! If your book gets a positive review from us, it means your book earned it. Congratulations! This is a FREE service.
5. How do you make money? We don’t! And, we fund this website ourselves. We are a group of avid book readers who thoroughly enjoy reading great manuscripts. That’s our reward—to hopefully be the first to uncover great stories. Plain and simple we are a group of book nerd enthusiasts who love to read great threads.
6. Are you guys literary agents and publishers in disguise? If so, can you recommend anyone? No and No!
Our entire team at BET Book Group wishes you the best of luck with your book—your dream of seeing it in the hands of the masses!
Submission Guidelines:
Thank you!
BET Book Group
BET Announcement on October 15, 2024:
Year to date and globally, we have received thousands of great submissions. The majority (87%) of the submissions are in the Romance genre. We thank you for your patience & trust while we read them all very carefully for a potential review. On Friday, January 24, 2025 we-BET Book Group will be announcing the best novel we read for the entire year of 2024. There will be one winner from each of our properties. Please stay tuned!
BET Book Group Announcement on November 14, 2024:
In order to help us streamline the submissions we receive from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia we are in negotiations with a London based book review source. This potential acquisition may take several months to finalize.
Copyright © 2024 Book Envy Review - All Rights Reserved.