This page is to document a few personal policies I have as an author, and also as the maintainer of this site. It is not definitive, and may change without notice.

Reviews of My Work

I make a point of not reading my own reviews as a rule. This primarily means my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, but it also includes reviews posted anywhere else. I firmly believe that all readers should have the freedom to post negative reviews about books, even mine, and I have no business interfering with reader ability to do that.

That said, if good reviews of any of my titles come across my radar, I will absolutely link to them. You’ll see a few of those links on the various pages for my books.

Corollary to this policy: if you’re aware of a negative review of my work, I do not want to know about it, and I do not want anyone to feel like they need to argue with that review on my behalf. That review’s opinion is allowed to exist. Let it be.

Reviews of Other People’s Work

In past years I’ve been known to post reviews of things I’ve read, not only as blog posts on my own sites, but also on Goodreads. I have backed off of that in more recent years, partly due to lack of time and partly due to being very leery of upsetting some other author if I happen to read their work and virulently dislike it.

I do rate things I read on Goodreads, but I have not been posting actual reviews. For the time being, I don’t expect this trend to change.

Advertising and/or Sponsored Posts

I periodically receive email asking me about running sponsored posts on my site, or editing older posts to provide links off to other sites.

I will not do this. Period. If I receive email from a complete stranger asking me to do either of these things, I will delete it without a reply.

The only exception to any sponsored posts I am willing to consider is actual fellow authors who would like to promote a book, and if and only if the author in question is writing something I feel would be a good match for anybody who reads what I write. For example, if you’re writing urban fantasy, romantic fantasy, high fantasy, or SF/F, a sponsored post on my site about your book might be appropriate. If you’re writing mystery, horror, romance, a thriller, or something else, maybe not so much.

I am likewise not interested in running advertisements of any kind, particularly if they have nothing to do with books. Any emails I receive about that will likewise be deleted without a reply.

Site Comments

I reserve the right to moderate any comments left on my site, and to edit or delete them entirely if they’re sent with the clear intent to harass or offend–either me or other commenters.

This site is publicly available, but that doesn’t mean visitors are allowed to come here and be toxic. If you wouldn’t say it face to face to someone in real life, then please don’t say it on my site.

Privacy

Any personal data received from site visitors (for example, email addresses or IP addresses, WordPress.com IDs, etc.) will be given to absolutely no one. I will use such data only in the context of normal WordPress.com operations.

This policy likewise extends to my mailing list on TinyLetter.com.