So, you may have noticed that we are asking the members of GA to do reviews on stories that they have enjoyed. You may have even thought, “Oh, I should do a review on…” but there is still something that holds you back from doing a review to be featured on the blog. You might even think that the story you just read might not be one we are looking for. Well, forget that worry! We want all stories!!! Hosted, Promising, Author, Poet, New Authors, Old Authors, even the old anthologies! Or perhaps you're worried that you don't know HOW to review for the blog. Well, I’m going to take just a few minutes to help you with that.

Your first step in volunteering to do a review for the blog is to contact Trebs, Renee, or Cia. Find out if the author you wish to review has already been featured for a blog article. We keep a list of the stories and authors that have been reviewed, and it will only take a moment to find out if the author you want to review is still available!!!

Your second step, if you haven’t already done this, is to pick the story that you wish to review. For example, if the author you wanted to review has already been taken, this is when you would pick a new author and story. Picking your author/story can be a fairly easy experience. Look at the completed stories you have read lately, and enjoyed, and decide which one you want to do. If you are trying to decide between multiple authors, one thing that may help you decide is to really compare the stories. For example:

Author A is a very well-known author who receives dozens of reviews on nearly every story they write. They have a large following and it seems that everyone knows who they are. Author B is a less well-known, or even a brand new, author. They have very few readers and very few reviews, but you just know that if they got their name out there, they could easily have as big a following as Author A. So, what do you do?

In the above instance, I would strongly recommend doing a review on the newer, less well-known, author. Help them get their name out there and point out to your fellow members just what a gem the story is. Another option, you could review both if they haven’t already been taken.

The third thing you are going to want to do is write the review. I know that this can sometimes seem daunting as you might not be sure what to include in the review or you're afraid that your opinion isn't qualified for whatever reason. Don't worry, it is! We want to know what you think about stories as the reader, something we all are, no matter what else we do on the site. Cia gave me a list when I was writing my first review of some guidelines that she uses. I generally try to give these guidelines to each new reviewer, and I’m going to include them in this blog entry.

Guidelines to think about when writing a review:

• A short summary of why you read the story/poem(s)
• A short summary of what you liked about the story/poem(s) that kept you reading. Keep this vague so as not to give away all the details of the plot or how the story actually ends.
• This is how the story/poem made me feel
• A brief explanation of how you feel the story/poem showcases the author’s writing skills
• A short summary of exactly why you recommend it
• Your review should be a minimum of 200 words and upwards of approximately 500 words
  

Finally, you are going to send the review to Trebs, Renee, or Cia via PM. We will do a basic edit on it and if there’s anything major that needs changed, we will let you know and give you the chance to fix it. Once all the editing is done, it will go into the review queue. VOILA!!! You are done!!!

Hope this helps anyone who is wondering just how to go about writing a review for the blog!!!