Can a Fee-Based Review Be Credible?
Absolutely.

All review publications must find funding somewhere. Traditionally, print publications have been financed in large part by advertisements from the publishing industry, and there has always been an inherent tension between the needs of those advertisers and the goals of critical objectivity. The key to ensuring objectivity has been in maintaining a firewall between critics and advertisers.

Funding at BlueInk Reviews comes from authors, who pay a fee to have their books reviewed. As with print publications, we manage that inherent tension between author and critic by strictly maintaining that firewall between the two parties.

Our reviewers will have no contact with the authors funding the reviews. In fact, our authors will never know which reviewers have been assigned to critique their books. Our critics – who come from the traditional publishing world and are well aware of traditional review ethics — will follow written guidelines instructing them to craft objective, honest reviews, noting both the positive and negative points of any book. Editors will oversee all reviews, with an eye toward insuring fairness and honesty.

Authors pay in advance and will not be refunded if displeased with the reviewer’s assessment. They can, however, opt to remove their review from our website.

While this approach may be a new one, we see it as one solution to the fact that few, if any, mainstream publications have the resources or space to review self-published work, especially in this era of downsizing. In fact, we see a not-too-distant future where even traditionally published authors will seek our guaranteed, fee-based service rather than the uncertainties of a “free” review — which may never actually appear.

Yes, we are following a non-traditional funding model. In the digital world, it has become a necessity to find new ways of supporting editorial ventures. But at BlueInk, we work hard to insure that our reviews adhere to time-honored ethical standards and are worthy of our web audience’s trust and respect at all times.