94 Comments

At what point would we be able to cross-post submissions to personal blogs?

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Is there a registry of books people are already doing? I have a couple of books I might want to review, but worry someone else already is.

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Are you intending to allow/disallow reviews of books that were the subjects of the previous contest? if you don't want duplicates, a link to the list might appreciated.

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Do you prefer reviews of recently published books, or would a book published in, say, 1960 be fair game?

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I wanted to try last year, but I fizzled out after a page or so. I'm glad I didn't follow through, because I got to see what the finalists looked like and what works for this kind of contest. I'm going to try this year: I give myself a 65% chance of submitting something.

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I wish everyone writing a review great skill, I'm excited to see what you all create.

Thanks for re-running the book review contest, Scott.

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I noticed that all of the books reviewed by finalists last year were nonfiction. Nearly all of them had political implications. Most of them were sorta speculative. If I was gaming the system to maximize my chances, I'd keep those factors in mind when selecting a book.

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Google Docs let you see the author's username - does this mean we shouldn't use a Google account we use for anything else community-linked, so as to be anonymous?

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May one person submit more than one book review?

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Can we review multiple books, either as a comparison or in a series?

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Feb 5, 2022·edited Feb 5, 2022

Can we do reviews of book-like things that aren't books? I'd like to do a review of a court decision that's about 180 pages long and is more a dissertation about a group of people abusing the judicial system than the specific case being ruled on.

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Admittedly I was only a finalist, but I did pitch you other articles!

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If you are MarxBro and still post here: would you be interested in co-authoring a review of Das Kapital (or some other seminal Marxist work of your choosing)? I am a reasonably good writer and a lapsed socialist so I'd enjoy the opportunity to steelman the ideas which I'm drifting away from

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Is there a list of already reviewed books, are duplicates allowed and are hostile reviews appreciated.

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If anyone is looking for a cool book to review please consider this one. I don’t have the time or writing skills to enter the contest.

Brain, Mind and Computers https://www.amazon.com/dp/0895269074/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_YCF81K0CJRZ6BP4PKYCM

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I'm not equipped to write a book review; however, I did forward this post to two friends, both published authors. I thought you might want to know that both declined immediately solely due to the choice to use Google.

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Wonderful! I loved the previous book reviews, especially the one about the Land Value Tax, by George. Thank you for doing this, Scott!

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Darn, I recently posted a book review I'm proud of ("How To Change" by Katy Milkman) though I guess it would've been hard to anonymize that one since it's all "look how Beeminder has all of behavioral economics figured out already".

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Am I allowed to enter a book review I have published? I can think of at least two that might be of interest to people here.

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Feb 6, 2022·edited Feb 6, 2022

Looking for book-to-review recommendations! Criteria:

- Nonfiction (-ish; fictionalized history, allegory, etc. are okay)

- Surprising or opinionated in some way (i.e. not just a popular introduction)

- On a subject you wouldn't be shocked to see an ACX post about (e.g. not a cookbook; topics of interest to me include history, philosophy, religion, language, and technology)

- Can be read and reviewed without deep research/background (not "dense" or over-academic)

- Old is fine, obscure is fine, both potentially a plus

- You would want to read a review of it

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Will there be a people's choice awards this year, as with last year?

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Due on April 5 at what time, and in what time zone?

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Is there a rule that the book reviewed needs to be in English?

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Mar 28, 2022·edited Mar 28, 2022

1. Are reviews by co-authors eligible?

2. Are we allowed to show drafts to, and get feedback from, a few other people while writing a review?

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What time April 5th? 11:59 PM PST? or EST

(important for last-minute writers/editors!)

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Should we see a confirmation email or anything after submitting?

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Just submitted mine last night! Given that we still have access to our Google Docs, do you mind if we fix minor typos after the deadline? Or is it 100% pencils down.

Thanks so much for running this contest!

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