Reading and hearing recommendations from fellow book lovers is one of our favorite ways to find a next great read. On BingeBooks everyone has the chance to share and recommend the books they love — in turn helping others discover new books and authors.
Please follow these guidelines when you’re recommending and commenting about books you’ve read or listened to.
Keep your cool
Books often arouse passions, both positive and negative, so please don’t let your emotions get in the way of your message. Try to write frankly and be even-tempered. Your fellow book lovers want to know what you think about a book, not read a rant or a post filled with gushing praise.
Be respectful
Remember that authors are people, too. Their work means a lot to them. If you dislike a book or a writer’s style, then simply don’t recommend them (your silence speaks volumes). It’s valuable to discuss how and why you dislike a particular theme, a scene or a character within a book you like. Constructive criticism helps authors improve their writing, but that’s not a reason to bad-mouth them or make personal attacks. Don’t try to convince other BingeBookers that they’re wrong – we all hold different views, after all.
Tell it like it is
Recommend the books you enjoy in your own words. Please write frankly and with balance, pointing out any shortcomings as well as the things you love. If it’s slow when it should be fast-paced, or you laughed at the scary bits, mention that, too. It all helps readers find books they’ll love and skip the ones they won’t. Don’t give us your version of someone else’s review, or what you think fans of the author want to hear.
Be fair and ethical
If you have a close personal connection with the author, please think twice about recommending their book. If you’re just an acquaintance or distant relative, that’s OK, but be sure to disclose it. (And if you’re the author, please don’t recommend your own work under a pseudonym or a friend’s account. Duh.) If you’ve been given a review copy of a book by the author or their publisher, please say so in your recommendation. We want readers to get fair assessments to help them make an informed judgment.
Keep it clean and polite
We encourage discussions and comments on our recommendations. And we know people don’t always agree. That’s never an excuse for bullying, trolling or comments about race, religion, culture, age, sexual orientation, gender, identity – or any other personal traits. And there’s rarely a good reason for obscenity. If we find any abuse or receive complaints, we will remove those posts. And no flame wars! Remember, our Talk Guidelines apply to recommendations, too.
No spoilers!
It doesn’t matter if the book you’re recommending is 100 years old, a multimillion seller or was just published last week. As tempting as it is, don’t spill the beans. There are always people who haven’t read it, and they really don’t want you to tell them whodunnit, expose the hidden twist or reveal whether the gal gets the guy. Think twice about references to other books in the same series, too.
Be helpful
Remember, this is your community, too. You can help us by alerting us to violations of these Book Recommendation Guidelines. Just click the yellow flag below any recommendation, review or comment that appears to be in violation.
Be aware: You’re building a reputation
Your recommendations will remain live on BingeBooks for years to come. As you post more, we hope you’ll build a following of BingeBookers who share your tastes, and we’ll build a community of book lovers who trust each others’ recommendations. So remember that what you write reflects back on your persona or brand. Can you copy over reviews you've already posted on Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub or elsewhere? By all means! (As long as they meet our guidelines.) We don’t mind traditional book reviews, we just want to see more conversational recommendations in the mix.
No self-promotion, selling or spam
Please don’t use our book recommendations space to sell your own books or services or redirect readers to your sales site. And don’t post recommendations or reviews you’ve been paid to write. We will immediately remove them.
Help us make BingeBooks a welcoming place
We think these guidelines are pretty generous and reasonable, so let’s avoid food fights. When we find recommendations that don’t meet our guidelines, we’ll remove them. The final decision on removing content, or banning users, rests with us, period. Thanks for helping us increase signal and decrease noise.
