ForeWord (magazine)

ForeWord is a trade journal published six times yearly with the tagline, “Reviews of Good Books Independently Published.” The magazine is distributed primarily to librarians and booksellers to familiarize them with upcoming books from small, independent, and university presses, as well as self-published books, which often don’t receive the media attention that books published by large houses do. The average issue of "ForeWord" reaches an audience of 20,000 readers.

"ForeWord" was established in 1998 by publisher Victoria Sutherland. Book Review Editor Alex Moore joined "ForeWord" shortly thereafter. Heather Shaw is the publication's Editor-in-Chief. Whitney Hallberg is Managing Editor. The publication is based in Traverse City, Michigan and employs hundreds of freelance writers from across the United States to write reviews. "ForeWord"’s reviewers range from college professors and librarians to writers with backgrounds in specialties including gardening or cooking.

Each issue features three to four “ForeSight” articles, which highlight trends in independent publishing in different subject areas. The topics of these features include Religion, Home and Garden, Travel, Food, and Poetry. Outstanding books from each genre are highlighted in the articles along with their price, publisher, and ISBN.

Elsewhere in the magazine, forthcoming noteworthy titles are featured in three to five full-page “Spotlight Reviews.” The bulk of the magazine consists of roughly 20 pages of 400-word book reviews. Editors Shaw and Moore consider nearly 1,000 pre-publication galleys and manuscripts submitted each month, and approximately eight percent of these titles are selected for review. The majority of books reviewed are nonfiction, as are most titles coming from small presses. One to three notable titles that are already in stores are featured in shorter “Special Notes.”

"ForeWord" also maintains an extensive Web site where reviews from the current issue are featured and articles from past issues can be found in searchable archives. It is also the home of their online service, ForeWord Connections, which allows publishers to create a personal database of their books to manage advertising and other orders from the publication.

Clarion is "ForeWord"’s fee-for-review service. The service benefits books from small publishing houses that are often overlooked when 200,000 books are published annually in the U.S.

"ForeWord" holds an annual contest, the Book of the Year Awards. Self-published books and those from small, independent, and university presses published between January and December of the contest year are eligible and can be entered for a small fee. Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards are given to winners in 60+ categories, plus two cash prizes for Editor's Choice in Fiction and Nonfiction. For the 2007 awards, more than 1,600 entries in 60 categories were received and 614 finalists were named. The Gold, Silver and Bronze winners for each category, selected by US librarians and booksellers, are announced annually during a ceremony at BookExpo America in late spring.

Each year, "ForeWord" appears at the Beijing Book Fair, the Frankfurt Book Fair, the London International Book Fair, and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, as well as at BookExpo America, the American Library Association Conference and several regional book-related events. Publishers are invited to exhibit their titles for foreign and other rights opportunities at "ForeWord"’s Collective stands overseas. Additional information and review submission guidelines are available at the magazine's Web site.

External links

* [http://www.forewordmagazine.com/ "ForeWord" official site]