ForeWord (magazine)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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. Managing editor Alex Moore joined ForeWord shortly thereafter. 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 gardening or cooking.
Each issue features two to three “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 450-word book reviews. Moore considers nearly 800 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 non-fiction, 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 website 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 an account to manage advertising and other orders from the publication.
Clarion, formerly ForeWordReviews.com, 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 55 categories, plus two cash prizes for Editors Choice in Fiction and Nonfiction. For the 2005 awards, more than 1,500 entries in 55 categories were received and 613 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, Frankfurt, London and Bologna Children’s Book Fairs, as well as at BookExpo America, The American Library Association show 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 their website.
