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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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Q: How can I advertise with ForeWord Magazine?
We offer premium advertising space at affordable rates in our magazine. There are often special packages to take advantage of as well. Check with your sales associate about distributor discounts, trade show participation combos, and partnerships with other media. Please review our Advertising Info page for more information. The first step is to register as a publisher with our new online title management system: ForeWord Connections. You can visit here to register and sign in.
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Q: How can I enter my book in the Book of the Year Awards?
Purchase registration at ForeWord Connections and send two completed copies of the book to the address on your receipt. Once registration is completed, you will be able to track the status of each entry on your Connections homepage. Entrants will also be notified by e-mail when the finalists and winners are announced.
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Q: What happens to my book if you do not review it or choose it for an award?
Many of the books are given to our reviewers and Book of the Year Award judges for their time and talents. Others are donated to our local public schools, community libraries, and charities including Zonta International, the Womens Resource Center, and the Boys and Girls Club of America.
You can view complete details in our disclaimer.
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Q: How do I unsubscribe from ForeWord This Week?
All you need to unsubscribe from our newsletter is your email address. To unsubscribe click here
Or click the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this week's newsletter.
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Q: What is ForeWord Connections?
ForeWord Connections is our online title management system. Once you register an account, you can create a personal database of your company?s titles, conveniently purchase services from ForeWord, and keep track of your orders. Use Connections to purchase advertising, Book of the Year Award registration, international tradeshow representation, free seasonal announcements, and Clarion Reviews and Previews.
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Q: What is ForeWord's mission?
ForeWord's mission is to bring the best work of independent publishers to the attention of librarians, book retailers, and agents with the largest buying power in the trade. Through our fierce dedication to the independent community, we hope to level the playing field between small, medium, and large publishers, allowing work to succeed on its merits, not its marketing budget. At the same time, we also provide affordable marketing vehicles for publishers of every size through advertising opportunities, tradeshow representation, and an awards program.
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Q: When was ForeWord Magazine started and who owns it?
The magazine was incorporated in May 1998 by Publisher Victoria Sutherland.
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Q: Who's who at ForeWord?
Publisher: Victoria Sutherland
Editor in Chief: Heather Shaw
Managing Editor: Whitney Hallberg
Book Review Editor: Alex Moore
Editorial Assistant: Allison Balas
Sales: Maryann Batsakis
Marketing & Circulation: Richard Schneider
Information, Technology & Systems: Dan Nielsen
Supporting them are a capable staff of contributing editors, freelance writers, and a board of advisors of outstanding professionalism in the industry.
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Q: What is the ForeWord Magazine Privacy Policy?
ForeWord does not resell your personal information in any way. We also do not keep any financial data on file. For fraud and security reasons this means that you will be asked for your credit card information each time you check out at ForeWord Connections. Every page that requires personal information is completely secure.
We reserve the right to retain your email address for special corporate operations such as free surveys of our services and magazine content.
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Q: What does ForeWord do with my book at international tradeshows?
ForeWord maintains cooperative stands at the Frankfurt, London, and Bologna Children?s Book Fairs. Represented titles are clearly displayed and presented to attending literary agents, foreign publishers, and other contacts developed over a decade of experience. We publish a catalog which includes the book details and publisher contact information for each title represented. This catalog is handed out to representatives interested in any of the titles on display. We also collect contact information from representatives who express interest in the books, and pass it on when we return home.
Visit ForeWord Connections to sign up.
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Q: How do you describe "independent publisher?"
Independent publishers are those not traded on the New York Stock Exchange or owned by the big six media companies. Everyone else, from print-on-demand micropublishers to large university presses, is considered an independent press.
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Q: Who reads ForeWord?
ForeWord is a controlled circulation publication delivered free to librarians and booksellers. We also send directly to the small press buyers at chain stores including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters, Books-a-Million, Costco, and others. The American Booksellers Associations BookSense requests copies of each issue for placement in their white boxes (boxes of advance review copies, publisher catalogs, postcards, and other items are delivered to participating BookSense member stores).
A small portion of our circulation (3%) is composed of paid subscribers, literary agents, publishers, and editors at larger houses who are looking for new authors to bring into their fold from the small press sector.
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Q: Where can I find a copy of ForeWord to purchase?
ForeWord is not sold on newsstands. It is a business-to-business (B2B) trade journal intended for acquisition librarians and buyers at bookstores who depend on reviews for their purchasing decisions.
Because we know that consumers are interested in book reviews as well, all of our reviews, articles, special sections, and columns are available at www.forewordmagazine.com. Our Webmaster works to maintain our high search engine rankings. We also invite readers and publishing professionals to subscribe for $40 per year.
ForeWord also publishes a free weekly e-newsletter. ForeWord This Week (FTW) is a way for us to keep you apprised of the news affecting small press publishing, and also features publisher and author profiles, titles of note, regular columns, and essays on the industry of interest to everyone involved with books.
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Q: How often does ForeWord come out, and how many copies are printed?
ForeWord is published bimonthly, beginning each year with a January/February issue. We print an average of 8,500 copies of the magazine, with some issues seeing runs of 10,000+ when extra distribution is needed at trade shows, including BookExpo America, the American Library Association annual conference, Frankfurt Book Fair, London Book Fair, and the Bologna Childrens Book Fair. Our ad rate is based on two times that number, and it is not uncommon for B2B magazines to boast a pass-along value of 3x the number it prints.
ForeWord also publishes occasional special sections on topics of current interest to the trade. Faith is our supplement on trends in Religion publishing and Spirit covers books from the Body, Mind, & Spirit genre. Each supplement is bound into the magazine as well as distributed separately at trade shows throughout the year. For information on publication schedules and advertising opportunities, see the FAQ on advertising.
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Q: How many free seasonal announcements in ForeWord Magazine do I get?
Spring Announcements and Fall Announcements are published in each March/April and July/August issue, respectively. These notices are free and intended to alert librarians and booksellers of new titles of interest to their patrons.
The number of seasonal announcements your company is allowed is determined by the number of titles your company publishes per year. You are asked this question during the registration process for ForeWord Connections. See above to learn how to register with us. There is a maximum of four announcements allowed.
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Q: Is there a charge for getting my book reviewed in the magazine?
There is absolutely no fee associated with the reviews in ForeWord Magazine.
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Q: What is a Clarion Review and Preview?
Clarion is the original review for fee service, established by ForeWord to respond to the difficulty of obtaining trade reviews. Authors and publishers who miss ForeWord's pre-publication deadlines, or whose books were overlooked for review can purchase an objective review that meets ForeWord magazine's strict quality standards. The fee is $305.
In 2008 ForeWord created the Clarion Preview service to provide authors and publishers with a quick thumbs-up or down on the readiness of a book project. Clarion editors will examine the book for plot and dialogue coherence in the case of fiction, and organization and originality in the case of nonfiction. They will look carefully at interior and exterior layout design, content, illustrations, packaging and pricing.
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Q: How do I get my book reviewed?
Follow our submission guidelines closely and make note of upcoming features on our editorial calendar. Contact our editorial staff with any questions. There is also a Ten Point Tip Sheet to Improve your chances for editorial coverage.
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Q: What happens to my book if you do not review it or choose it for an award?
Many of the books are given to our reviewers and Book of the Year Award judges for their time and talents. Others are donated to our local public schools, community libraries, and charities including Zonta International, the Womens Resource Center, and the Boys and Girls Club of America.
You can view complete details in our disclaimer.
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Q: How do I register as a publisher?
Click here to create a user ID (your email address) and password. Once you are registered, you can use your Connections account create a personal database of your companys titles and keep track of your orders from ForeWord.
Registration at ForeWord Connections is required for the purchase of Absolutely Fabulous co-op advertising, international tradeshow representation, Book of the Year Award registration, and free seasonal announcements (notices of upcoming titles published in the March/April and July/August issues).
Visit our New User page for more information on navigating within Connections and its other features.
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Q: I've lost my publisher password. How do I retrieve it?
Click here and enter your email address.
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