I have been a member of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team (#RBRT) for five and a half years, now. I first 'met' Rosie online when looking for reviews for my own early books, and through her some of the other bloggers who later became part of the team.
I admit to being wary of making the commitment when I joined the review team, but I'm so glad I did; Rosie has created something so positive for the independently published world (the team deals mainly with the self-published or those published by independents), and I am proud to be a part of it. When I joined, I decided to start my own book review blog - I don't profess to be a 'proper' book blogger as I'm primarily a writer; I don't take submissions and use it only for reviewing for Rosie and my own reading choices, but it's something I enjoy doing. 😀
If you are interested in joining us, Rosie has written an article about how her review team works, on BookerTalk blog - you can read it HERE. Details of how to apply to join are HERE. You don't need to have a book blog, and you don't need any credentials apart from a love of reading.
There are two main reasons why I'm so glad I joined the team, equally important. The first is the discovery of some truly excellent books; now and again, you find a real gem, that you want to shout about; so often these are books that are hidden away on Amazon and you would have never discovered, had the author not submitted. Here are a few that made me feel this way (link takes you to my review):
The Men by Fanny Calder
The Usurper King by Zeb Haradon
The World Without Flags by Ben Lyle Bedard
Singularity Syndrome by Susan Kuchinskas
The Unrivalled Transcendence of Willem J Gyle by James D Dixon
The Unravelling of Brendan Meeks by Brian Cohn
Back Home by Tom Williams
Other books I've loved are highlighted on Rosie's two part post:
The second reason I love being a part of #RBRT is that some of us have become real life friends, too, enjoying several meet-ups.
Here are me, Rosie, Shelley, Cathy and Barb, in Matlock, April 2019 - a lovely weekend!
Leicester, December 2016
With Rosie, Cathy, Barb and Alison - Sheffield, October 2015
Here's to six more years of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team! 💃
