Our Review Policy

Open to all Chicago Writers Association members and Chicagoland authors and publishers, Windy City Reviews draws from volunteer CWA member reviewers. Windy City Reviews promises an objective review that will be posted to our website.

We will try to review all books submitted to us and we will try to do so in as timely a manner as possible, but we cannot give you a definitive turnaround time and we cannot guarantee a review.

We review professionally edited, English language, published books. "Professionally edited" means that the book has been proofed, evaluated, and assessed for proper grammar, punctuation, spelling, and clarity by a qualified, experienced professional.  

We accept books in all categories, fiction, non-fiction and children’s books, including self-published books, with a few exceptions.  Those exceptions being that we do not review graphic pornographic material, racist themes, or textbooks.

We do not receive (or accept) payment for reviews. All items sent for review become the property of the reviewer from Windy City Reviews.

Bear in mind that our reviewers are avid readers, who are volunteers, and give personal opinions of what they read. Please consider them your reading audience. We cannot guarantee a favorable review, however, we can guarantee a review (if your book is chosen) where the reviewer gives their own honest and fair assessment of your work. 

Our editorial staff will be the final arbiter of a review. All reviews must be honest and fair assessments of the work. We don’t believe in scathing reviews or belittling authors. We will do our best to ensure that all reviews are honest, but tactful.

If the reviewer finds little that warrants a positive review, then a brief note to this effect with some explanation for this assessment returned to the Editor may terminate the review process, or in some special case, the opinion of another reviewer may be sought to confirm the assessment.