Book Review Guidelines

So you want to send your book to Mother Jones for review? Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Is my book right for Mother Jones? We tend to review general interest works of fiction and non-fiction. We’re especially interested in books about subject areas we cover (politics, the environment, food, war, science, the economy, foreign policy). We also often review photo books, and occasionally books about music and the arts. We don’t review too many novels or story collections, but we do like to get them because we do a fair number of author interviews, and like to be aware of what’s coming.

We tend to avoid academic books about niche subjects, polemics, how-to books, self-help books, books that claim to predict the future, or books with bullet points. However, we do like books that contain interesting charts and statistics.

When should I get my book to you? We have a long lead time for print. The book review lineup is finalized roughly three months before Mother Jones hits newsstands, so get review copies to us as early as possible to get them in the magazine.

We do publish longer reviews and author interviews on our website, usually around the time the book comes out. We only rarely review a book received after it’s been published.

Who should I send to? Our media editor is Michael Mechanic. Please send all books to him, at our San Francisco headquarters:

Mother Jones
P.O. Box 584
San Francisco, CA 94104-0584

Will sending you six copies increase my odds? No, one will do just fine. Extra copies of the same edition go on the free pile. But if you sent us uncorrected galleys, do send us the final version when it comes out.

Anything else? Please make sure your book includes a publication date. If it’s not printed on the galley itself, please include a note with that information.

How about catalogs? Catalogs are great. We read them, so keep ‘em coming. But again, we don’t need six copies.