Why your self-published book won't get reviewed

Frank Wilson, my editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, explains why the Inkie doesn't review self-published, POD or electronic books:

This is not out of snobbery. If a publisher like Farrar Straus & Giroux decides to publish somebody’s manuscript, they assume the costs of printing and publicity. They are betting on that manuscript and putting their money up accordingly. In all the other cases, it is the author who is putting up the money and betting on himself or herself and his or her work. It is the fact that someone besides the author is willing to assume the risk of publishing that makes all the difference.

The policy is the same at the Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today and all the other newspapers I review for. It's hard to imagine any major publication deciding otherwise.

Wading through all the books published by legitimate trade publishers is difficult enough. Including the self-published stuff, most of which is crap, would be madness.