Sorry Folks

Unfortunately, because I failed to generate any interest in this contest at all, I've had to take it down. Entries are no longer being accepted.

What is this?

Indie Reviewer For the Holidays is a contest. I'm giving away four of my hand-crafted wands - yes the Harry Potter prop kind, no they don't actually cast spells - to folks like you who want to help small-press games developers by buying and reviewing their products. You get a chance to win a wand, a few indie developers get a small bump in sales going into the holidays, and I'm out the expense of postage. Everyone wins!

What are the rules?

• Between now and the end of November, purchase a small-press game or game supplement from any source, but preferably direct from the designer if possible.

• You must play with it. Don't just read the book. If it's a game, get some people and play it once. If it's a supplement try using it.

• Write a review of at least 250 words. At the end of your review, include a link to the place you purchased it from. Post your link some place accessible on the net, either G+ or your blog or a public forum.

• Add your name, your email, the name of the product, and a link to your review below.

Entries will close November 30 and all of the entries will be posted on December 1st. Readers will be able to peruse the reviews and vote for their favorites. There will be one week of voting, and then the winners will be announced on December 8th.

What are the prizes?

I've got four wands that I'm putting up as prizes. When you enter a review, you can select a wand as your prize. If your review gets the most votes for that wand, it's yours!

Dagwood

A hearty wand with a large grip. 12.5" long, made of rescued pine.

Scipio

Serious and somber, this 10.5" wand features a small grip square handle, rounded accents, and a gradiated blade.

Ciel

A lovely, 11.25" wand with teal blade and black, small grip handle with a high-gloss finish.

Owl

A pensive, 11.25" wand with a hammered texture handle.

I've never written a review, what should it say?

A review should open with a quick encapsulation of your overall opinion of the product. You should then include thoughts on the product's design and packaging, the legibility of the writing, and some words about the actual content of the product. If the product has rules, be sure to include a sentence or two on which rules work well and which gave you problems during play.

Does it have to be a positive review?

No, but it does have to be a fair one. That doesn't mean you should avoid being critical of the product, but it does mean you should take your review seriously and put effort into writing it because someone put effort into making the product and that's only fair.

Do you have any recommendations of titles to review?

No. Pick whatever product interests you! OSR modules, indie RPGs, books of random tables, map collections, print-and-play games, whatever grabs your attention.

I tried starting a G+ thread asking for recommendations but few people replied.

Is there a minimum price?

While you are free to choose any product, the whole point of this thing is to create a small upswell in sales for small-press folks. You can certainly review a free product or a pay-what-you-want title for which you've paid $0 if you'd like, but I'd prefer it if you didn't. There are plenty of .99 PDF games and supplements out there.

I also ask that you do not enter this contest if you are reviewing a comp copy given to you by the publisher. We can't stop you, but it's not really in keeping with the whole spirit of the thing.

Can I review a product I already own?

Only if you've bought it recently.

How "small" of a press?

Try to target product developers with small staff and products with low distribution.

Can I enter more than once?

Yes - er, that is, once per item/review.

I've written my review, now what?

Add it to the list!* **