You know your book matters.

To submit your book for an editorial review, please visit our submissions page and choose Editorial review. Editorial reviews are priced by word count, to account for the time required for reading, note-taking, and writing the review.

If you’d prefer to enter the CANREADS Book Awards without an editorial review, choose CANREADS Awards on the submissions page. Choosing whether or not to add a review has no impact on awards evaluation.

Once your entry form is submitted, you’ll receive an order confirmation email with next steps to complete your submission.

An editorial review at CANREADS is a professionally written, critical assessment of a book, created by an experienced genre expert or industry professional, and published as editorial content. Reviews are funded to support the time and labour involved in reading, analysis, and writing, but they are never pay-for-play. Funding does not influence tone, outcome, or evaluation.

Unlike vanity or promotional reviews, CANREADS editorial reviews are independent and may include both strengths and areas for improvement. Whether or not an editorial review is purchased has no impact on CANREADS Book Awards evaluation.

These are not vanity reviews. Our reviewers are encouraged to provide honest, balanced assessments that emphasize a book’s strengths while remaining unbiased. Constructive criticism is included when appropriate, and no outcome or tone is ever guaranteed.

Although our reviews include usable pull quotes for marketing purposes, they are first and foremost editorial in nature. Reviews are written by carefully vetted reviewers who reflect your book’s target readership or have relevant industry experience, including avid genre readers, book influencers, former and current bookstore employees, and publishing professionals with deep market knowledge.

After your book has been reviewed, you will receive a comprehensive review via email, and it will be published on our website if you wish. Additionally, we send promotional stickers for you to place on physical copies of your book. These stickers have been shown to boost in-person sales by drawing attention and signaling credibility to potential buyers.

We do not publish them on other third-party platforms, which would conflict with platform policies. If the assigned reviewer is personally inclined, they may choose to leave a separate review on third-party platforms. We always encourage them to if they enjoyed the book.

We accept both published books and complete unpublished manuscripts for review. We do not accept unfinished or incomplete manuscripts.

If you submit an unpublished manuscript, your review will remain private and cannot be published on the CANREADS website or used as an entry in the CANREADS Book Awards.

If the book is later published, you may submit the published edition for a new review at a discounted rate. Because a manuscript may change before publication, we cannot publish a review based on an earlier unpublished version.

CANREADS Book Awards entries are separate from reviews. If your published book meets the awards eligibility requirements, it may be entered separately at the full awards entry fee.

Not exactly. CANREADS is not an editorial service and does not critique unfinished manuscripts. All of our offerings are intended for completed works only, or those in the final editorial stages (typeset and to-be-published within the year).

If your book requires extensive revisions, publishing support, or detailed manuscript development, we recommend working with a dedicated editorial service instead. We are happy to send you recommendations within our network.

We prioritize confidentiality with the utmost care. Our reviewers are bound by strict contracts to maintain full confidentiality, and many of them work in the publishing sector, fully appreciating the sensitivity of pre-publication materials. Access to your manuscript is limited exclusively to our team, who stores it securely on a locked drive, and to the single reviewer assigned to your book. All digital documents and books are deleted six months after the awards ceremony.

The review process will take 5 to 8 weeks from submission. We aim to provide thorough and timely feedback. Expedited options are available for delivery within 3 weeks.

Yes, we accept international authors and publishers for editorial reviews. The CANREADS Awards program, however, is reserved for Canadian authors or those who have resided in Canada for at least one year.

Our team of reviewers and editors brings global market expertise, offering industry-relevant insights that extend beyond Canada. While we primarily focus on the Canadian market, our reviews help international authors expand their reach and gain visibility across North America. We are committed to supporting diverse voices and helping authors engage with Canada’s literary community.

At CANREADS, we have a team of over 50 experienced reviewers with diverse backgrounds in various industries. Many hold relevant degrees and years of professional experience in literary and/or relevant fields, ensuring high-quality and insightful reviews. For example, if a book’s subject matter deals with the sciences, we usually assign a reviewer with a strong science and communications background. Authors can request a reviewer bio. However, in line with industry best practices established by leading review platforms, we do not disclose reviewer names.

We maintain reviewer anonymity to promote unbiased, candid feedback. This practice protects the professional relationships of our reviewers—many of whom are active in the publishing sector—and safeguards the integrity of the review process by preventing external influence or bias. While we encourage our reviewers to reach out to the author if they particularly enjoyed a book, this remains entirely at their discretion. Each reviewer undergoes a rigorous vetting and editorial process, and you can find examples of our published reviews on our Editorial Reviews page to see the standard of writing we expect.

Although we cannot guarantee a specific reviewer, you are welcome to indicate your preference, and we will make every effort to accommodate your request.

We reserve the right to withhold publication of a review if a book does not meet our quality standards. Our website is widely viewed by readers and industry professionals, and we are committed to maintaining a strong editorial standard in what we feature.

If a submission contains significant issues—such as pervasive grammatical errors or readability concerns—we will still provide a constructive review, but it will not be published on the site, and you will receive a 10% refund.

Submissions that are overtly offensive, contain hateful or discriminatory language, or include excessively explicit material presented outside of a clear narrative or genre context may not be reviewed or published. In such cases, refunds will be issued at a prorated amount based on the extent of work already completed by the reviewer. Because each situation differs, the percentage refunded will vary depending on how much of the manuscript has been read and assessed.

Context matters: content that reflects a specific genre, historical period, character voice, or narrative framework is evaluated within its proper context and does not, on its own, disqualify a book from review publication.

Refunds are governed by the following criteria:

• 100% refund if the request is made before the book is assigned to a reviewer.
• 50% refund if requested within two weeks of submission after assignment.
• No refunds after two weeks.

Disagreement with a review, critique, or evaluation does not qualify for a refund. Review publication may be cancelled upon refund request, but editorial work already completed is not refundable.

AI-Generated Submissions: CANREADS does not accept books or manuscripts generated in whole or in substantial part by AI. By submitting, authors confirm that their work complies with this policy. Any submission determined to violate this requirement will be disqualified and is not eligible for a refund, regardless of the standard refund timelines above.

Please refer to Section 3 of our Terms & Conditions for more information on refund eligibility.

Yes—but only in certain circumstances.

CANREADS welcomes requests regarding demonstrable factual inaccuracies, incorrectly attributed quotations or events, significant misreadings of the text, or wording introduced during our editorial process that materially changes the reviewer's intended meaning. If one of these situations applies, our editorial team will carefully review the concern and make corrections where appropriate.

Because CANREADS reviews are independent editorial assessments, we are unable to revise reviews solely because an author disagrees with the reviewer's opinions, literary interpretations, or constructive criticism. Preserving reviewer independence is essential to maintaining the integrity and credibility of our review process.

To learn more about how our reviews are edited and when revisions may be considered, please review Section 4 in our Terms & Conditions.

If you're looking to use a CANREADS review to promote your book, please see our Excerpt Policy for information on quoting reviews in marketing materials, on book covers, websites, and social media.