Denver VS UG - How To Review


		Denver Visual Studio User Group www.DenverVisualStudio.net

How To Review

Also see Reviews and Book Sponsors.

Eligibility

     Eligibility - To participate in our review process you must be member of this Denver Visual Studio User Group professional association as described on our Join page. You must be a local member, located in the greater Denver, Colorado (USA), metropolitan area or the Colorado front range of the Rocky Mountains and you must be present at our meetings appropriate to your book review. You must be an adult -- minors are not eligible to join or participate in any activity of this user group professional association. Other eligibility requirements may apply, for specific questions or comments, please ask.

     These eligibility requirements are subject to change without advance notice.
     Please see Notice, for our Terms of Service.

Plan Your Review

Plan - Read and review any books about the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET development tool set including subjects such as: Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, Microsoft Visual Basic .NET, Microsoft Visual C# .NET, the .NET Framework, the .NET Compact Framework, ADO.NET, ASP.NET, Windows Forms, XML, OOP, Web Services, and many others. If in doubt, ask us (see Questions? / Comments below).

Include Your Details

Notify - Please notify us when you decide to write a review well ahead of your review date (see below). To notify us, please send us as many of the detail items below that you can prior to your review.

Include - Include these detail items below with your review (please do not solely embed into the review itself). All are required, except where indicated as + "Optional", see posted reviews for examples. Please be as accurate as possible (exact data may be found on the publisher's web site for each specific book).

About the Book:
   1. Title (and Edition, if Special Edition or if applicable after First Edition);
     2. Author's Name/Names,
            + "Optional" Author's Web Site complete URL and/or Author's E-mail Address;
     3. Published Year;
     4. ISBN;
     5. Publisher's Name and Publisher's Web Site Page for this Book (complete URL),
            + "Optional" Book Image (.jpg, maximum 105w x 140h pixels) separately attached file,
            + Number of Pages;
     6. Primary Category best for listing book, see Reviews page for categories and examples:
            C# .NET, Visual Basic .NET, .NET Framework, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, etc.;

About your Review:
     7. Review Date (month, year);
     8. Reviewer's Overall Star Rating (make a decision using only one overall Star rating):

            (1 lowest, 2, 3, 4, or 5 highest Stars out of a possible 5 Stars - no half or other Stars);
     9. Reviewer's Name (you must provide your name and you must be a member of our group,
            you may request your "Name Withheld" from publication);
   10. Reviewer's E-mail Address (you must provide your e-mail address,
            you may request your "E-mail Address Withheld" from publication).
   11. + "Optional" Reviewer's Biographical or Current Information Statement, you may
            tell us a little about yourself in the third person with 2 or 3 sentences for publication.

Write Your Review

As part of your review:
     Concentrate on reviewing how the book looks at the subject
             rather than reviewing the subject itself.
                  This is a book "review" -- not a book "report!"
     Reference why you say what you do based upon your professional background.
     Include topics from the book which are of special interest to this subject.
     Include topics excluded from the book which you think should have been included..
     Avoid listing chapter titles - that data is available online and is not review material.

As you write your review, think of these questions for your reader:
     What are the strengths and weaknesses of this book?
     Who would be a good audience for the book?
     What level of expertise is appropriate for this book?
     How can this book help the reader?
     As a reviewer, what kind of book works best for you and how did this book work for you?

Tip - You may find it easier to make notes specifically for your review as you read, rather than waiting until you have completed the book to begin writing, then the writing comes easily, quickly, and doesn’t become that big chore that is awaiting you at the end!

Length - Please provide at least 2,000 total characters including spaces in the body of your review, shorter reviews may not be accepted. Please limit the body of your review to less than 5,000 total characters including spaces (and any included complete URL links fully spelled out), longer reviews may be accepted. Provide all data in simple text only, please!

Code - Your complete book review may include a review of code included in text, in any CD, or in any downloadable version - or you may indicate that you did not review the code.

Scope - You do not need to read every word or run every line of code in order to write a quality review. Remember this is a book "review" not a book "report." You do not need to tell your reader the contents of the book. You do want to tell your reader what you thought of the contents of the book.

Errata - Prior to reading your book for review, always check with the publisher for updates, errata (significant errors), and other notes (usually listed on the publisher's web site). If available, check the online author feedback or discussion forums about this book (usually listed on the publisher's web site).

Editing - Your review may be edited. Not all reviews will be published. If needed, we may return your review and ask for you to rewrite it or we may edit/rewrite it to conform to our goals and standards or for any other reason. Your review may be reformatted for publication.

     Copyright - Reviews must be your original creation. Do not include any copyrighted content for which you are not the owner, except as indicated herein. By submitting your review, you state that the review is your original creation, that you have permission to submit any copyrighted content, and you grant the group permission to edit, format, discuss, publish, and use your review in any way within ordinary reasonable use by the group.
     You may submit copyrighted materials if you are the original creator and you grant us a copyright release from any other copyright owner for our publication and in that case, you must provide the exact text of the copyright notice that will appear with your review when published on our site. Proper use of copyrighted content and protection of that copyrighted content is the responsibility of the reviewer.
     When posted to this user group web site, a copyright notice will be attached to your review by this user group to provide copyrights to this user group (see the copyright notice below). This user group may give permission to a requester for the use of user group copyrighted content as defined in the Notice. Your published review may be submitted by this user group to the publisher, author, or others without prior notice.

Use of Your Review - By submitting a review, our reviewer grants the user group permission to copyright and use their review in any way within ordinary reasonable use by the group. The book/media publisher is granted the right to publish this review using the same exact complete content (or any partial content which reflects the review as appropriately as the exact complete content) as published by the Denver Visual Studio User Group on the user group's web site. For that, the copy must reference the original review as having been:

The Denver Visual Studio User Group strongly encourages our reviewers to also post their reviews on popular book and technical sites, including Amazon.com and their own personal web sites and blogs using the same criteria as above.

Submit Your Review -- Please participate!

Submit - Send all of the required and optional detail items above with your completed review in simple text only, please, via e-mail and attach a separate file for the book image. Please submit each review separately.
To submit your review, notify us about your proposed review and for questions or comments about How to Review, please e-mail Chris Wallace.

WARNING NOTICE

For members participating in our volunteer Book Exchange
"FREE Book in Exchange for a Book Review."

     When you have received your book FREE from this user group and specifically entered into this agreement to follow this How to Review process in exchange for a book review by an offer from this user group - You have an obligation to complete your book review within 60 days by following this How to Review process. The book you receive FREE, in exchange for a book review, is not your book until you submit your book review as agreed. One user group member may have only one pending book review at one time under this offer. You are also obligated to keep us informed or your book review progress when you obtain your book and no less than every 30 days until your book review is submitted and posted.
     You know your own schedule better than anyone else and you know that 60 days can go by very quickly, so think about how you are going to read and review that 1.000 page book in 60 days - be realistic with yourself, with your user group, the publisher and the author!
     Please, we want you to review your book! Sorry for the grim details, but here it goes . . .

     If you fail to follow this How to Review process, including failure to complete your book review within 60 days, you also agree that you MUST do one of the following within the next 7 days:
          Immediately return your book in its original condition to this user group.
          Keep your book, and immediately obtain another copy of the exact book in its original condition, then provide that copy to this user group.

     You are NOT eligible to receive another book FREE from this user group in exchange for a book review when you have failed to follow this How to Review process.
     You are NOT eligible to receive door prizes from this user group when you have failed to follow this How to Review process. See Door Prize Requirement and Details.
     You are NOT eligible for and may be removed from the membership e-mail list when you have failed to follow this How to Review process.
     You are NOT eligible to keep your book until you submit your book review as agreed upon when you received the FREE book in exchange for a book review. You may keep the book AFTER your review has been accepted and posted.

Thank you - When you obtain your book for review, you agree to send, within ten days, a personal individual but business-like thank you e-mail note to the book provider and send a copy to Chris Wallace. The note should indicate how much you appreciate the support of our group by the book provider. Reviewers should ensure that they obtain the name and the e-mail address of the book provider.

This Warning Notice applies to you when a book has been provided to you in exchange for a written book review - you will see the Book Exchange symbol

next to your name in Book Reviews Pending.
This Warning Notice does not apply to you when a book has been awarded to you as a door prize during user group events where you have agreed to write a book review - you will not see the Book Exchange symbol

next to your name in Book Reviews Pending.
Contact Chris Wallace for details about returning your book or any questions or comments about this Warning Notice.

Questions? / Comments

Any other questions, comments, suggestions, or ideas -- please send them to us. We are here to help us all make this a success! For extensive details about our group, see our Home. This How to Review is subject to change without notice. Please see Notice, for our Terms of Service, including reviews.
For publishers, authors, or book sellers and for any other questions or comments about our book reviews and our group, please e-mail Chris Wallace.

Last Updated: 07/19/2008