Decide on paid and advance-copy services
Decide on a Clarion review
Decide what you would actually do with a Clarion review before paying for one. The fee buys a review, not praise, and the right answer may be no.
Why it matters
A paid review is a legitimate tool when the purchase is tied to a plan and described honestly. Deciding on purpose, rather than by reflex, keeps the money in service of the campaign and keeps your marketing copy accurate, which is what librarians and booksellers notice.
Your part
- What you do
- Decide. Make a judgment about fit, cost, or strategy.
- Who normally owns it
- Author and publisher together. Author or publisher decides and pays
- When
- Based on the campaign timeline; order early enough for the review to arrive before it is needed (Decide on paid and advance-copy services: six to three months before publication, before the money is spent)Checked September 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
Clarion Reviews is operated by Foreword Reviews as a paid review service. You pay a fee, submit a finished work (backlist titles included), and receive a professional review on a set turnaround. The fee buys the review; it does not buy the rating. Clarion reviews carry a star rating and can be critical, and you decide whether the finished review is published.
Clarion is separate from Foreword Reviews magazine, which is editorial consideration and free. If your title qualifies for the magazine and the deadline has not passed, submit there first. Clarion is the fallback when the magazine passes, when the deadline has passed, or when the book is backlist and no editorial outlet will look at it.
As with any paid review, the decision should be about use. A strong Clarion review can be quoted in pitches, on retailer pages, and in award entries, and Foreword's reviews circulate in industry databases. A weak one is honest feedback you paid for. Decide in advance what you would do with each outcome.
Traditionally published authors seldom need this. Hybrid and self-published authors are the usual buyers. Whoever pays, log it as a paid review and quote it as a Clarion review, not a Foreword magazine review.
Common mistakes
- Buying a Clarion review when the free magazine route was still open.
- Expecting the fee to shape the rating.
- Presenting a Clarion review as a Foreword magazine review.
- Ordering it too late for the launch it was meant to support.
What done looks like
- A written decision with the reason and the intended use of the review.
- The free Foreword magazine route tried first when the title qualifies and the deadline allows.
- If purchased, the file submitted early enough for the review to arrive before the campaign that needs it.
- The purchase logged as a paid review with date, fee, and result.
- Quotes attributed to Clarion Reviews.
Ask your publisher
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Sources and last checked
- Official source
- Official source (opens in a new tab)
- Last checked
- September 13, 2026
- How confident we are
- Verified
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 13, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.