Submit to relevant trade-review outlets
Submit or verify submission to Library Journal
Confirm that review copies of your adult title reached Library Journal about six months before publication, the longest lead time among the major trade outlets.
Authors often hire help with this: publicity or marketing.
Why it matters
Public and academic library purchasing for adult titles leans heavily on Library Journal, and its reviews are syndicated into the ordering tools librarians use. The six-month lead time means this window closes before many authors know it was open. Verifying it early is the difference between being considered and not.
Your part
- What you do
- Verify. Someone else may do it. Inspect the result yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Publisher and Author. Publisher or authorized submitter sends; author verifies
- When
- Review copies should arrive about 6 months before publication (Submit to relevant trade-review outlets: six to three months before publication, against each outlet's own deadline)Checked September 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
Library Journal (LJ) is the trade magazine for public and academic librarians who buy adult books. Its reviews are editorial consideration: the editors choose from what arrives, and most submissions are not reviewed. What sets LJ apart is its lead time. Its guidelines ask that review copies arrive roughly six months before publication, well ahead of most other outlets.
The publisher or an authorized submitter sends the copies. For a traditionally published author, this means asking your publicist, early, whether LJ is on the list and when the galleys went. Six months before publication is often before an author has thought about reviews at all, which is exactly why this item exists. For a hybrid author, ask the press directly; do not assume its list includes LJ.
Self-published authors should read LJ's current submission page before sending anything. Its instructions are written for publishers and authorized submitters, and its policy on independent titles has changed over time. If the route is not open to you, Midwest Book Review, BookLife, and Foreword's routes are library-adjacent alternatives that do accept independent titles.
LJ also runs programs beyond its main reviews (prepub alerts, genre columns, and library marketing products). Those are separate from review submission and are not required.
Common mistakes
- Discovering the six-month lead time at the four-month mark.
- Assuming every adult title goes to LJ automatically; lists are selective.
- Confusing LJ's paid marketing products with review submission.
- Sending a youth title here instead of to School Library Journal.
What done looks like
- Confirmation that review copies were sent to Library Journal about six months before publication, with the date.
- The submission recorded with route, submitter, format sent, and outcome.
- For hybrid and self-published titles, a documented answer on whether the route was open, drawn from the current guidelines.
- A follow-up note when a review appears, with the link saved for library outreach.
Evidence. Done means someone says the work happened. Verified means you checked the confirmation, link, or public record yourself.
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.