Episode

Book Review Contest Rules 2026

Podcast
Astral Codex Ten Podcast
Published
Mar 14, 2026
Duration seconds
192
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://sscpodcast.libsyn.com/book-review-contest-rules-2026
Audio
https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/sscpodcast/Book_Review_Contest_Rules_2026.mp3?dest-id=586545
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/astral-codex-ten-podcast-226483/episodes/book-review-contest-rules-2026
Markdown
/podcast/astral-codex-ten-podcast-226483/book-review-contest-rules-2026.md

Actions

  • POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/astral-codex-ten-podcast-226483/episodes/book-review-contest-rules-2026/transcription-requests
    Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
  • GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/astral-codex-ten-podcast-226483/book-review-contest-rules-2026.md
    Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

It's that time again. Even numbered years are book reviews, odd-numbered years are non-book reviews, so you're limited to books for now. Write a review of a book. There's no official word count requirement, but previous finalists and winners were often between 2,000 and 10,000 words. There's no official recommended style, but check the style of last time's finalists and winners or my ACX book reviews ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) if you need inspiration. Please limit yourself to one entry per person or team. Then send me your review through this Google Form . The form will ask for your name, email, the title of the book, and a link to a Google Doc. The Google Doc should have your review exactly as you want me to post it if you're a finalist. Don't include your name or any hint about your identity in the Google Doc itself, only in the form. I want to make this contest as blinded as possible, so I'm going to hide that column in the form immediately and try to judge your docs on their merit. (does this mean you can't say something like "This book about war reminded me of my own experiences as a soldier" because that gives a hint about your identity? My rule of thumb is that if I don't know who you are, and the average ACX reader doesn't know who you are, you're fine. I just want to prevent my friends or Internet semi-famous people from getting an advantage. If you're in one of those categories and think your personal experience would give it away, please don't write about your personal experience.) Please make sure the Google Doc is unlocked and I can read it. By default, nobody can read Google Docs except the original author. You'll have to go to Share, then on the bottom of the popup click on "Restricted" and change to "Anyone with the link". If you send me a document I can't read, I w…