I thought that I would answer some questions that several of you have sent to me AND I also have a question for you ALL.

Why do you capitalize the words Cozy and Mystery?

I know it seems strange to some of you but since my website is called Cozy Mystery, I just do. I started the website in 2006, and am not sure when I started capitalizing the words, but it has become a habit now.

Why don’t you accept ARCs (Advance Reading Copies)?

I have talked about this before, so some of you already know, but I don’t accept ARCs because if I did, I would feel like I had to say something nice about the book, even if I couldn’t find something nicer to say than “It has a lovely cover.” I have a terrible guilt complex. Also, I have to admit that when I read a glowing review of a Cozy Mystery and then find out the reviewer received an ARC, the review doesn’t mean that much to me. (I figure there’s a chance the reviewer felt like he/she HAD to write a really positive review, since he/she could have my guilt complex.) It’s almost as if the reviewer was paid for the terrific review. (I know, this probably sounds pretty silly to a lot of you!)

When you do the FREE and Cheap Kindle/Nook lists, why don’t you add all of the authors you know have free or cheap e-books?

When I get those FREE and Cheap lists together, I compare my list of authors to the last five of my Free and Cheap posts to make sure I’m not repeating any of those authors. (On a few occasions, I have heard from authors who ask me to include their books again, which I have done.) I have been adding “Also, if you take a look at some of the older Free and Cheap Kindle/Nook mysteries, you may find some that are still under $5.00.” >>> that way I don’t post the same identical authors over and over.

So now for my question to you ALL:

When we do the monthly Cozy Mystery recommendations lists, would you prefer if I ask you to put your top five recommendations at the top of your lists, so that I only add those top five recommended authors/books to the list?

(Here’s is an example of the monthly recommendation lists as I have been doing them.)

You would still recommend as many books as you think are really, really good, but your top five would be the ones I add. Someone (only one person) wrote to me telling me she thought the length of our lists had gotten out of hand. I replied that I still enjoy reading all of your reasons why you post the books and that I have found several new-to-me authors who I now consider favorite authors.

So, would you prefer I keep the recommendations list as is, or should I ask you to tell me the top five books you recommend (and I put those on the list) although you could still list as many other books as you wish in your comment (but I wouldn’t put the others on the list)?

Hope this makes sense!