By Scott McCormick -
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Advance reader copies (ARCs) are copies of books sent out to book reviewers, book bloggers, publicists, and others in advance of publication. ARCs are used to ensure authors have as many reviews as possible by the time a book is officially published. They are also used to send to other authors to get endorsem*nts that can be printed on the published version of the book.
Table of Contents:
• Why produce advance reader copies?
• How do ARCs differ from finished books?
• What are the best practices for creating an ARC?
• Who do you send advance review copies to?
• Professional book reviewers
• Recruiting your own book reviewers
• How many ARCs will you send out?
• When do you send out advanced review copies?
• What are the pros and cons of an advanced reader copy?
Advance Reader Copies are also known by a few other names, including advance review copies, advanced reader copies, reader’s editions, and galleys.
Why produce advance reader copies?
An author’s goal is to get as many reviews of their book as they can, as quickly as possible. This accomplishes two things. First, the more reviews a book gets, the higher it will appear in Amazon’s search engine rankings, leading to more people finding and buying the book.
Second, these early reviews will help potential buyers overcome their initial objection of wondering whether your book is any good. If they go to your Amazon page and see 15 positive reviews, they are much more likely to buy your book than if there aren’t any, or only a couple.
In other words:
- ARCs get you early reviews
- Early reviews get you credibility
- Credibility gets you sales
How do ARCs differ from finished books?
A traditional ARC is a paperback edition that has not had a final proofread or finished cover art. Printed ARCs typically have the words, “Advance Reader Copy: Not intended for resale” on the cover. Major publishers still produce these kinds of printed ARCs and send them out to all the big reviewers like Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, etc.
Some indie authors like to print traditional ARCs before they print the final version of their book as a way of adding legitimacy to their marketing campaigns. BookBaby can help you produce your own ARC with our print on demand and single book printing services.
Having said that, you do not have to produce a classic paperback advance reader copy to get early reviews of your books. If you want to mail out physical copies of your book, you can simply use copies of your finished book.
In fact, you do not have to print copies of your book at all. ARCs can be eBooks or even PDFs. We don’t recommend using PDFs because they are too easily distributed by your reviewers to third parties, which may cost you sales, but reviewers will often accept PDFs.
What are the best practices for creating an ARC?
Publishers send out ARCs before a book has had its final proofread, and reviewers understand that they are receiving a book that may contain spelling mistakes. This is standard practice in the industry and does not affect book reviews.
So, if you are still in the final proofing stage and your deadline is approaching and you’re worried you won’t have time to get a final product out to your reviewers, don’t sweat it. You can send the pre-proofread version to reviewers and it will not negatively impact your review. But be sure to include the words “Advance Reader Copy: Not intended for resale” on your printed book or eBook cover.
But a key point to remember: even though you can send out an ARC that has not been proofread, that does not mean you can send out an ARC that has not been edited. Proofreading is the very last step of the editing process. By the time a manuscript is being proofread, it has also gone through one, if not multiple rounds of book editing.
Warning!
To reiterate: Do not send out a book that has not been edited! A few spelling mistakes in your ARC are OK; a bunch of spelling and grammatical errors will make you look amateurish and will almost certainly guarantee you a bad review. Working with a professional editor for your book before printing and distributing is vital to your book’s success.
By the way, if you are choosing to send a paperback ARC, be sure to send it priority shipping to make sure it arrives on time! You are working with a predetermined timeframe, so you can’t leave anything to chance.
Who do you send advance review copies to?
Besides reviewers, you can send ARCs to anyone who you want to endorse your book as well as anyone who can help you with promotion. Send an ARC to bookstores to create opportunities to schedule book signing or book reading events. (Printed ARCs definitely work best for this.)
You should send your ARCs to two categories of reviewers: professional reviewers and reviewers you have recruited on your own.
Professional book reviewers
As an independent author, it’s unlikely you will be able to get a review by The New York Times or Publisher’s Weekly the way a major publishing house can. But you can still get your book into the hands of popular book bloggers and social media influencers (e.g., Bookstagramers and BookTokers). Do some research to find the best bloggers and social media influencers for your genre.
You can also hire professional book review services. Amazon recognizes these four companies, whose reviews you can post to the Editorial Reviews section of your book’s sales page (these companies do not require physical copies of your ARC):
- Kirkus. Cost: $450
- Blue Ink. Cost: $395
- IndieReader. Cost: $275
- Readers’ Favorite. Cost: Free or $59 for a two-week express review
Recruiting your own book reviewers
If you have any kind of online presence, recruiting your own reviewers is going to be the best (and cheapest) way to get a healthy number of early reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. This will not only get you a bunch of reviews, but it will also create goodwill between you and your fans (“Get a free copy of my next book!”) and make those fans feel invested in your book’s success.
Post on your website and social media outlets asking people to sign up to receive a free copy of your newest book in exchange for an honest review. Make this a limited-time offer.
Send readers to a Google Form to sign up. On this form you’ll want to explain:
- Readers are signing up to receive a free copy of your book in exchange for an honest review. (That last part is important.)
- Review copies are limited and they may not be chosen to receive one.
- When they will be notified if they’ve been selected.
- Review copies are for their eyes only and the content is not to be shared publicly in any way.
- There is no financial compensation for reviews.
- They will receive the book via Kindle. To receive an eBook this way, they will need a valid Kindle email address.
YA Fantasy author Bethany Atazadeh offers a great video on how to send ARCs via Kindle, including how to find your Kindle email address. Again, sending an ARC as a Kindle file (.mobi) is preferable to sending out PDF because your reviewers cannot share the Kindle files with others.
Once you get a list of people requesting ARCs, you will want to be a little choosy in deciding who should get one, so on your Google form, Atazadeh recommends adding a few questions to help you decide.
- Ask which of your books they’ve read. This is especially important if you are releasing a sequel. (You will want reviewers to have read the previous books.)
- Ask where they like to review books (Amazon, Goodreads, Instagram, etc.).
- Any other pertinent questions that may help you rule out some reviewers.
How many ARCs will you send out?
Your end goal is to get about 25 reviews on Amazon on opening day. But the unfortunate fact is, not everyone who gets an ARC will review it. Even people who have raised their hand and signed up to get a copy still may not review your book. Sometimes people have good intentions but life gets in the way. So if you want 25 reviews, send out 100 advanced review copies just to be on the safe side.
If 100 books sounds like a lot — like you may be losing 100 sales — don’t sweat it. Remember, these people are seeking to actively support your career. They may not be buying this book, but they will probably buy your next one. After all, they’ll feel invested in your career.
When do you send out advanced review copies?
Publishers send ARCs anywhere from three to six months before publication. This gives them time to fix any last-minute errors and/or to include endorsem*nts on the cover.
The professional review companies we cited above require seven to nine weeks to turn around their review, so we recommend sending ARCs three months before your release date. (If you’re in a pinch, Readers’ Favorite does offer an expedited, two-week service for $59.)
For your recruited reviewers, send the ARCs out one month ahead of time. (You don’t want to give them too long or it will be too easy for your book to fall through the cracks.) Be sure to follow up with a reminder email two weeks later, and then a final reminder on publication day, letting them know that today is the day they can post their reviews on Amazon. Follow that up with one last email a few days after publication, thanking everyone for participating and explaining why this is so important for your sales. That may help you get a few more reviews from reviewers who didn’t finish the book in time.
What are the pros and cons of an advanced reader copy?
To sum up the pros of sending out ARCs:
- Get early reviews for your book
- Gather readers’ responses
- Build goodwill with your readers
- Book promotional opportunities
- Strengthen publishing relationships
To sum up the cons of creating ARCs:
- Printed ARCs cost money to print and ship
- The ARC process adds another layer of complexity to the publishing process
If you’re ready to self-publish your book, be sure to call BookBaby at 1-877-961-6878.
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