Advanced Reader Copy

As a Bookblogger, receiving an ‘Advanced Reader Copy’ is one of the perks of the job (or rather, the part time hobby). It’s great to receive copies of forthcoming titles from your favourite authors or much hyped books, and in this article I’m going to look at how you go about receiving this booklovers bounty.

What is an Advanced Reader Copy? (ARC)

They are galleys/proofs of books that are yet to be published and come in the form of physical or digital copies, as the publishing company works at generating pre launch publicity. Reviewing the book and sharing details on social media helps to build some word of mouth hype and get the cover in front of potential readers.

I know some people prefer physical copies of books, but you’re more likely to get a digital copy if you’re looking for an ARC. Not everyone likes digital copies, but if you want to receive titles you’re going to have to start using an electronic reading device such as a kindle.

There’s no doubting that the physical copy of a book looks better in bookstagram photographs, usually with a coffee beside it or resting on a sun lounger in Italy. Visuals are all important when it comes to promotion, but as the saying goes, ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.’

Physical or Digital Copies

But there’s a cost when it comes to posting physical copies of books, especially if you're living in another country from the publisher. And from an environmental perspective, it also saves on paper. Unless you’re a renowned reviewer with a zillion followers, it’s unlikely you’ll receive a physical advanced reader copy but it doesn’t mean you can’t do any publicity. I take photos on my iPad of the covers and share them on my socials.

The digital copies or PDFs I receive tend to be of a good quality. I haven’t noticed much in the way of errors - sometimes there’s formatting issues but it’s rare there are even typos. These aren’t uncorrected author proofs. 

How to get an Advanced Reader Copy

I’ve been a Netgalley member since 2020 and I’ve found it really useful in getting ARC’s. It takes a while to build up a profile and to begin with I didn’t get approved for every book. But now that I have read and reviewed over 70 titles, I’m a lot more successful.

You have to keep an eye out on new books being released, as there seems to be a first come/first serve approach for some of them. I’ve signed up to a lot of my favourite publishers, and try to visit their pages weekly. There’s a good range of books across all genres, so you should be able to find something that suits your tastes.

Just be sure to read and review, as a low feedback ratio might mean you get knocked back for approvals. If I agree with a publicist or an author that I’m going to review a book, I always will.

I am a member of Booksirens and Edelweiss but don’t use those as much as netgalley. It has a lot of self published books on it and you can certainly find some gems there. And if you’re on Goodreads, keep an eye out for giveaways of ARCs with author giveaways. Annoyingly, this is only in the US.

You can of course get in touch with publishers and ask if they’ll consider you for an ARC of some of their forthcoming titles. I haven’t done that myself as I've got all the titles I need from Netgalley and via my inbox. But it’s certainly something you should consider if there’s a publishing house that interests you.

Bookblogging

If you are a book blogger, and post regularly, inevitably you’ll get plenty of emails asking for reviews, both from publicists and authors. I receive a number each week, sometimes a few daily, and it’s just impossible to read and review them all. I’ll have a look at the blurb and if it chimes with me I might give it a go.

But I only have so much free time so like I say, I’m limited in what I can read. I have plenty of subscribers so I also receive plenty of emails about advanced reader copies that are really not in my wheelhouse - a quick perusal of my site would show the genres of books I’m interested in.

Between 500000 and one million books published each year - add self published titles and you’re talking about four million titles a year. That’s a lot of reading, so don’t feel guilty about being selective. It’s better for everyone if a publisher finds someone who is going to read that book and enjoys that genre. The review will reflect that.

Summary

Bookblogging for me is hobby and receiving or getting approved for an advanced reader copy is a nice bonus. It’s mutually beneficial for both readers and publishers, and hopefully generates publicity for the book and the author.

If sharing my love of an ARC helps to introduce more people to the book and gets them reading, all the better.