Q. How do I get my hands on an ARC?
This is probably one of the most common question asked to me by new bloggers. I actually published a BB101 about two years ago regarding the same thing. I thought it might be time to revisit it.
The desperate pursuit of ARCs, the veritable pot of gold for some book bloggers, seems to be a big question for start-up bloggers. Even if you don’t really care about getting advanced release copies, when you hear some bloggers hype them up, it almost gets you excited and in desperate need of one. I want to be a part of that club!! Where do I sign up??
For some books, there are a ton of ARCs floating around, for others there are just a few coveted versions. Other hot books – there are none. Heard word of any ICED ARCs by Karen Marie Moning? I didn’t. Doling out those ARCs is usually up to the publisher, PR person/Media agency or author. Some publishers seem to do a lot of ARCs, some hardly any. It is really up in the air.
- Online Library Sites
- A good way to win/receive ARCs is through Goodreads.com & Library Thing, via their early release programs or giveaways. I like Goodreads because you just press a button and it enters you into the contest. Very simple, but unfortunately they usually have a lot of entries.
- Make Contact
- Another way is to contact authors and/or publishers and request a review copy of an upcoming book. Always be professional and courteous. The author or publisher does not owe you anything, so remember that when you are requesting the book. Also make sure it is a book you are truly interested in, and not just chasing it because of the hype.
- One time a WOW helped me receive and ARC. (Waiting on Wednesday). The author must have been google searching their book and thanked me for my interest and offered me a copy. Very cool. A good way to get your WOWs out there are to publish the link to your post on twitter and facebook. Make sure you use hashtags and maybe even direct the post to the author’s name. But, sometimes that might be a little too forward. So, use discretion.
- Make sure to do your research on books, check if the author is on Twitter. Send the tweet out with the Book Name & the author’s twitter name, i.e.:
Waiting on Wednesday @Parajunkee. Vampires & Starbucks: A Love Story by @TSuckie – I so wanna read this book! http://tinyurl.182930129.com
Just remember, ARCs are hard to come by, so don’t be disappointed when you don’t get your hands on one. My first ARC was won from another book blogger, second one from Goodreads. When I first started the only way I could receive an ARC was via NetGalley.com
- Online Galley Distributors
- I highly recommend NetGalley and now there are new programs like Edelweiss which are very similar. But — you have to remember to review them and always check their approval standards before requesting. Then once you are approved it is good practice to review them and then post the reviews in the program, because that is where the publishers check first. Not your blog.
- ARC TOURS
- Another tried and true option is to join ARC TOURS. These usually happen with a passion after large conventions that give away a lot of ARCs as their promos. ARC TOURS can be organized by bloggers or publishers. Just search around, there are a few sites that do it a lot.
- Conventions
- Lastly, the BEST way of getting ARCs is by attending book conventions. ALA, BEA, Comic Cons…you will walk out of those conventions with more ARCs then you can imagine. If one is close, you might want to think about attending.
Reader Question of the Week:
About a month ago a company I had worked with previously contacted me about a tour for a book that just wasn’t “me”. I politely declined.
Today I get an unsolicited package from the author who states the company suggested her to send me her book. Since I’d worked with them previously, I’m guessing they passed on my address to her. While that alone puts me off, I’m more bothered by the fact that in addition to the book she sent a gift card. I can’t help but feel bribed.
I’ve gotten small “thank yous” in the past, but have never gotten something quite this blatant. I’m not really sure what to do.
Thanks for any input! – Anon
First, I would contact the company and ask that they do not pass on your address to their authors. You gave that to them in confidence and didn’t expect that they would pass it on. Secondly, I would return the package to the author. Because, by sending that gift card she will expect something from you. That is a no-win situation. If you are already torn about enjoying the book, the stress of the situation isn’t going to make it any easier. If you write a bad review, the chances of the author getting upset increases and the chances of you feeling guilt for writing anything non-positive also increases, since she sent you this “gift”. I wouldn’t be so blatant about sending it back either, I would just nicely state that you don’t think the book would work on your site and you feel uncomfortable about accepting a gift card with the review book, since you do not charge for reviews. I think that would be the best way, yes you might upset the author…but I think they put you in a bad situation to begin with, even if their intentions were noble.
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I second “Waiting On” kind of posts. There was an ARC I wanted SO BAD. I emailed every contact at the publisher I had. Nothing. It wasn’t available on Netgalley. I was beyond frustrated. I did a Revisit post of the first book in the trilogy and included a blurb about the next book and how I really couldn’t wait to read it. About a week and a half later, it showed up in my mailbox from the publisher. So I have to say those kinds of things do work.
It happens! I’ve gotten a few ARCs that way too.
This is great advice, thanks for putting this out there, as a new blogger this is something I was curious about! Thanks for passing on your knowledge.
You are welcome and thanks so much for commenting.
Thanks for doing this post! ARCs are always mysterious and this helped debunk some of that mystery. Also, I think doing reader questions is a great idea!
Thanks Alice — good luck with figuring out the mystery, lol.
Great advice as always! I am quite happy with getting e-galleys from netgalley and edelweiss, and I only requests books that I think I’ll like. Life is too short to read books I don’t like
Exactly!!!!
I love it when you write up these awesome advice posts – they’re so informative! It’s also amazing to see what kind of problems you can run into along the way. I’ve never really heard of book blogger bribing before… And I feel so dirty when I post up a WoW of sorts and tweet it because i know where my ulterior motives lie xD
Thanks Princess Ash. I hear you about those ulterior motives. I feel the same. I don’t do it myself, but if you are going to do it, do it right.
Great post! Glad to hear that book bloggers are anxious for ARCs, as I’ll be sending out mine soon with requests/invites for reviews. Thanks!
Yeah! So cool Liesel — ARCs are like shoes to book bloggers LOL
It’s so hard not to get caught up in the ARC frenzy. When I first started blogging I didn’t even know there was such a thing.
I definitely think the chatter about ARCs feeds into that frenzy and now every time there’s a coveted ARC that is sent out into the world I envision being a part of this frenzied sharkfest to be one of the lucky recipients.
Which is sort of why I stopped requesting them except electronically, though I’m starting to cave… I have zero willpower… But It got to this point where I wasn’t sure I want the ARC because I was so desperate to read the book early or if it was just to have the book that everyone else wants to read. Then I’d feel all guilty for not getting the chance to read it early.
Yeah, those ARCs totally messed with my priorities. Of course it hasn’t prevented me from wanting the. Desperately.
Conventions are a great way to get them – though I haven’t been to one quite yet – but they’re also a great way to interact with the publishers and make those contacts to get future ARCs or so I’m told. So it’s like a win-win.
And oh your poor anon writer. I’d feel terribly violated if a publisher I entrusted with my address passed it along. And then to have to return the book and gift to the author, who now knows their address, is really a terrible situation to be in. I hope it all works out for them!
I know! Wasn’t that a terrible situation Anon got herself tangled in. Thanks Rachel for again chiming in so eloquently and logically!
This is such a good post, especially for new bloggers. You’re right! I received my first Arc from a writer’s conference. The publisher spoke so enthusiastically about three new books coming out, I took a chance and emailed him, asking if he could send the Arcs to me. To my delight, he did! I was so excited.
Hang in there guys. Over time, you’ll get Arcs. Sometimes I get so many, I barely can read them all, but I do cherish and appreciate them–and do my best to review them.
Thanks June. I always score big at Conferences LOL — so much so that I don’t request or accept them during the year. It always messes me up because I can stoke good publisher relationships…I know!!
One thing that I have so much respect for with bloggers is their dedication and respect for the blogging/book publishing community. There are blogs in all stages of popularity and progress, and it’s always interesting to see how they change over time. Blogs that start small and don’t bite off more than they can chew become successful over a long period of time, so that it’s a gradual growth and not an over night success. Managing a blog is a lot of work and it takes time and dedication to the area they focus on to really achieve any success. While some blog in their spare time, others make a career of it and having that flexibility to develop something you enjoy doing in a small or large scale is absolutely admirable.
Thanks for writing this post!! When I first started blogging I had no clue what ARC’s were, and every-time I see a blogger with stacks of ARC’s every week I cry a little in the inside. I want want they have what they have,but I also think that it adds more time to blogging and you should be dedicated before requesting.
Up until now I’ve only used Netgalley and Goodreads, but last week(when I hit 6months blogging) I sent my first ARC’s request and I’m crossing my fingers, but I also know that I might not get one and that’s ok!
Great post! I love seeing that you’ve put a new one up.I’ve learned something from everyone of them
Me too, Crystal. When I first started, I saw a post where the blogger was raving about her Hush, Hush ARC. And I remember thinking, what is an ARC? LOL
As always, your posts are super informative and help keep me on track. Thanks for all the great information and tips!
Thank you Megan!
I remember seeing that Karen Marie Moning posted on her facebook about how she doesn’t allow ARCs to be printed of her books. While at first I thought it was just shallow of her to assume her books would sell without the advanced publicity of ARCs, I kept reading to hear how she’s actually a respectable author in the sense that she doesn’t want spoilers to ruin her fans experiences of the story.
I honestly had never thought of that in regards to ARCs and how, despite the honor system with people who receive ARCs and their respect for other book lovers, they might ruin someone else’s enjoyment of a new story with the idea of spoilers.
It makes me feel for those who have read a spoiler from a review mistakenly whether it was intention or not. I’ve had that happen to me with Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, with Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, and with a few others that really did upset me. As fans of books, we have such a strong connection to the stories themselves and when something as precious as a plot line or character death is jeopardized before we can even open the book to the first page, its pretty heart wrenching.
On the note of getting ARCs, even though they are hard to come by, it’s for a good reason. Publishers shell out good money to get those into the right hands so that the highest amount of people hear about its publication. It is about the money and the fame and bringing success to a publishing house and the author, but on another level, its about faith. Publishers put a lot of faith into books/novels when they sign the authors/buy the story, and when they send out ARCs they are sending out a bit of faith with each one so that they might expand that faith that this book is worthy of being read. With so many books out there, its not much to expect publishers to want to get the word out, a person can only read one book at a time.
Months ago, when I got into blogging, I was obsessed with getting ARCs of books I wanted before their publication date. But what I didn’t realize is that once you get them, it changes you. You can either become greedy and continue to stock pile them, or you can appreciate whatever luck you had in getting one and thank whoever graciously gave it to you. For book bloggers, getting an ARC should not be the main goal, it should be spreading the word about a story that deserves your time and appreciation.
Thanks for sharing and sorry for my long comment, this was practically a blog post in itself!
I received an ARC after I commented on a fellow blogger’s review of a certain book saying I had forgotten to request it on NetGalley and was bummed. The publisher contacted me and offered to send me an ARC. Color me stunned and happy!
That said, I’ve sort of shied away from requesting dozens of ARCs so that I can focus on the ones I really DO want.
Fabulous post as always, Rachel!
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