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Kim Padgett-Clarke
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What's the best way to send an ARC?
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Kim
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Nov 19, 2016 06:51AM
I have added my latest book Made of Glass to Goodreads and want to gather as many reviews as I can. Being new to the marketing side of things if someone offers to read my book for a possible review what is the best format to send it to them? A few people have asked for pdf or similar files. I would prefer to send paperback copies as pdf's can potentially be re-distributed. Does anyone have any suggestions or experiences?
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Hi Kim,Congrats on your new book :). It's pretty normal for reviewers to ask for digital copies of your book for review. It can be handy to have your book available in pdf, mobi, and epub format so that reviewers can be more open to considering your book (some will only review epub, some mobi, etc). These files are emailed to the reviewer's email address. Many authors prefer to send only digital copies instead of paperback copies to save on expenses.
Hope this helps :).
Marie wrote: "Hi Kim,Congrats on your new book :). It's pretty normal for reviewers to ask for digital copies of your book for review. It can be handy to have your book available in pdf, mobi, and epub format ..."
Thanks Marie
I'm happy with either hard copy, or epub/mobi. Hard copy is a better experience, epub/mobi are handy for annotation. PDF for me is the worst option.Basically ask what the reviewer prefers.
Hi...Now doing 100% e-pubishing, so I feel that a mobi is the best reviewing experience. I usually send the mobi of the inside and then a jpeg of the cover. Mobi file gives the reviewer the full ebook experience (bookmarks, endnotes, toc, and so on).
Kim is it on Amazon so I can read the back or inside of your book and would be happy to review it for you. Now could you do that for my new book - also, River of Denial by Lea Braden - I can send you the back or you can just read in on Amazon. Let me know about your book and my book I know what you mean about being new to the review world.
I hate to be a parade-rainer-onner, but I suggest you check with the GR staff about "I'll review your book if you review mine." There are all sorts of disclosure requirements (and perhaps outright prohibitions) when you receive compensation for a book review.Even when there's no cash involved, as in this scenario, exchanging reviews is considered payment.
My understanding, too, is that there are now more stringent requirements at Amazon, which may include a ban on all "paid" reviews.
So before any reviews get drafted and posted, I respectfully suggest you check out the "rules of the game" so you don't find yourself in some sort of hot water.
Just my USD .02.
Eric
Eric wrote: "I hate to be a parade-rainer-onner, but I suggest you check with the GR staff about "I'll review your book if you review mine." There are all sorts of disclosure requirements (and perhaps outright ..."Good reminder, Eric. Do have to be careful about these things.
Lea wrote: "Kim is it on Amazon so I can read the back or inside of your book and would be happy to review it for you. Now could you do that for my new book - also, River of Denial by Lea Braden - I can send y..."Apart from being unethical, review swaps are against both Amazon and Goodread's TOS.
If you want reviews I suggest you concentrate on selling books. You should see approx 1 organic review for every 100 paid sales. Or if you specifically want reviews then you can put your book on a site like NetGalley, which offers free copies to readers and bloggers in exchange for honest reviews.
A.W. wrote: "Lea wrote: "Kim is it on Amazon so I can read the back or inside of your book and would be happy to review it for you. Now could you do that for my new book - also, River of Denial by Lea Braden - ..."Thanks for the advice. It is very much a learning curve for me!
Hi all! As several members of the group have brought up concerns about review swaps, I thought it would be helpful to clarify that the artificial inflation of a book’s ratings or standing is indeed prohibited by our Terms so review swaps that fall into this category do break our rules.
An "ARC" stands for Advance Reader Copy which by definition means the book has not been published in any fashion. Reading an ARC permits an author the ability to receive a brief comment, or "blurb", for his book jacket or back cover. The reading also reveals problems with the book the author can correct before it is published. Published reviews come after the book is published, not before. This thread is off topic.
Actually, ARC stands for Advance Review Copy just as easily, and maybe even more frequently. Most publishers/authors I know of use ARCs to potentially garner reviews - in the olden days that was early distribution for print media, nowadays most reviewers are asked to post as close to the pub date as possible. Copies going out for blurbs are a fairly tiny subset...not a large amount of the population has enough of a name to be quoted. And most indie/self-pubauthors looking for early feedback/corrections use beta readers, which is an earlier/different process to ARCs.
Established published authors may be asked if the author seeking publication may send them an ARC for review, usually with the intention of obtaining a willingness to do so, without obligations, of course. If the established author agrees, authors seeking representation may indicate this in their query, mentioning the name of the established author who agreed, to impress agents of their marketing savvy. However, a recent experience showed that one agent checked back with the established author named in the query, and the established author then said no permission was given to use that author's name in the query. This may not happen in all cases, but it seems wise to make sure before sending the query that the established author has no objection to using his/her name. John Schwartz
