How Do You Get a Physical ARC to a Reviewer?

[William]

Some reviewers only take physical books. In general, how does one accomplish delivery, short of bundling up a paperback into a bubble-envelope with my bare hands? I can drop-ship from KDP but only if I pay full retail for the book. There has to be a way to do this. What is it?

[Toni]

You can email them your manuscript. IKR! I wouldn't either. But, now KDP has a multi-purchase button. You can send many copies, but you have to buy them. Ebooks shouldnt be that expensive.

[Mike]

Createspace lets the author drop ship for the cost of printing and postage. Dunno how you can get on CS unless you started out there, as I always do, then go from there to KDP.

Thanks.

ME

[C.P.]

Ingram has a drop ship option, too.

But what's the issue with mailing to individual reviewers? You can order the books themselves for the cost of printing. Isn't the price of book post worth a review?

[Sarah]

Authors have to understand that marketing costs money. Send a book for gosh sakes. I agree with C.P.

[Miss M]

Do make sure the reviewer has a verifiable online presence and history of actually posting reviews.

[Connie]

As an assisted self published author it costs a lot to put out a great looking book. Costs of mailing overseas are also substantial so I understand the reluctance to send a physical book. I agree that marketing takes money but I think most self published authors work on a small budget at the best of times. Ideally it would be great to give away physical books but add the price of shipping on top if to overseas (I am in Australia) and suddenly you have a very costly venture.

[J.N.]

I haven't tried this, but in CreateSpace, can you buy a "proof" and enter the recipient's address for delivery?

I don't recall if you can buy another proof once you've bought one for yourself.

[John]

If you can convert to a PDF - i.e your final word docx copy - then this ahould work on kindle. I’ve done this before.

[Talia]

John wrote: "If you can convert to a PDF - i.e your final word docx copy - then this ahould work on kindle. I’ve done this before."

It’s a terrible idea to send a pdf of your book. No publisher would do that, as you hand out the digital version of your book to the public and have no control how it will circulate.

Instead, In Smashword, you can create a coded version with a limited time access. You send the link to your potential reviewer.

[Sheila]

By mailing the book yourself, you can include a note asking for a review or referencing an email you sent and the confirmation you received before mailing the book. Or you can include a marketing book mark or card. The US post office book rate is reasonable. For about $3, I mailed a book at book rate. Delivery date is a week later (from midwest to L.A., CA). It used to take 3-4 weeks.

[Karola]

I am very new to this group and have no idea how to communicate.
My book, a memoir, "Bombshells Butterflies" appears in Goodreads.
How do I get started to exchange topics with members of the group?
Please, can someone explain it to me?

Karola