Recently, I've had a lot of fellow author friends ask me about ARCs and how to go about getting them. It was something I struggled with a lot as well, especially during the release of my first book. I was a novice author (and on book number three, I still feel like one) and I was new to the independent publishing community. I felt like I'd be stepping on toes or putting my nose in where it wasn't wanted if I DM'd or emailed people and offered an ARC.
So, I understand that approaching people and requesting reviews, especially from those you haven't met, can feel overwhelming. This guide aims to equip you with tools to boost your confidence, ensuring you don't feel lost or uncertain in this process.
About ARCs and ARC Reviewers
ARC stands for Advance Reader Copies. In summary, they are copies of your book that you send to reviewers in advance to your book's publication. They're a very crucial part of marketing your book.
Pretty much the whole deal is that they get a free book to read and you get a review to help promote your book.
KEEP IN MIND! An ARC reviewer does not owe you a good review. Just AN HONEST review. They may not like the book at the end of the day and may opt to not post a review at all. They may even give a negative or mediocre review as at the end of the day they are still a reader and their opinion is valid.
Do Your Research!
Are they currently open for reviews?
This is super important to check if a reviewer/booktoker/booktuber/bookstagrammer/etc is actually accepting ARCs to read. You can normally find whether or not someone is open for ARC reviews in the bio of their social media accounts or whenever they have their contact info listed.
It's pretty self explanatory that you shouldn't send requests to someone who isn't open to ARCs (it's annoying af). It's not uncommon for reviewers to be closed as they might receive a lot of ARCs and may have to pause requests in order to catch up.
Do they review your book genre?
You wouldn't send an extreme horror book to a wholesome YA romance booktuber. At least, I hope not. Having a look at the genre of books the reviewer reads is a great way to figure out if they'd a) be open to reading your book and b) will have an audience who would also be interested in reading your book.
This might seem like common sense but I've heard a large amount of complaints from reviewers who receive pitches for ARCs for books they have no interest in. Again, you wouldn't send a booktuber who exclusively reviews science fiction a historical nonfiction book. It's very easy for a reviewer to tell if you haven't done your homework and don't actually care about their content and the work they put into reviewing people's work.
What platforms do they post on?
Do they post reviews on Goodreads? Or Instagram? TikTok?
Marketing and outreach-wise, its just good to keep track of so you can make sure you have some exposure over a wide range of platforms, even if you're personally not on that platform. The more people hear about your book the better.
The email/DM
It can be super hard to try and figure out what to say but as long as you're polite, humble and to the point, you'll do great!
Here's a little template you can use and edit to your heart's content.
Hi [insert name/username of reviewer],
My name is [y/n] and I'm a [insert short bio of you and your writing here -no more than 2 sentences]. I'm reaching out as I really enjoy your content on [insta/twitter/tiktok] and was wondering if you'd be interested in reviewing my [genre of book] novel [insert title].
[insert synopsis/blurb of book]
I'd be happy to provide an eBook or physical copy upon request. Thank you so much for your time!
Best wishes,
[y/n]
[any social media handles you have and a link to your website, if you have one]
Other Things To Keep In Mind
You can also do a call out for ARC reviewers as well as contacting them individually. This is a good way to reach out to ARC reviewers who are already open to reviews and reviewers who are already interested in your work.
You may not hear back from everyone you reach out to. And that's totally okay.
Be respectful of people's time. In a perfect world, every ARC reviewer you reach out too will have the time and energy to read your book and post a review everywhere at the perfect time. Unfortunately, that doesn't always happen as people have their own lives and things to do so please be patient.
Some ARC reviewers may only accept physical copies (which is totally fair). But if you're only able to send eBook copies due to financial reasons, that's totally okay too. There are other reviewers who are okay with eBooks.
Other Resources
Lastly! In regards to all things publishing, it's good to get as much information as possible from as many sources as you can find. What worked for me may not work as well for you and vice versa. Here are some YouTube videos that I found helpful in gathering information on my options on finding ARC reviewers.
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