First and foremost, thank you for joining the ARC Team!
This page is the long version of how everything works, including the fine print.
What is an ARC?
In case this is a new term for you, ARC is an acronym for Advance Reader Copy. There are two things this can mean, because there are two meanings for the word “Advance” here:
- Traditionally, an ARC is a copy of a not-yet-published book, provided to a reader in advance of publication so they can have it read ahead of time and will be ready to post a review on or near the date of publication.
- Thanks to Amazon’s very strict rules about reviews (more on that later,) “advance” can also just mean a free copy of a book provided “in advance” of a review being written.
The main point here is that the purpose of an ARC is writing a review. Often, especially when the book is already published, you’ll see ARCs simply referred to as “Review Copies” instead.
Review Requirements
This is where Amazon’s rules really kick in. We are 100% allowed to provide readers with free copies of our books and are 100% allowed to ask them to review those books. We’re even allowed to ONLY give those free books to readers who say they fully intend to review the book.
What we can’t do is offer “compensation” for a review, in any way. Compensation, as Amazon defines it, is something provided only if a review is posted. It’s OK to provide readers with ARCs because if, for whatever reason, you wind up not posting a review, the book is already yours. I have no intention of asking for the copy back regardless, thus it’s not “compensation’ by Amazon’s definition, and we’re all playing by the rules.
However, the purpose here is reviews, after all. I can’t (and wouldn’t) pay you to review, and the ARCs aren’t provided in exchange for a guaranteed review, but it’s certainly the goal. If sometimes you don’t get around to finishing the book or writing the review, that’s fine–we’re all human here. If you hate the book and decide to skip doing a review rather than writing a bad one–thank you!
That said, if an ARC Team member rarely or never actually reviews an ARC, I do reserve the right to remove that person from the ARC Team. Likewise, I reserve the right to pick and choose which ARCs to give you access to for any reason. (Likely reasons might be because I see a pattern of you not finishing/reviewing books in one specific series or type of book, or if I’m simply not offering any additional ARCs on that title at that time.)
How Readers Choose ARCs
This one’s likely to change, as the page is new and I only have one book ready to go for the team right now. So currently, as soon as you’re approved for the ARC Team and have access to the home page, you’ll see a button at the top for “Available ARCs.” Any/all that are available will be shown there, with the cover (or placeholder/working cover if it’s pre-pub,) a story summary, and any other information I think you might need to know. You can always email me with additional questions before picking a book, too!
Once you’ve chosen a book, the “select ARC” button will take you to StoryOrigin to download the book file. Read the next section for information about StoryOrigin.
I’m planning to eventually add some “special” ARCs available only to my “home” team that won’t be posted on StoryOrigin. Not sure how those will be set up once they’re added, but it’ll be clear (and explained here) when the time comes!
StoryOrigin
StoryOrigin is an external website, not affiliated with me beyond that I have a user account there. If you haven’t used them before, it’s an extra hoop you’ll have to go through, setting up a free account with them. But the interface for ARC readers is excellent and I feel it’s very worth it. (And once you have a reader account on StoryOrigin, you’ll be able to search for other ARCs on the site, so it’s useful way beyond just my stuff–bonus!)
There’s an application & approval process, but that’s 100% a formality since you’re already pre-approved by being on my team. I keep a close eye on it–you shouldn’t have to wait around long for me to approve you.
You’ll download the ARC from StoryOrigin in your choice of format. I upload both .epub and .pdf of pretty much everything. I also do .mobi, just because it’s an option on the site, but I don’t think anybody actually uses that anymore, since Kindle finally accepted .epub as their standard.
Once you’ve downloaded the book, read it, and posted a review, you’ll go back to StoryOrigin and mark it complete. This updates your “reviewer stats” on the site, so authors can see how often you do complete the process and leave a review, and where you leave them. Again, since I’m dealing with you directly here, that’s not something I consider when I approve you–but those stats are important if/when you start requesting ARCs for other books.
I think that’s all the basics, but I’ll keep this page updated as things change and/or when I realize something is missing. And again, never hesitate to just email me if you have questions or concerns! You can also use the comments feature on this page to ask questions, which I’ll answer and then probably get the page updated so it isn’t a question anymore!