Introduction
The third stop on our discussion of preparing for publication is finding ARC readers. To start off with, for those who don’t know what ARC readers are, they are advanced review copy readers. They are not beta readers and shouldn’t be considered such. Instead, they are readers who read the book before it’s out for the public and review it on release date. So let’s talk about how you get them and where.
Where to Find ARC Readers
The first step is finding your ARC readers. There are many places and ways to do this. First, you can use sites like StoryOrigin and Bookfunnel to join promotional events for reviews run by other users. On sites like these, people sign up for your ARC copy, and you approve them. Recommendation here for these platforms… Pay attention to the stats. I know you want reviews, but don’t just accept anyone. Look at the stats if they’re provided and approve reviewers who have decent stats and reputations for following through with reviews. I learned the hard way that if you approve people with no stats or bad ones, your risk is very high that you’re just giving away free copies of your hard work in exchange for nothing at all.
The other possible places to find reviewers are social media sites, writing forums that allow you to post about that kind of stuff, and through family connections. A word to the wise on family connections, though. Family members and close friends can review the book, but not on Amazon. If they do and Amazon catches the connection, you could lose all your reviews and both of you could be banned from reviewing. Not good news, so don’t mess around with this. If family members or friends want to review, have them do so on platforms like Goodreads and Bookbub.
One other avenue is by reaching out to the readers on your newsletter. If you’ve done a good job building your list, then there should be at least some who will be happy to help out in exchange for a free copy of the book.
Dealing with ARC Reader Deadlines
The next thing to consider is your deadline for ARC readers. Some people read faster than others, and you want to make sure you leave enough time for even slower readers to make it through the book before your release day. I recommend giving them roughly a month to read it. The best scenario is that everyone is able to finish and reviews on time.
Of course, we all know the best scenario is rarely what occurs in every case. You’ll have readers that don’t do it on time and need to be followed up with. If you acquired your ARC readers via social media or your newsletter/email list, you should know how to get in touch. The problem that I run into all the time with getting ARC readers through StoryOrigin and similar sites is that people’s emails and contact info aren’t given to you until the reader has actually submitted reviews (showing interest, therefore, in your work). This means you have no way to get in touch, and while the sites remind them to submit their review links and review, they can ignore that. If they do, there’s nothing you can do, and you can’t even contact them yourself.
What to Do If They Don’t Review
Unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do. If you have contact info, you can get in touch and try to find out what’s going on. You can encourage them to leave the review and kindly remind them about the deadline for the review. But if they still don’t review, you can’t force them to do so. You want to keep relationships good and stay as professional as possible, so don’t be abrasive or too pushy about it.
If you don’t have contact information, there’s nothing at all you can do. You just have to wait and hope that the site your reviewer applied through will succeed when they try to remind them to review. Without contact information, there aren’t any options open to you if they don’t fulfill their end of the deal. That’s the risk you take. This is why you should look at the stats on how often they reviewed in the past to try to find reasonable assurance that they’ll review.
Bottom Line on ARC Readers?
The bottom line is that your new release needs reviews. Amazon’s algorithms won’t kick in to help you sell the book until you have at least fifty 4-or-5-star reviews. The only way to get a good start on that is to have reviews when the book comes out, and you can’t get those without ARC reviewers. Do your best to screen the people you’re giving the ARC copies to, and if you can, try to have contact info for the majority of reviewers promising a review on release date. I can’t promise you’ll have 100% participation, even though you should if you swapped a free copy of your book for the review promise, but at least if you can follow up, you’ll have a better chance of getting the reviews you were promised.