Why I’m Not Doing ARCs Anymore

It’s a truth, universally acknowledged, that an author with a new book coming out must be in want of some ARC readers.

Except this author. Fuck that noise. Over the last year or so, I came to the conclusion that I’m not going to do ARCs anymore. Here’s why.

What Are ARCs?

First off, what is an ARC? It stands for “advance reading copy.” It’s a super traditional thing in publishing. You prep early copies to go out to potential reviewers. In the past (and in trad pub), this would be reviewers at outlets like newspapers.

ARCs are usually prepared from page proofs, often the second pages. That means the book is pretty close to final; it’s been through copy editing and proofreading and all that jazz. It’s still not final, and there is time to make changes before you head to press.

Why Do ARCs Matter?

ARCs are important, because they get new books in front of otherwise busy reviewers. Publishers can’t necessarily rely on, say, the books editor at USA Today or Publisher’s Weekly pick your book to review.

ARCs also allow reviews to be coordinated with the timing of publication. You send these copies out early, hopefully early enough that people can read the book and get a review written before the book hits shelves. That way, you get press coverage when the book is still new and (hopefully) generating buzz. If you don’t do ARCs, it may take weeks or months after publication for a review to appear.

This point is particularly important in the digital ecosystem. Amazon and other online bookshops use the number of reviews and ratings to determine what books to push to readers. Good reviews help push books higher in the standings, which means the algorithm shows the book to more readers. Visibility is hard to earn, as are reviews, and ARCs are one way to get more of both.

The Etiquette of ARC Reviewing

Generally speaking, there is a particular understanding between publishers and ARC reviewers. Publishers provide a free copy of the book, with the understanding that they do not control what the reviewer says. The reviewer is not beholden to give a good review; they can trash the book if they like. They don’t even need to review the book if they dislike it that much.

The other side of the coin is that the publisher expects two things:

1. That the reviewer will read and review the book, in exchange for the free copy.
2. That the reviewer will not comment on errors or formatting issues and such, because it is understood the book they are holding is not a final copy.

Once the book is out in the wild, it is absolutely fair game for a reviewer to comment on grammar issues, spelling, and formatting problems, because that’s the final product. But if you have an ARC? You don’t comment on that stuff, unless it’s in an email to the publisher saying, “Hey, before you send this to press, you might want to consider fixing …”

Some of the reviewers out here today do not get these rules.

I’m Not Doing ARCs Anymore

I completely respect that reviews are the reviewer’s own domain. They can write what they want. Hell, I don’t even read my reviews—not even the good ones. I do look at ratings, generally, although I don’t usually comment on such.

The last time I did ARCs, the book got trashed, which tanked its Amazon rating. It’s still barely recovered.

That, in turn, tanked sales. It seems to have had a knock-on effect. The next two books I released have received absolute crickets, to the point where I’m not even sure why the fuck I’m bothering to publish my work.

So. No ARCs. If people wanna trash the book, they can wait until release day and pay me for it.

Other Bad Actors in the ARC Space

Solidifying my decision is a very interesting email I received from BookSprout a couple of months ago. BookSprout is where I usually run my ARC campaigns. They changed their model a little while ago, doing away with their free plans entirely, so I have to pay to distribute ARCs to readers. That is another consideration in my decision to stop offering ARCs.

BookSprout sent me an email about a reviewer who had withdrawn from my review campaign. Funny—I hadn’t run a campaign in over a year. So this reviewer withdrew from the campaign after a year.

Their reason for withdrawing? That they supposedly couldn’t post on “all required stores.”

Audience members, I offer three options (Bookbub, GoodReads, Amazon), and ask reviewers to post on one of those. Not all three. Not two of three. Just one, and you can pick which one you want to post on.

So, this is some bullshit excuse for withdrawing from a campaign a year later. This person obviously wanted to withdraw so they could get in on another campaign. Some authors have settings that bar people who haven’t delivered on their promised reviews for other campaigns.

ARCs Can Be Abused

This person also raises the spectre of things like piracy, however. ARCs are a great venue for book pirates. They sign up, get a free copy of an (almost finished) book in exchange for leaving a quick review. They can get hundreds or maybe even thousands of books this way, crack the files as needed, then post them to pirate sites.

ARCs are a danger to indie authors who are trying to thrive in an environment where Amazon will boot you from the site if they find your books on pirate sites, like you’re the wrong-doer or something. (My personal thought on this is if Amazon wants to so jealously guard their KU rights, they should use their might to take down these pirate sites, vs. trying to push the responsibility back on indie authors, who are usually individuals with little to no clout.)

ARCs Aren’t Worth My Time

The long and short of this is that ARCs aren’t worth my time. To prepare them, I actually have to finish proofreading sooner. I also have to do the work of running the eBook twice. (If you’ve ever seen an ARC reviewer complain that publishers don’t provide ePub files, that’s why. It takes me about two hours to export from InDesign and clean the damn thing up enough. I have to do that again at the end of the process, so by adding ARCs, I’m doubling my time and effort. Publishers often send eBook preparation out of house to third-party vendors, who take two weeks or more to convert the files—and charge a pretty penny for it, which is why publishers don’t offer ePub files for ARCs.)

So I’m doing extra work, to get maybe ten people to give me an early review, through a site I have to pay to use, and then some people either don’t deliver on the promised review or trash my book or pirate it and tank my sales forever more?

I … just won’t do the work then. That seems easy enough, doesn’t it?

ARCs Are a Gift for Readers

I’m pretty cross about all of this, if you can’t tell. Part of the reason I’m so sore about it is that, quite literally, I don’t have to do ARCs. They are something that is supposed to be mutually beneficial for both readers and authors. But some readers and reviewers are abusing the system and harming authors.

I remember one time, when I was still in public school, I was told that taking the bus to school was a privilege, not a right. ARCs are the same principle: they’re a privilege for readers. I don’t have to offer them. I can choose not to offer them, which is what I’m doing right now.

And I do, actually, feel bad about that. I’m punishing all my readers because of the actions of a few. I wish there was an easier way around that, but, aside from building a street team (a daunting prospect), I feel like I don’t have a choice. I’ve offered ARCs because I want to have a good relationship with my readers. Some people have taken advantage of that, which has ruined it for all of us.

I’m still exploring options, but so far, BookSprout has remained the only place where I’m able to get any traction with ARCs. As demonstrated, even that’s minimal and dicey at best. I will keep exploring, and maybe someday I’ll offer ARCs again.

For now, though, I’m not bothering with the extra work—especially when the “reward” seems to be people shitting all over me for doing it.