What is an ARC reader, and why is it so important?
An ARC reader is someone who receives a free book, often before the release, in exchange for an honest review. ARC stands for Advance Reader Copy. While the purpose of signing up to ARC Reader is to post reader reviews around the book release to help other readers find the book, you are under no obligation to actually leave a review or to review by a certain time. ARC Team members need to be able to read eBooks.
Generally, ARC reviewers are a huge part of a book release for both independent and traditionally published authors. I am an indie author. Having reviews helps the books get noticed, making it vital for algorithms on retailers like Amazon. Reviews will help others who may want to read the book be able to find it. It also creates buzz and excitement around the release date! Because of this, authors will generally send Review Copies to interested readers before, and sometimes after, the release.
I understand life gets in the way and sometimes you can't read or review. If a reviewer is consistently getting free ARC copies and not reviewing on at least one site, they will be removed from the team.
I signed up, what comes next?
If your form was accepted, you'll receive a confirmation email. This can take a few days to a couple of weeks. Sometimes, the emails will get delivered to the junk or spam folder. If you got an email stating you're on the ARC team, then you're on the list to receive the next eARC I release! If you're on the permanent ARC Team, you'll receive the ebooks as they come out. Please email me if you later want to be taken off the permanent ARC list. After that, the email containing the eARC will be sent around the release date. A couple of reminder emails will be sent for leaving a review around and after the release date because I know life gets busy and it can be hard to keep track of specific dates. This is not a sign-up to my newsletter.
When is the best time to leave a review?
You can leave a review anytime after receiving the ARC copy! I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. Some important information: Goodreads reviews can be posted before the release date. Amazon won't allow the ebook reviews to be posted until the day of the release.
Amazon paperback copies will sometimes be published early, and reviews can be left there. Sometimes, amazon will take a few days to publish your review. Leaving the review under the "paperback" version will often mean it gets accepted faster, but either way works! The ebook and paperback versions combine to the same page after both are released.
Disliking the book is totally valid. If you consistently find my work isn't for you, or even a genre you don't like to read, I ask that you send me an email to be removed from future ARCs.
What do I put in a review?
That's allll up to you!
I've been asked this a few times. I know what it's like to have an idea or opinion and then you sit down and draw a blank. Honestly, I'm happy you're on the ARC Team and happy with any rating or review you leave. Even if you don't have anything to say about it and just want to leave a rating, that's okay, you can always come back later and write something if you feel like it.
When rating, 5 stars means you loved the book. 1 star is the lowest. Please don't post spoilers, but if you would like to, consider adding a spoiler warning or spoiler tag .
So, ideas of what to put in a review. People often leave a couple of sentences up to a couple of paragraphs of general thoughts or feelings. They may include how the book made them feel, their favorite characters, or a favorite quote. If you think fans of another author or book might like the book, you could mention that. You could write a word to describe the writing style or if you're looking forward to reading future books by me.
Where can I sign up?
The S.P. Woods current ARC sign-up form is listed in a google form below. There is an option to stay on the permanent ARC Team, meaning you'll get emails with eARC with every one of my new releases but will be removed if you consistently sign up for free ebooks and don't leave an honest review. If you don't hear back with a confirmation of being on the ARC team, not every applicant is chosen, but it could be that the form wasn't completely filled out, or that the confirmation email went to your spam or junk folder.
Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns! spwbooks@outlook.com
**reminder. ARC copies are not allowed to be shared, sold, or distributed in any way. If you know anyone who may want to join to read and review, please send them the form or my website!
*Audio Review Team*
If you are on the Audio Review Team for a specific book, it is for that book only. With what I go through to publish the audiobook, I won't recieve the review codes to give out until the release day. My goal is to get reviews in within the first month of it being published, but I know that's not always possible and schedules get busy. Because codes are extremely limited through what I use to publish, and to prevent sending them to people who do not want to continue being on the Audio Team, please let me know if you are interested in listening to the next one.
CURRENT SIGN-UP FORMS WILL BE BELOW IF AVAILABLE
