Kat's Guide to Getting ARC's

I believe the biggest thing that new book bloggers and booktubers ask is how to get ARC's more than any other book blogging questions. This post is all on information from how to ask for review copies, when you can ask for review copies, and where to ask for. This post also gives a little tidbits on what ARC's are, who can get ARC's and other helpful tips.

Who and when can you get ARC's? 

So who can get ARC's. Usually these are given to bloggers, editors, and even librarians. With bloggers and booktubers you must have a blog for about 6 months. (Although I got my first review copy around month 3). It can also depend on your number of followers. They publisher wants there books to get seen! . It all depends on Publisher, some are a stickler for rules. Ebooks are a little easier to recieve when your blog is only a few months. But the biggest thing is have patience. I will not deny that I have been turned down for ARC's before, but the biggest thing is to have patience!

 

What is an ARC?

An ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy. They are printed books or even ebooks that come out before the book is actually published. Usually printed about a month or two before hand. They will even say Advanced Reader Edition on them. It is usually used as a marketing tool to get readers excited for their books. Usually they are not hard cover, they may be in different font, and lack the binding as well. 

They are pretty much the finished copy but might still have a few errors within the book it self.

Where to get ARC's?

So now that you have the basics down, where do you get ARC's?

1. The publishers! They are the biggest place where you can get and ask for advanced reader copies, below I have compiled a list of the emails to each publishing house.

 The bolded names under the Publisher is their other publishing houses

1. Hachette Book Group
 Little Brown BYR
publicity@littlebrown.com or publicity@lbyr.com
2. Harlequin Teen
public_relations@harlequin.ca
3. HarperCollins  
HarperTeen
Balzer + Bray
Greenwillow Books
Katherine Tegen Books
Sandee Roston Sandee.Roston@harpercollins.com
4. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
childrens_publicity@hmhpub.com
5. Macmillan
Feiwel & Friends
childrens.publicity@macmillanusa.com
6. Henry Holt BYR publicity@hholt.com
7. Penguin Group
 Dutton Children’s Books
 RazorBill
 Dial Books for Young Readers
G.P Putnam’s Sons
 Philomel Books
 Viking Children’s Books
 Puffin
youngreaderspublicity@us.penguingroup.com
8. Random House
Delacorte
rhkidspublicity@randomhouse.com
9. Sourcebooks Fire
publicity@sourcebooks.com
10. Simon & Schuster BYR, Simon Audio
ChildrensPublicity@simonandschuster.com

- Another big place to receive advanced reader copies is: Netgalley  . This is the place where you can get all eARC's. About 98% of the time you get the eARC. They have all the publishers and their emails, but all you have to do is request the book. It will tell you if you received it or were declined.

- Edelweiss is the exact same as Netgalley, it is eARC's

- Other ways to get your hands on physical copies is contacting the author. A majority of the time they can not give them but they most likely will pass your email along to their publisher. Even if the author does have an ARC they usually give them to family members or friends. 

Book Tours:

Book Tours are another great way to get advanced reader copies. Some you may have to share the copy and send it to the next person ( I usually do not do these tours). Other book tours you get the copy and usually can keep them. I believe that you have to read the book in about 2 weeks usually. Which is not bad! You also do not pay anything to get the books!

Giveaway:

Another great way is participating in giveaways. It is the luck of the draw but you just might be that lucky winner to win a ARC copy. Author's sometimes host these giveaways to get their fans pumped up. You can also go to GoodReads Giveaways as well!

What to write when requesting an ARC?

example email:

Subject: Review Inquiries 

Hello,

My name is ______ and I am a manager of a young adult book review blog (or what ever type of blog you are). I would love to have the opportunity to receive an advanced copy to review on the following title. 

Title of book by Author, ISBN  

(Blog Stats): Blog name has been around since. We have been promoting books with book reviews, giveaways, tours, and news on upcoming events. Blog Name has: (Then this is where you tell them your unique visitors, number of viewers, number of followers). Included in this is followers from (social media sites and those followers) We also post our reviews on (name all the places you post reviews.) 

WEB (url)

FACEBOOK (url)

TWITTER (url)

(plus any other websites needed: instagram, youtube, etc.)

Again, I would be honored to receive one of your titles for review. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Your Name

Your address

your blog/booktube

So you are probably wondering why put your address, because most of the time publishers will just send the book rather than email you back. So ALWAYS put your address. You might just get a surprise when you open that mail box! Include anything else that you think will help you get that ARC, just be careful what you say. Publishers do not like cocky people! 

Another thing do not be afraid to ask first!  Publishers are looking for reviewers but there are many of us. Be the first one to ask and remember to be PATIENT..I understand how hard that is because I have the worse patience but just keep your chin up and continue with what you do.
Also keep building your blog and or youtube chanenl -- that is very important especially if you want to continue getting ARC's.

So you got a ARC now what?

Well CONGRATS! You got your first ARC, that is a really great feeling, but now you need to crack down on the work. You got the book you wanted now you need to start reading it. 

- Sometimes the book with come with a slip saying when to have the review done by and where to send the review after you are done. It is best to follow that slip because that will get you more books later down the line, as the publisher will trust you if you get it down soon! 

- If you do not get a slip, and depending when you receive the book, then getting the book done and reviewed about 2 weeks before the publication date is usually ideal. It gets people excited for the book and it also is perfect for not forgetting about the book. Make sure you put your review on many sites and not just your blog! (Twitter, Instagram, GoodReads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.)

- Also make sure that you say that you received the book from the publisher for an honest review. The whole point to ARC's is promoting the publisher, author, and book.

So what do you do with the ARC copy after you are done? 

- Well you can keep the ARC and put it on your shelves. 

- You can pass it down to the next person to review

- You can use it for a giveaway

BUT DO NOT SELL THEM!: That is against the law as it is a copy that has not been published yet. You can get into really big trouble if you do that! 

* I hope this has helped you! If you have any questions at all feel free to comment and or email me! If you do not get an ARC first time around do not worry. Just keep doing what you are doing, keep working hard and just be patient. Your time will come and then after you might have ARC's being sent to you all the time. Just stay positive! *