Author’s Corner: How to Gain ARC (Advanced Review Copy) Readers
INDIE AUTHORS, THIS IS FOR YOU!
FIRST, LET ME GET SAPPY. SIT DOWN.
Y’all work so hard. You pour your heart on a plate. You have to figure out self-motivation while putting your creative mind together and also being willing to put your work out there for feedback and potential criticism which is actually terrifying. You have to do everything on your own from finding an artist for the cover to writing to editing to the formatting to the marketing.
Because it seems like there is zero guide to actually help you with the easiest way to get ARC readers and get to that 50-70 reviews on Amazon mark and hit that best seller list for your category, let me help. I read ARCs all the time and am constantly talking about books and picking them up. I know how to best market your book in a way that will connect with readers and how to gain those early reviews.
Let’s get into it:
Marketing:
Readers want:
tropes (we are very basic, we want to know the main themes, concepts, things we should know about the book), cover art, alpha and beta reader comments (make these anon)
Readers feel disconnect sometimes when:
the main marketing point is quotes on a page (we do not have the rest of the context), only the blurb is given (we are forced to read a full page to find out if we want to read the book? We would rather go to the website for the book and read a sample and see all the details at that point) do not do just the blurb if you are able to (try to do carousel posts for blurbs with cover art, pub date)
Readers want:
to go to your Instagram page and be able to find your book in three seconds and go buy it from the link in your bio.
How do you make this happen?
1. Put the cover and tropes on your page as a post and then pin this, this way anyone who comes to your page sees this pinned post of your book and the blurbs and cover basically immediately and they can decide if they are interested.
2. Put the link in your bio to the easiest way to download. A lot of authors simply have their website and other socials on there, and this requires you to keep your website mobile optimized to perfection, versus relying on the sellers (Amazon, Kobo) to simply do that work for you. As a reader, I find that if i want to know more about an author I go to the website, but I really just want the download link as soon as I can get it.
3. Avoid using the terms “explore” “see more” as they are vague. If someone clicks a button on your page and it says “get book” that is a lot more clear than “explore”. Also avoid using the “buy now” button if it does not directly add something to a cart. You want them to get the book, so you can just say that, or something similar. If not, it can cause confusion.
The most commonly avoided tropes I have seen recently: third act breakup, surprise pregnancy trope
The most common romances I have seen recently: hockey, cowboy romances
Readers are begging for: cozy books, enemies to lovers, (do a search on threads to see demand for specific tropes)
How to gain ARC readers:
Net Galley
This is the most popular site by far. It is also a bit expensive, but there are co-ops where you can get affordable pricing, like Victory Editing Co-Op, where you can rent a space versus having to create an account. Pricing is around $600 for 5 months if you create your own account. See this link for more info.
Book Sirens
They have a bad history as they allowed a pretty horrible book on their site at one point, but I still personally use them and many of the authors I love use them, so just try to not tout the Book Sirens name if you use them. You are almost guaranteed to get ARC reviews through this site though, and I regularly use it. It looks to be $100 per year for unlimited book to add. See the link here
StoryOrigin
This site also looks to be $100 yearly. I do not use this one very often as I forget it exists to be honest (hard name to remember and I think the book quality is likely limited) but here is info!