New to Requesting ARCs? Here's How!

Are you a new book blogger, Bookstagrammer, or Booktuber who just started out and isn't quite sure how seemingly everyone you follow keeps getting advanced copies of books that you want to read? Then don't worry, because everyone starts out in that boat -- and we're here to help you out with some tips to get you on the road to receiving advanced copies of anticipated reads that you can review and gush about to your heart's content. So without further ado, let's get into it!

First: Some Basics

What ARCs Are

ARCs are Advanced Reading Copies of books that are coming out a few months (sometimes even longer!) later into the year. Publishers print advanced copies of these books as a way to distribute the book to press and media writers/agents/associates as a way of drumming up buzz for the book. You know how some books have glowing reviews from trade reviewers such as Kirkus *on* the day the book comes out? Yeah, that Kirkus writer didn't read and review the entire book in that single day. They read it and wrote their review waaaaay in advance, often by reading an ARC!

Why They're Important

Being able to review a book before its release drums up buzz about it, which helps everyone. Not only are people interested in what you have to say about it, but you're also giving positive press to the author and the publisher, because the more hype that builds around the book, the more other readers want to get their hands on a copy when it releases, either through preorders or hearing everyone else talk about the book. This happened to me just last month with The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon, which I eagerly purchased on release day because of all the great things I heard some other bloggers said when they read ARCs of it! 

How to Get Them

There are two steps to requesting an ARC that you're excited about: Finding out who you're supposed to contact, and then sending them an ARC inquiry email.

Finding Your Contact

Our hardworking, fabulous friend Angel from Avid Reader has created this incredibly helpful Book Publicity Directory, which she is constantly refreshing and updating. Pretty much any publisher that we ever want to reach has a contact email address on there (and if they don't, you can usually find it by doing some digging on the company's site). We recommend bookmarking that page, because we are constantly referring back to it, even after book blogging for 8 years! 

Crafting Your Email

The email part may seem daunting, but once you create a pretty solid template, you can always feel free to refer back to it whenever you want to send an inquiry. We drafted up a template years ago that we keep in a folder and tweak whenever we want to send a request out!

Sample Email

Here is a sample draft of the ARC inquiry email we use when requesting a book. This is the exact email we use, just editing out our stats! 

Hi [Publisher/Publicist Name], 

My name is [NAME], and I am a Young Adult book blogger at [BLOG]. Our blog is run by three longtime friends and avid readers, and we use it to share our passion for books. We aim to have between three to five reviews posted per week, broken up with Waiting on Wednesdays, Discussions Posts, and Debut Author features, and other ways to promote authors and their books. 

I am interested in reviewing:

[BOOK TITLE] by [BOOK AUTHOR]

We have previously received review copies in the mail from you for review. I believe that this title would be a good fit for us and our blog. All of our reviews get posted on our blog, Amazon, Goodreads, and also get advertised on our Twitter/Facebook accounts.

Our blog has been running full-time since [DATE], and our stats are the following:

about [X] Views Per Month

about [X] Page Views Per day

about [X] Unique Page Views Per Month 

[X] GFC Followers

[X] E-mail/RSS Subscribers

[X] Bloglovin' Followers [INCLUDE LINK TO YOUR BLOGLOVIN']

[X] Twitter Followers [LINK]

[X] Instagram Followers [LINK]

[X] Page Views since the blog's beginning

If it is possible to receive this title for review, it could be sent here:

[YOUR MAILING ADDRESS]

Thank you for your time and consideration! 

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

And that's it! When it comes to finding your blog's stats for this email, every blogging platform is different, but they all have a way to view your analytics. A quick Google search should clear that right up for you!

*IMPORTANT: Make sure that you're updating your stats regularly! Right before we send an inquiry, we pull this template out of our drafts and tweak the stats to make sure they're accurate.

FAQs

Am I supposed to follow up with someone if I don't hear back?

We wouldn't nudge them more than once, if that. We mention this later below in the post, but it bears repeating here, too: Sometimes, you're just going to get ghosted. Publishers are busy people and receive a whole slew of emails every day, so not only do things fall through the cracks, but sometimes they just may not be able to send you an ARC.

Can I use a private contact email that another blogging friend used for a specific publicist/editor?

No, we don't recommend doing so! If a publicist or editor reaches out to us from their own email address offering us a review copy, we do not share that person's email address. For example, we are in touch with several publicists at Simon Teen, but if a friend asked us how to contact Simon Teen for an ARC, we would do one of two things: We would either ask the publicist directly if it was okay for us to share their email address, or we would refer the friend to the general publicity email address that the company has. 

Can I reach back out to a publicist for another ARC from the same publisher in the future?

Yes, unless they specifically ask that you don't. If we were in conversation with a publicist for a Simon Teen book, and then a few months later another book comes out from Simon Teen that we'd love to read, we tend to just find that old email chain and respond right there, as a way of refreshing their memory of who we are and how we've worked together before -- and then we politely ask if receiving an ARC of this new title is possible! But you can always re-send through the general publicity email address you find if you'd prefer that or lost the contact info of the publicist from a prior request.

*TIP: Keep a list of the publicists you're in contact with from each company, as well as their email address. DO NOT SHARE THIS LIST WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION, but it is helpful to keep on hand if you're trying to reach out to someone you had already connected with, but couldn't remember their info!

What do I do with an ARC when I'm finished reading it?

There's pretty much one golden rule here: ARCs are not for sale. Seriously, don't do it. It's very not cool. Authors don't receive any portion of those sales. But there are so many other things that you can do with an ARC if you're finished reading it and decide that you don't want it on your shelves anymore! For example, you can donate it to a local library, give it to a friend, or host a giveaway for it on your blog, Twitter, or Instagram account. Whenever we have a chunk of ARCs that we finished reading and want to pass along, we take a drive around our neighborhood and drop them in Little Free Libraries around town for new readers to enjoy. Any option is great, but just remember -- don't sell them!

How early do I post an ARC review?

That's up to you, but we usually post reviews about a month or two in advance of the book's publication! But everyone does it differently and it's totally up to you. Sometimes, if we don't get to an ARC before its release date, we still post the review after the publication date. There's no hard and fast rule here!

Do I send my review/feedback to the person that sent me the ARC?

Yes -- but not the author. Reviews are for readers, not for authors. However, sending the link to your review over to the publicist that you connected with is a good idea! And if you forget/lose their contact info (which you shouldn't, if you keep that handy dandy list we just suggested), you can always tag the publisher -- again, not the author -- in your posts about your review.

Some Things to Keep in Mind

Only request ARCs that you're genuinely excited to read. ARCs are often printed in limited quantities, so you don't want to just go around requesting every single book that's out there, whether or not you actually care about reading it. If it's something that you're interested in or really passionate about, then of course, request! But we don't encourage you to just request a copy of the hottest upcoming novel just because everyone else is, even if you have no intention of reading it -- because there are readers out there who really do want to read that book, and it isn't fair to take that opportunity away from them.

Sometimes, you're just not going to hear back. Publicists are busy people and have a million different hard tasks to accomplish every day. Sometimes emails slip through the cracks, which is why sending one nudge is alright, but if you still don't hear back after that, then it's just best to make a note on your calendar for when the book releases so you can read it yourself, or enter some giveaways or borrow a copy from a friend. Even after blogging for 8+ years, there are still plenty of ARCs that we don't get our hands on! That's totally okay, and sometimes it just happens that way. The ghosting may hurt a little bit, but don't take it personally -- there are plenty of great books out there just waiting to be read.

Some growth is required in the process. When we had just started blogging and barely had any views or stats, we got rejected from almost every ARC inquiry we sent. It stung at first, but then as we started to work hard and grow, one publisher sent us an ARC and gave us a chance, and then two, and then so on. So if you're just starting out and don't get a lot of bites right away, that's totally alright! Focus on reviewing books that you already have, generating awesome content, and growing an audience. As those numbers start to climb, you may find some more success with requesting ARCs. 

(Insider tip: We've worked as publicity interns for a few different major publishing companies, and sometimes we only accepted ARC requests for blogs/sites that crossed a certain threshold of views, because those sites had large audience reaches, which is what publishers want. So sometimes, you're not doing anything wrong and just need a little more growth!)

Whew, that was a mouthful! But those are just some tips, tricks, and advice that we thought we'd share, since breaking into the blogging/Booktubing/Bookstagramming world can sometimes feel so daunting as a newbie.

If you have any more questions about the process, feel free to comment down below or hit us up via our email here!

Do you have any ARC tips of your own? Comment down below and let us know!