Welcome to the ARC Team

ARC stands for Advance Reader Copy. It’s a copy of the book – usually ebook – that you receive some time before the book is officially published. The book will have gone through copy and line editing plus beta reading, but may still have some small proofreading errors that will be corrected before final publication. The purpose to sending an ARC is that you, the reader, agree to read the book and write a review or reviews on as many retailers (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc) and/or social media platforms as you can on or within a couple of days after formal publication. Doing so helps push the book higher in algorithms and helps it get in front of more people. It’s a huge deal. 

It will be an eBook. You’ll be directed to a BookFunnel download page with very clear step-by-step instructions on how to transfer it to the e-reader of your choice. Available formats will be: iPad, iPhone or iPod, Android Phone or Tablet, Kindle Tablet or E-Reader, Nook Tablet or E-reader, Kobo E-Reader or PDF. You can also read directly on your computer through the site.

ARCs are eBook only. I truly wish I could send a physical copy to everyone for review, but the cost to print and ship physical ARCs is too prohibitive to an efficient process. 

Nope. The ARC copy is for members of the team alone. If you know someone that may be interested in reading and reviewing, refer them to me directly and I’ll send them a copy. They don’t necessarily have to be on my mailing list. I can send a one-off on a trial basis. If they follow through in reading and reviewing, I can add them to the list for ARCs going forward.

Email me at jonathan@byjonathandaniel.com and we’ll figure it out. Worst case, I can probably send it directly to you. 

Amazon is the number one preferred spot. It is the largest bookseller in the world, so it will do the most good there. Goodreads is also very important. After that, if you’re feeling frisky, BookBub or Barnes and Noble are great too! But any book retailer (Apple, Google Play, Kobo) is perfectly good as well. Of course, I also appreciate social media shares if you have Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or a personal blog. Just be sure to tag me so I can share and get the reach out to you on my end! (All my social links will be provided.)

I would like to have as many reviews as possible on Amazon and other sites prior to release. Social media shares are most effective on release date or shortly thereafter. At the latest, I’d love to have your reviews posted on the day of publication or within 3 days of publication. Dates of publication will always be communicated clearly at the time of the ARC being sent out.  Plus, I’ll send you a couple of reminder emails so you don’t forget.   (Note: See the question about Amazon not allowing a review for a bit more information.)

Word is that Amazon has been cracking down and removing ARC reviews. Its army of bots is looking for certain keywords/phrases to flag those reviews. I’d hate for us to go through all this trouble to read and review only for the ‘Zon to take it down! The words and/or phrases to avoid include:

• ARC / Advanced Reader Copy
• In Exchange
• Free Copy
• Early Copy
• Any ALT platforms mentioned (Bookfunnel / Netgally)
• In return for an honest review
• Paid Review / Payment of any kind (This might also include saying “Didn’t receive payment” as it goes from key words)

My recommendation is just to stick to the content of the review without any type of disclaimer about how you received your copy.

Amazon doesn’t allow reviews on Kindle editions prior to release. That’s why I always soft launch paperback versions 2-4 weeks ahead of time. If you leave a review on the paperback version, it will populate across all versions on Amazon, including the Kindle edition. I’ll send a link when the print version is live so you know exactly where to post your review.

The goal is always to have the review posted on or before release date. That said, it’s not the end of the world if it comes in after release, but after 30 days, I’ll assume you’re not reviewing this one. However, I would ask that you give me a heads up if that’s the case. See next question for more on that.

You’re never under obligation to leave a review. I completely understand that life can get in the way, distractions can happen or, sometimes, a book just isn’t doing it for you. If you don’t leave a review, no hard feelings. However, I would suggest that if you’re not in position to review a particular ARC, that you drop me a quick message to let me know because readers who repeatedly download ARCs without leaving reviews will be removed from the team outside of extenuating circumstances.

Just as you are under no obligation to actually leave a review, I also have no expectation that your review will be a glowing testimonial to my storytelling prowess. If a book doesn’t work for you, your review should say that. Maintaining the integrity of the author/reviewer relationship is of utmost importance to me. I hope it is to you as well. Again, to add a caveat, if a negative review is nasty or delves into personal attacks, you will be removed from the team. Do I expect that to happen? No, of course not, but I have seen it with other authors. I believe that critical reviews should be critical of the work itself.

I will, however, ask that if your review is going to be less than 3 stars that you reach out to me before you post it, only so we can work out timing. I’ll never talk you out of posting your less than 3 star review.  The most I’ll ask is that you wait a couple of weeks before you do post it, so that the book has a better chance in those first few days.  

I mean, I don’t know how you can accurately review a book without reading the whole story. It’s one thing if you DNF and leave a review stating why you stopped, but if your reviews are repeatedly along the lines of, “Great book! Highly recommended!” other readers may think you didn’t actually read it and are just promoting it as a favor to the author. That doesn’t help any of us. If those are the only type of reviews you leave, I may reach out to discuss, but, with limited time, I may just remove you from the team.

Did Not Finish.

If you want to leave the team, but still get my newsletter and updates, just email me at jonathan@byjontahndaniel.com and let me know to remove you from the ARC team. Keep in mind, if you’re removed for inactivity or by request, you’ll still be on my main mailing list unless you unsubscribe from that specifically.

I’m doing my best here! Seriously though, that’s one of the hardest things about being an author. We do multiple rounds of self edits (seriously, like, a LOT), we get rounds of beta reads, professional edits, spell checks and things will slip through the cracks. We’re only human. Keep in mind, ARCs are advance copies, so there may still be some cleaning up on my end prior to the formal release. If you do find a typo or error, I would love for you to let me know by emailing jonathan@byjonathandaniel.com.  Please provide me as much info as you can including chapter, page number and – even better – a screen shot.  And if you do find one and send it to me, thank you in advance! You’re helping me tremendously!

Even though I’m not a spammer, mail providers are very aggressive in trying to weed them out. Please whitelist and add joanthan@byjonathandaniel.com to your address book so you don’t miss out! If, after all that, you’re still having problems, email me and we’ll get it figured out. 

You can also train your provider to not flag my emails by responding to them. If I ask a question or pose a poll or anything within a regular newsletter, feel free to reply. That type of communication will tell your mail provider that I am someone you want to hear from, because you’re initiating communication back to me.