ARCs 101

ARC stands for Advance Reader Copy. ARCs can also called bound galleys, bound proofs, or uncorrected proofs. An ARC looks like a book, walks like a book and quacks like a book, but it’s not quite a book. It’s actually the bound proofs, printed as a test run so that the production team can do a final check and make sure everything’s set for printing, and so that advance copies can be distributed to readers for things like author blurbs and pre-publication reviews.

ARC does not stand for Advanced Reader Copy. That’s one of my pet peeves. It’s Advance, as in “in advance of publication.” I think an Advanced Reader Copy would be a special edition with harder vocabulary substituted in!

I’m still learning the ins and outs of ARC creation, and since it’s an ongoing process (involving some trial and error) for me, I’m going to share the basics with you.

Some Basic Considerations

ARCs are much more commonly printed and distributed by larger presses. From a small press, they’re rare. That’s both due to budget issues and time issues. Printing a small run is more expensive per book than printing a large run because the set-up costs are spread out over fewer copies. It’s also difficult for a small press, which usually operates on narrower time schedules, to have a book “in the can” and ready for reviewers in time to meet the three- or four-month window that pre-publication reviewers need.

Why not send out the manuscript in whatever state it happens to be in when that time window comes about? Nooooo. Bad idea.

ARCs are generally labeled “UNCORRECTED PROOF,” and that forgives a few glaring sins, but it’s still the first impression you’re going to be making on your reviewer or your favorite successful author. You’re asking people who don’t know you to say wonderful things about your work, so you want it to be as polished and ready as it can possibly be. ARCs are a chance to scan for the little last-minute formatting and typo issues that have slipped through the cracks. A few of those things will be forgiven. That doesn’t mean you’ve got carte blanche to send out a manuscript that still obviously needs attention, rewrites, plot changes, or a good sandblasting from a proofreader. You also don’t want to send something out that’s significantly different than the final product, to an extent that a comment someone may make regarding the draft might not be true when applied to the finished book.

Components of an ARC

Like any book, an ARC needs a cover. If the cover art is ready, a publisher may use it, but it (deliberately) won’t look like the actual finished book. The art may be an inset picture on the cover instead of taking up the whole cover, or it may be in black and white, or it may be the ink drawing instead of the completed illustration — something to show that this isn’t the finished product and to differentiate it from the final book.

The title and author’s name should be boldly visible on the cover and the inside front page, and so should the words “Advance Reader Copy” and “Uncorrected Proof” and “Not for Sale.” Some publishers use variations on these themes, or stamp them confidential, etc. Other vital information is included right on the cover: the publisher, ISBN, and final format (mass market, trade paperback, etc.). Also good to include: release date and genre. On the back cover, some selling points to convince your readers that your book has a market: a quick blurb, a little info about the author, and the contact information for the publisher so that if someone wants to write a review or submit a glowing quote, they can. (ARCs generally ship with a “fact sheet” from the publisher that contains all this information, but the fact sheet can get separated from the book, so it’s best if all the basics that a reviewer would need are also printed on the book itself.)

The interior features proper book layout — this is the “dress rehearsal” for publication, after all. That means chapter headings and page numbers are in their proper places, someone’s given attention to widows and orphans and other layout issues, your italics are italicised and your indents are uniformly indented, and the margins account for the spine and the outer edge of the page. It’s more than simply dropping in a Word file and hitting “print.”

Mailing Etiquette

If a reviewer has posted instructions about how they prefer to receive review copies, follow those instructions. If they haven’t, send a polite query requesting a review. An interested reviewer will respond in the affirmative and provide an address. Unless a reviewer has stated that they’re open to all submissions, or you’ve got an ongoing relationship with them, it’s safer not to assume that one yes for one book is a blanket yes for every book you ever print from that point onward. Thank them for the kind things they said about the previous book and ask if they’re interested in the next one.

This especially goes for professional authors who are kind enough to take time out of their own busy schedules to read a whole book and potentially give you a blurb on it. You’re asking them to give you a flattering comment that you can publish, to link their reputation with yours, and basically to do you a huge favor for no compensation. Taking an entitled or pushy attitude, taking their generosity for granted, or acting as though their time is “owed” to you, is a great way to ensure that your favorite author never does you a favor again.

Are ARCs Worth It?

It depends on the book, the time frame, and what you want to accomplish. If you (or your publisher) think you’ve got a shot at getting a great Publisher’s Weekly review, or you have a lot of connections in high places who might be willing to give you a really great quote, then yes.

If you’ve just got a couple of connections and they’d be willing to accept a digital file, then you can save time and money by attaching a digital ARC to an email and going from there. As eReaders make looking at digital files a more and more comfortable (and portable) experience, more people are willing to accept a document file or PDF in lieu of the “real thing.”

Another important note: Think hard and objectively about your book before you send it out for review. Giving your book to a reviewer is a calculated risk. We all know that, and yet we’re all optimistic enough to take the chance and hope that it doesn’t blow up in our faces, but you have to accept the chance that it might. You have no guarantee that a reviewer will choose your book to review; you have even less of a guarantee that a reviewer will give your book a good review. Some of the major reviews (ALA, Kirkus, PW) link directly into Amazon. They will be the first thing that anyone browsing your book online will see, until the end of time.

Seek the counsel of your publisher, your editor, and your professional author contacts if you’re on a casual enough basis with them — basically, ask objective people who are not your friends or family members, and who are not afraid to be honest with you. Your book may be a great book, yet it’s possible that it may not be Shakespeare or Stephen King… and keep in mind that they’ve gotten bad reviews, too. If you’re not prepared for the possibility of a bad review, you’re not ready to send your work to the major reviewers. And if you’re not sending it to the major reviewers, then a digital ARC or just a post-publication copy is probably just fine for everyone else.

The DIY Approach

If you’re with a small press that doesn’t have the budget for ARCs, BUT you’ve got a large number of connections that could potentially give you an excellent blurb or you’re absolutely certain that you’ve got a shot at a great review from ALA Booklist, AND your book is ready with enough of a time window, approach your publisher about ARCs. If they don’t plan to print them, see if they’ll allow you to do it yourself, or to reimburse them for the expense.

Self-publishing an ARC is not the same as self-publishing a book. Also, an author offering to do help with publicity out of his own pocket is not the same as a disreputable publisher scamming someone into paying money for a service. It’s more like offering to print up your own posters to take to a convention or a signing. You can snag a small number of very plain copies pretty cheaply (about $6-$15 per book in my experience, depending on size, page count and other options) and make the book private (if you use an online printing company) so that no one else can order it. Depending on your financial situation, you may consider laying out about $100 to be a good investment if it brings you an excellent pull quote to use on your final cover.

Generally, even a small press will want the best for your book and will want to help you market and promote it as widely as possible, even if they don’t have the time, budget or staff to do all of that for you themselves. Therefore, if they say no, accept their decision and understand that they probably have a very good reason for it. Going around behind your publisher’s back is a breach of contract, which is NOT COOL and will likely leave you with a canceled contract and no book at all. But if the file can be ready on time, if they deem the calculated risk to be worth it, and if all other factors align, it doesn’t hurt to have asked.

A Final Note…

If your publisher doesn’t print ARCs of your book, DON’T TAKE IT PERSONALLY. There are tons of factors that go into publication for each book, and none of them should in any way imply that the book is a bad book or that you’re a bad author, or that you’ve been in any way slighted. If your publisher thought it was a lousy book, they wouldn’t be printing it. Don’t get bitter, or discouraged, or jealous of authors who have printed ARCs. There are plenty of ways to get notice for your book (and for a small press most of the others are, honestly, more successful).

Focus on your own opportunities, make the most of them, and approach your publisher with the optimism and enthusiasm to work as a team and find strategies best suited to your book, your strengths, and your publisher’s means.

Tagged as: ARC, marketing, publication, publicity, reviews