The Story is About   +  TIME

Let's talk about Advance Readers Copies or the shortened most commonly used abbreviation: arc. I've done several posts about arcs. But regardless my inbox and my "Dear Story Siren" questions are full of questions about arcs!

I understand that you might be a new blogger and not know or seen the information I've posted, I'm not saying that as a complaint, just as a fact.

Some of you might be asking... What is an ARC? An arc is an uncorrected proof of a novel. Usually sent to bookstores, magazines and in our case book bloggers to produce early buzz for upcoming titles. Sometimes arc content can change from the final product. Endings are changed, passages are added... etc.

• Blog Tips (3)

• Advance Readers Copies: What you need to know.

• How do you get all those books? & How do you get all those books? Part Two.

These posts are a little dated too, I did the first one in early 2008 and the other in early 2009. Soon after I started doing In My Mailbox, I got a lot of emails asking how I got all those books. These two posts address that. In summation: I work hard on my blog! Part two has some great incite from a publicist that I think all bloggers should read, and I address a few general questions.

• Dear Story Siren

• Publisher/Blogger Interaction

The simple answer is No. (if there is a US publisher that does, that I don't know about, let me know, I'll change this answer.)

I addresssed this question in one of my earliest post of "Dear Story Siren" there were some very informative comments to this post.

Lenore of Presenting Lenore, who deals with this issue frequently as a blogger abroad, had this to say:

"Unfortunately, most US publishers are unable to send abroad due to rights issues.

Most authors have limited copies of their book to distrubute for publicity purposes and sending abroad costs a lot of money."

Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices, had this to say:

As Lenore said, a lot of the problem with sending ARCs overseas has to do with international rights. My publisher here in the US isn't going to want to send ARCs of my books to bloggers in Spain, because they don't publish me in Spain and derive no benefit from book sales there. The people to contact if you were (for example) a Spanish blogger would be my Spanish publisher, but they obviously aren't going to want to provide the books in English as they don't own English publishing rights. You see the conundrum. If you are a Spanish blogger who wants to review books published in English, you're mostly going to have to end up providing them for yourself.

The person who asked if books comes out internationally later than in the US (assuming the author's primary publisher is in the US): it depends. Different publishers in different territories buy book rights at different times, and they can't obviously put a book out before they buy the rights to it. Plus, there is the time translation takes. In some situations, as in Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, you have teams of foreign translators working around the clock to provide a translation that will allow the book to be published roughly at the same time in, say, Germany as in the US. But most books don't get that treatment.

— Cassandra Clare

So what can you do as an international blogger who wants to review books published in the US? If you can wait for the book to be published, check out The Book Depository. It has free shipping to most countries and lots of US titles are readily available. Several publishers are also starting to offer e-galleys or digital copies of arcs. One of the best sites to check out it NetGalley.com. Did you know you can also sign up to win arcs on Goodreads! And a majority of the contests are open internationally! There are also international arc tours you can sign up for.

Mary of The Sweet Bookshelf left this comment:

I've come into a bit of trouble with this living in Scotland, but I have found many UK publishers willing to help out. Most US publishers have UK Houses or affiliates. Always ready to get books out there!

If you have any US friends/family you can always give them that US address and then have family send the books to you. That's what I do. They collect them until there is a box full and mail them on over.

The same way you ask for anything. Politely. And since your dealing with an industry person, politely and professionally would probably be your best bet.

I usually introduce myself and my blog. I include some blog stats, usually my unique visitor count. I might mention how long I've been blogging. Publishers want to know that you are serious about what you do. They are more likely to send to a blogger that's been at it for six months over one that's started blogging three weeks ago. Include your address if your asking for books. Don't be afraid to ask for more than one book, but at the same time don't ask for the entire fall line-up. (Here right from the publisher's mouth on this issue at Advance Readers Copies: What you need to know.)

Here is a comment I received from an anonymous publicist while I was doing my Blog Tips series:

“As a publicist, I've noticed a marked increase in the number of emails I've been receiving asking for free books to "review on a blog." (I'm wondering if it's due to review bloggers like TSS explaining how she did it.) Often, the so-called reviewer doesn't even include their blog, and, if they do, it's barely active, or consists mainly of posts bragging about all the free books they get. Visitors? Comments? Nope.

If you are starting a blog for the purpose of getting free books -- guys, it shows. Worry less about your header graphics and more about providing lots of great content that will draw visitors into your blog. Look at the story siren: she regularly posts reviews, interviews, contests, round ups, etc., and hers is a popular blog visited by tons of readers! Publicists send promotional materials to "big mouths," not to freeloaders just looking for an excuse to score arcs.”

I also get asked a lot about asking for Backlist titles, or copies of books that have been out for several months or years. If the novel is available on the store shelf, I don't see any reason to request a copy for review from the publisher. Go buy a copy or visit the library. An exception to that would be if the publisher is promoting the paperback release of a title, or rereleasing/repacking one of their older titles. Of course that is only my opinion and I'm unsure how publishers feel about this particular issue.

I've also addressed this question in "Dear Story Siren (15)." Almost every major publisher has contact information on their website. You're going to be looking for publicity or a media contact. You might have to do a little searching, but they are there! I would not recommend asking another blogger for their contact information. An email address, in my opinion, is personal information. If it's not your personal information, it's not yours to give out. Unless of course you have permission from the person to share, then by all means feel free.

There is no guarantee that you will receive a reply. I would assume if they do not reply there is a reason. And remember it may take some time for a reply to be sent, I'm sure they receive several emails every day. Be patient.

Some authors have their publicists contact information on their site. That's always a good place to look. If you haven't had any luck contacting the publicity department, email the author asking if they could forward your information to their publicist. At the same time, be aware that authors often receive several emails in their inbox too.

I don't think there is a magical number that publishers are looking for. I don't know what a good stat is. I think publishers are more interested in the type of content you have on your blog, how long you've been blogging and how active your blog is.

I got an interesting question submitted on my "Dear Story Siren" post that I wanted to address: Do you dislike people who ask for ARC's or other books?

Perhaps I give the impression that I do? I'm not sure. If I dislike people who ask for arcs I would dislike myself. It gets tiresome at times answering the same questions over and over about arcs. I'm not trying to be mean about it or imply that I don't agree with it. It just get's frustrating. I'm only human. I get annoyed at times. I don't mean to take it out any anyone.

Do I dislike that there are people who think just because they have a book blog they are entitled to an arc.

Yes.

Do I dislike when people start a blog for the sole purpose of getting an arc.

Yes.

I think if you ask any 'serious' book blogger those two questions they would agree with me. I feel at times I am judged unfairly because I do receive arcs. What most people don't realize is the majority of the books I ask for receive are unsolicited. What that means is, I never asked for them nor did I know they were coming. And I review every title that I personally request.

I usually pass my arcs on to another book blogger or I host a giveaway.

I haven't had luck donating locally which I would love to do. However there has been a recent arc campaign on twitter #ARCSfloaton. This campaign was started by The Reading Zone and it's goal is to match bloggers with teachers looking for arcs for their classroom libraries. It looks as though they are trying to match bloggers with teachers who live in the same area. If you are interested in floating on your arcs, you can fill out the form, here.