Since I’m in the midst of my ARC campaign for Force Majeure, it’s on my mind. A few things to note, just finding random people to read an ARC is slow going. Although, I feel like more people I'm familiar with have signed up, perhaps I'll get a better percentage of reviews as a result.
I’m going to compare the variety of ARC services and their fees, pros and cons, etc. First, I highly recommend you use Bookfunnel or BookSirens to distribute your ARC file. They watermark the file, and they keep track of who downloads it for you. For the security of your work, it’s important to take these precautions. Not to say if someone really wants to pirate your book, they won’t figure out how to do it, but you should still take the available precautions.
I actually heard two very disturbing stories recently. One author said their work was watermarked and they later came across it on a pirated site with the watermarks removed. The other disturbing story was an author who distributed physical copies to ARC readers and later discovered one of the ARC readers trying to sell the paperback on eBay for $300. I believe it was a best-selling author who thought they could trust their longtime team members.
As for ARC services there are a few:
1. Booksirens.com- $10 per ARC book you post then $2 per reader download if they find the reader for you. If you give the link to someone and they download it, there’s no charge. You can limit the number of downloads to match your budget.
2. Booksprout.com- for authors the plans are $9 a month for one ARC maximum reviews 25, $19 a month for two ARCs and 50 reviews max., $29 a month with unlimited ARCs and reviews.
3. HiddenGems.com-
minimum order 50 readers. It starts at $140. If fewer sign up, you get refunded the difference, including your $20 mandatory deposit. As far as I can tell, the minimum fee is $140 and maximum is $400. It says they’re booked months in advance so you need to know far in advance your ARC will be ready.
4. Pubby.co- 10-day free trial, even if you cancel, you keep the reviews collected during this time. Then it’s $20 a month. I asked what it would take for me to get 100 reviews. It said I could reach that number in four months. They put reviews on Amazon.
5. NetGalley.com- this one isn’t really an ARC program. They advertise your book to specific readers for six months at $550. (roughly $92 a month) These are readers who read and review regularly.
I’m most likely going with Booksirens and Pubby. To me for my purposes, these two make the most sense.
Review Services-
1. Online book club.org-
Level 1 Review - $148
Includes 1 week featured status
Entry into Book of the Year Contest!
Average turnaround: 4 months
Level 2 Review - $198
Includes 2 weeks featured status
Entry into Book of the Year Contest!
Average turnaround: 3 months
Level 3 Review - $298
Includes 1 month featured status
1 week homepage link to review
Entry into Book of the Year Contest!
Average turnaround: 2 months
Level 4 Review - (best value) - $398
Includes 2 months featured status
2 week homepage link to review
Guaranteed to get one of a few top-level reviewers
Entry into Book of the Year Contest!
Average turnaround: 1 month
2. KirkusReviews.com- $499 (250 words 7-9 weeks, expedited $599, expanded review $599 (500 words) 7-9 weeks, expedited $799
3. ReaderViews.com- There are three guaranteed review options. They offer approximately a 350-word review and post it online. If you want extra advertising in their targeted publications, the price goes up based on the package. Economical package (basic) $139, Premium $279, Explosive $529. This service guarantees you an honest review and if you get five stars, they will award you a gold medal. You can find these gold seals on many books.
- PublishersWeekly.com- $399 for a complete review with takeaway, comp titles, and design and production grades, written by an expert Publishers Weekly reviewer, with a six-week turnaround time. NOTE: there is a surcharge of $100 for books over 100,000 words.
- Optional: an additional $150 to receive your review in four weeks instead of six.
4. CityBookReview.com- Basic Review Package
6 - 8 week turnaround
$199
West Coast Blast
Get 5 Reviews!
$875
5. IndieReader.com- There’s a large number of complaints about this service and its owner. They do aggressively advertise to Indie Authors. Standard review $299, 350 words minimum, 7–9-week turnaround. Rush review $399, 350 words minimum, 4-6 weeks turnaround. Do your own research before you spend the money.
Amazing news! Force Majeure showed up early and it’s BEAUTIFUL!! I'm so excited to have people reading it, I hope they like it as much as I do. The ARCs went out on July 19th. Now it’s the waiting to find out if anyone likes it. Cross your fingers and say a prayer for me, please. I just want people to enjoy what I write. I want it to entertain them, make them laugh or cry, and feel like they know the characters like I do. With Force of Corruption people either LOVED it or HATED it, I'll know soon about Force Majeure.
I’m not sending paperback ARC copies out willy-nilly this time around. However, I’m sending one to a few select readers who've earned my trust. Specifically, my beta readers, they deserve to get the final result of their early work. My cover designer of course! My editor, and one other loyal reader who's been very supportive. Everyone else, unless they meet the criteria on the application, can only get one if they’re willing to cover shipping and printing. It’s a huge book and my printing costs come to about $8. Because I have to pay shipping to get them too, it’s more than the base printing cost. Then to ship them out to people I have to pay shipping again.
I did another boneheaded thing or two. I know you’re shocked. I’ve been having trouble uploading Origin of Violet to KDP. It said the ISBN was incorrect inside the book. It was wrong. I typed one digit incorrectly. Then I wasn’t clear when explaining this to my formatting person, so they put the correct ISBN in the wrong place. Hopefully it will still work because the correct number is in the book now. But wait! It doesn’t stop there. I also discovered one of the new book cover stickers I had made has weird little icons that pop up on my phone screen. I obviously used a screenshot image to upload to the printer. Ugh! Had to order new ones, $40 down the drain!
This one’s not my fault, I know you’re shocked, the buttons I ordered are missing a letter. I have 225 buttons that say, “Beautiful adass”. For some bizarre reason, the “B” for “Badass” is blacked out. Thankfully the printer is going to replace them. What on earth do I do with the defective ones? I may have to sell defective items in a grab bag on my website--lol! I mean I’ve got defective covers on the books from Ingram Spark, now the stickers, and buttons. Isn’t it the defective items that collectors want later, you know, when I’m a famous author? Maybe I’ll keep them in a drawer until then.
I’m super excited to be getting these books in my hands. The cover for Force Majeure is beautiful I’m very happy with it. I ordered proof copies of The Devil’s Affair, and it needed an adjustment to the cover image. I took care of that today and ordered final copies. I’m waiting for the final approval of Origin of Violet, then I’ll order those proofs. The cover my designer made is so badass! (Not adass) I love it, can’t wait to have it in my hand next. My editor is more than three-quarters finished with Violent; it’s going to be finished on schedule. I will be ready for the release of each book. Exciting things are happening in the next couple months!
*New Pro Tip:
When you make your first order for author copies, make sure you order at least 20 copies. I ordered 10, I figured I’d give a few to ARC readers I approved. Then a copy for my cover designer and editor. Also, I decided to give a copy to a reader turned ARC reader and both beta readers. Before I know it, I’m out of copies!! Some of my ARC readers also want to purchase a paperback, if they do, I don’t have one to send. Amazon is “not available” to print them right now. I’ve heard of them doing this to indie authors before. Thankfully it’s not my release. Still, I need more copies and they said to wait 48 hours and try again. Anyway, in the future I will order at least 20 copies on my first order. Learn from my struggles!
Thank you so much for reading!