So, I had a poll in my story on Instagram a couple weeks ago, asking if any of you would be interested in a post regarding requesting ARCs from publishers. 94% of you voted 'yes' so here it is, late but relevant (don't worry, you don't have to read this if you're from the other 6%).
Okay, I'm going to start off by saying that I've only been on the bookstagram scene for about 14 months, so I'm not an expert. There may be ways that I go about doing things that may not be the same for you (especially if you're outside the United States). We all tend to do things different, and learning the various systems within the community is a learning process; therefore, make sure to do your own research outside of this post. What I say is not the end-all-be-all, I just want to share what information I've managed to gather in my 14 months in the book community.
Definitions to Remember
ARC- Advance Reader (Reading) Copy; this is a bound galley of a book that is sent out prior to a book's publication date for people to review for publicity.
Galley- this is a bound proof copy of a book that is circulated prior to a book's release.
Review Copy- This is a finished copy of a book, these may be sent out around the time of the book's release. They can be hardback or paperback books. They will not be marked as advance copies or have the publication date on them as many ARCs do.
Imprint- the smaller branch of a larger publishing house that may deal with more specific types of books than the parent company.
Getting Started
Here is a quick list of things that I believe one should consider having, prior to requesting ARCs from publishers:
Set up an email for your book account; a professional email.
Develop a decent number of followers. Now I've seen that a decent starting point is about 500 followers on social media. This number isn't set in stone, in fact in can vary. some publishers may have designated minimum follower requirements. Just know that the more popular that an author is, the harder it is to get ahold of ARCs if you have a smaller following.
You should already have some experience writing reviews.
The more platforms that you post reviews to, the better. This is especially true if you maintain a decent following on them all.
Don't be offended if you get no response. Many publicists don't have time to reply to every email that they get, simply to turn the person down; therefore, its very likely that you will not receive an email at all more often than not. (they also might not answer to tell you yes either so, it's kind of anyone's guess)
Do not request an ARC just because you can. Only request books that you're excited to read.
If you like ebooks, check out platforms such as Netgalley and/or Edelweiss! (If you don't it's good to have a Netgalley account in case a publisher only does ebook ARCs)
Who should I request the book from?
This is the first thing you need to consider when you set out to request an ARC. Many publishers operate within smaller publishing houses. Take Tor for example: Tor is an imprint of Macmillan, though Tor is not the only publisher that operates under Macmillan. Some other examples of imprints of Macmillan are St. Martins, Picador, Celadon Books, Flatiron books, etc. Tor speficially is a little tricky, because you need to be able to note the difference between Tor and Tordotcom. They are two totally separate publishers, though they have very similar names. If you email the incorrect branch of publishers, you'll either be redirected, or you won't be answered at all.
Luckily, it isn't too tough to find out what publishing house a book is from. Often times you can find it in the product details from the main publisher's website (if you simply Google the book title). But a particularly useful tool that I like to use to find specific details regarding book imprints, is the Amazon page for the book. I'll include pictures from both from a random ARC so that you can see what I mean.
The picture on the left is directly from the imprint's website, whereas the photo on the right is in the 'Product details' section on Amazon. Both are for the same ARC, and we can see that the publisher Inkyard Press is the imprint that we would want to email. Now, figuring out exactly who to email can be tricky. I always just give the publisher a quick Google, with "contact" at the end. You can almost always find the correct media contact by simply going to the main publisher's page and clicking on the "contact us" link that is located at the bottom of most websites.
For example: say that I want to email someone from Berkley regarding an upcoming title. I google "Berkley Publishing Contact". When I click on the link, this is the page I end up on:
Underneath this, is the list of all of the imprints located within Penguin and the email which should be contacted for any media inquiries/review copy requests.
(Here are a few, but Penguin has a ton more)
Now we notice that Berkley requests are lumped in with a bunch of other publishers. So, if you want to receive an ARC from any of those publishers in the list, you would email the same person. I.e. the email listed for DAW Books, Berkley, and Signet (etc) are all the same email. Whereas Dutton (just a bit further down the list), is its' own entity. All you would need to do here, is copy and paste the email into the recipient box of your ARC request email and you're good to go!
*Key note: make sure that you are contacting the publisher that corresponds to your country. Plenty of publishers have imprints that are specifically for other countries. I don't have much more info than that. I'm from the US and many publishers are located here already, but it's something of which to be cognizant.
What should I include in my email?
This is the important part, what you send in your email to the publicists at these publishers is very important. I personally wrote an ARC request template for myself and saved it to my computer. If you choose to type out your own template, any time you want to request a book, all you have to do is input current data and then copy and paste to your email! Here are some things that you should make sure are in your email (not in any particular order):
Your first and last name
The title, author, and publication date of the book. You can include the ISBN as well, I don't always, but I'm sure it is probably more helpful than hurtful.
Include the relevant data regarding your primary posting platform. I personally prioritize my Instagram account, so I get all my statistics from outside apps and include them in the email. I include things such as current follower number, total number of posts, total number of likes, and total number of comments, all across my account. (the details you want to include about your account are totally up to you, but some version of the ones listed generally works out well-enough)
State if you are requesting a physical ARC or an eARC. Some publishers exclusively give out ebooks now, so try to be amenable to that. Don't be a greedy jerk.
Include the links to all of your relevant social media accounts. In my email I generally include my Instagram, Goodreads, my blog, and I'm about to start including my Storygraph. (If you have more, include them! Especially YouTube accounts)
Include a link to a previous review. When I say previous review, I don't mean some scant post where you just wrote a summary of the book and gave it a star rating. I think that you should always write more in-depth reviews for ARCs.
I like to include my a mailing address (if I'm looking for a physical ARC), that way they have my information available and they don't have to inquire further. It's an ease of access thing.
Include your email and/or username at the end of the email.
Put the title of the book and the author + ARC request in the title
Keep in mind that brevity is key. They don't want a long email, make it informational, professional, courteous, and to the point.
Publisher Response
Keep in mind that publicists are busy, there are tons of people emailing them everyday to try to get advanced copies of books. This means that they might not reply to you at all, don't be offended or bother them if they do not answer (as previously stated). There are times where you will not receive an answer and you will still receive a physical copy of the book. I've had this happen a couple of times, usually when this happens they will send you a review copy, rather than an ARC. So, try to keep previous correspondence or keep a running list of titles that you've requested. This can help you remember what books you've requested in the past, so you'll be prepared if they show up unannounced. One time I requested a book in October, then I received a review copy in January; it's just really random sometimes. Publisher response times vary greatly, so keep this in mind when you send out an email request. Some may respond in a day, some may respond in a few weeks. Just keep an eye on your email so that you can be prompt when replying.
Some publishers may reply to you with a form that you can fill out to request an ARC. Keep in mind that this generally does not guarantee you an ARC, it just means that they have you in a pool with other requests for a book. Some may reply to you with a form where you can select more than one book that you're interested in. These are the ones where I really suggest that you keep a running list. It is really easy to forget when books you checked on this list, which means that you may get a Netgalley widget out of the blue because you forgot you requested the book (me, I did that).
Misc. Points to Consider
Some publishers have influencer/rep/bookstagrammer programs, you can usually check their webpage to find out if they do or not. Sometimes the opportunities to join these programs are on a deadline, so you may not be able to apply.
When should I finish an ARC?
General rule of thumb is: if you request an ARC, try to finish it prior to release. If a publisher contacts you for an ARC, there is more wiggle room. Often times publishers will let you know what they want from you in the press release. If you can't finish reading the book in time, just make sure you express your excitement in receiving the book in your story or maybe consider posting about the book on its' release day.
What if I can't find an email?
If you are unable to find an email to contact for a certain publisher, make sure to check the parent publisher page. Sometimes they may all be compiled in a master list. Some publishers have contact forms on their websites, rather than a email contact. When this is the case, I generally use the contact form in much the same way I would an email. I would use the same template and everything. Just make sure you fill out all the fields correctly.
When should I send out my email request?
There is no right answer to this question. Keep in mind that the closer it is to the publication date, the less likely it is that you will receive an ARC. I like to send out emails around 2-4 months prior to publication. Sometimes publishers don't look to publicize a book more than a few weeks before the release so they may not reply until that time; just recognize that it's usually better to be early. There are only a limited number of Netgalley widgets and/or physical galleys that publishers send out. If you wait to long, you may miss out.
Will publishers send me books unsolicited?
Sometimes! Once a publisher has your address and they know that you're a reliable reviewer, they may send you books in the mail. If this is not something you want, you can always send them an email and ask that they stop. More often than not, they won't send you a physical copy totally unsolicited, but they may email you with offers to review certain books for them. Remember that you don't have to say yes, if you don't want to review a book then don't be afraid to say no.
Should I share my publisher contacts?
No, the general rule-of-thumb is that you keep personal contacts to yourself. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't tell your friend the general marketing email. That's fine! But, do not give out the emails of specific publicists that you've been in contact with.
What do I do after I've finished and reviewed an ARC?
Most will ask that you email them with your reviews. So make that one of your steps after posting your reviews on whatever platforms you use.