ARCs

MonsterTamer

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Does anyone here know how to obtain ARCs of SF/F novels?
 

Shoeless

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You could create a Netgalley account and start requesting ARCs there, assuming you mean digital versions, but you have to apply and get approved by the website before you can start requesting/being invited to read ARCs.
 

CameronJohnston

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Shoeless has the right of it. The first thing to do is to start reviewing books and posting the reviews, then join netgalley. Publishers do check to see if you post reviews before approving people.
 

veinglory

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If you are open to all comers you could just post on your blog or Amazon profile that you accept them and they will appear.
 

KBooks

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What are you looking for specifically?

There's sites like NetGalley or Edelweiss. You'll need to register and meet their requirements, which at least on NG will include a history of reviewing, being on Goodreads, linking you social media, and having a blog with so many followers in order to get approved for the titles lots of people want. You can always get ARCs on NG in their "Read Now" section where you don't have to be approved, and I have found some good titles there, but for the most part publishers want to see a significant following and social media presence for the bigger titles.

If you want ARCs of SF/Fantasy and are cool reading all authors, then you will find no shortage of people who would love to send you their ARC in exchange for a review. In addition to the good ideas already mentioned, you could also post a thread on one of the genre-specific community groups on Goodreads and undoubtedly get many offers.
 

waylander

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Register as a TBRindr reviewer - more details at The Weatherwax Report review blog.
BTW if you are going to do this please do actually post reviews of the books you receive. It is a source of great frustration to writers that so many copies of their books get sent out and no review ever appears.
 

veinglory

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You might want to collect feedback from those reviewers. I once has an author send a terse email asking why I didn't review their second book after giving the first a rare 5/5. I replied it was a DNF and boring as hell, and if he wanted me to post that as a review (I don't normally post DNFs) I would be happy to. There are a lot of reasons why reviews don't get posted/
 

MonsterTamer

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Thanks, all.

I've been using Goodreads for years, but I don't often leave reviews. I'll check out some of the sites listed.

One problem I see right away is that I don't have a blog, nor do I have the will to start and maintain one.
 

AW Admin

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Thanks, all.

I've been using Goodreads for years, but I don't often leave reviews. I'll check out some of the sites listed.

One problem I see right away is that I don't have a blog, nor do I have the will to start and maintain one.

Why do you want ARCs?

The expectation behind ARCs is that you will read and review them.

So you need to post reviews on either a blog of your own, or sites like Net Galley, Good Reads and Librarything.com.

You're not likely to succeed in getting any ARCs unless you already have reviews of books available.

I'd suggest you start by reviewing books you already know and love. For one thing, it shows that you can review, for another it shows the kinds of things you like to read.
 

KBooks

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Thanks, all.

I've been using Goodreads for years, but I don't often leave reviews. I'll check out some of the sites listed.

One problem I see right away is that I don't have a blog, nor do I have the will to start and maintain one.

ARCs are "advance review copies" with the review part being the sole reason readers are sent a free copy of the book. It's not just a freebie. It's a promotional tool. I'd definitely start by becoming more active on Goodreads and start writing reviews of everything you read. But keep in mind that publishers on some sites consider reviewing on GR to be minimum reviewer engagement. They're ideally looking for someone with say... current GR activity with friends/followers who will see their book, someone who will post the review to Amazon and other sites, someone who tweets about the books they've read, someone with a blog and lots of followers, etc.

Writing reviews on GR is a great place to start.
 

waylander

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You might want to collect feedback from those reviewers. I once has an author send a terse email asking why I didn't review their second book after giving the first a rare 5/5. I replied it was a DNF and boring as hell, and if he wanted me to post that as a review (I don't normally post DNFs) I would be happy to. There are a lot of reasons why reviews don't get posted/

I would if they answered e-mails about what happened.
 

veinglory

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Welp that's one reason to work mainly with established reviewers or ones you know rather than taking a shotgun approach. Most people, generally speaking, don't have a lot of follow through when it comes to doing a favor for a random person on the internet. They think they might want to read the book, turns out they don't. Maybe that is a kind of feedback?
 

Polenth

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I prefer it if authors don't send me hassling emails about why I haven't reviewed their book yet. The usual answer is simply that I haven't read it yet. I'm a slow reader and make it clear that I offer no guarantees about timing. At best, that's all you'll get told. At worst, you run the risk of sounding like an author who'll cause problems after the review goes live, which might make me change my mind about reviewing it.

This year, I didn't read much at all, because I couldn't cope with the heat (I basically spent the days lying on the cold tiles and surviving). It's not like I'm happy about not getting anything done for most of the year.

But on the original subject, most ARCs that I request come from NetGalley with a few from Edelweiss (I don't like that site as much, but some publishers only use it, so sign up for both). I've sometimes contacted small publishers directly. Most ARCs I'm offered are via email, though big publishers usually want to send the ARC by autoapproving it on NetGalley or Edelweiss.

Publishers are pretty open to new reviewers, but you do need the minimum of a blog where you've posted some reviews. If you don't want to review, don't ask for ARCs.
 

frimble3

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It's not like ARCs are free gifties. From the writer or publisher POV, if you can't reach out to more people than they can, what's the point?
And they want to see 'samples' - reviews you've done of other books. First, to see if you actually do review, rather than just reading a book, tossing it aside, and asking for another.
Second, to see how you review: do you know anything about the genre you're asking for? Can you recognize good from bad writing, or indeed, spelling?
And, if they look at your blog, are they going to see that you're constantly being upset and starting flame wars?
 
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