What Is An ARC-Team?

ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copy. The ARC Team comprises active readers who receive the book for free before it goes on sale to the public. Simply put, an Advance Review Copy (ARC) is a pre-published book (usually a pdf or an e-file) sent to select readers to attract and encourage an honest review.

Readers like reviews to help them decide if they want to read more books like it. By offering ARCs, an author provides genuine reader opinions to shoppers while the book is at its most visible. Often, authors will also use excerpts from these reviews for promotions and advertising.

When people read and review the book before it is available for sale, other readers can see it and add it to their To-Be-Read (TBR) list, giving the book a head start.

Reviews sell books, so new indie authors, like me, adore active ARC readers because they can directly affect the reach of their book launch.

The ARC copy of a book will, most likely, be the last version before publication. It might still contain a few typos, but nothing significant will change before publication. The ARC team members get to read and review my book, for free, before the public release date.

I love it when some ARC readers spot typos and email them to me so I can make corrections before the book goes to press.