Buzz Your Way to Fame with Advanced Reader Copies

Now that you have your cover ready to go (digital and print versions), and your manuscript developmentally edited and copyedited and proofed, and your interior pages designed, the real fun can begin. You’re going to make a paperback advanced reader copy (ARC) that you can hold in your hands, photograph yourself with, and, most important, send to readers of all kinds.

(Before we go on, let me acknowledge that you already have what you need to make a digital ARC: you can send out PDFs of your manuscript or you can send, for instance, a Kindle epub file that you generated using Vellum. Either way, these ARCs are free and easily delivered to readers. Many media reviewers prefer paperbacks, and if that’s the case, you’ll need to deliver a paperback ARC.)

Why do you need ARCs, which you’ll give away for free, when what you really need is for readers to purchase your book? Good question, and there are many good answers.

First, let me start by giving you a list of the things you’ll do with your ARC.

·      Proofread your book … again (and have others proofread it too). For some reason, seeing your words in book form helps draw out all of those pesky typos you missed the first ten times you proofread. In addition, you must make sure no problems came about during the printing process (for instance, a blank page may have snuck in where you didn’t want one, or a block quote may appear in a place that doesn’t require one). 

·      Send them to authors who write in your genre and ask for blurbs for your cover or praise page. Some people will be happy with a digital version, and others will request paperback.

·      Send them to media reviewers who have agreed to read and review the book.

·      Send the digital version to a group of readers (perhaps subscribers to your website) prior to launch date, who will leave early or launch-day reviews on various platforms like Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, and other sites.

·      Send them to family members, friends, the English teacher who said you showed so much potential, and anyone else you want to impress.

·      If it’s a paperback, you can set it on the night table next to your bed and eye it lovingly—this is a big moment in your author life, and you should celebrate every landmark occurrence!

Yes, it seems like a lot of books to give away, but what you’re trying to do with your ARCs is create buzz. The more people who read your book and review your book and tell their friends about your book, the more attention your book will garner when it launches. If it succeeds in getting enough attention, you’ll have serious buzz on your hands, and serious buzz sells books. So, be sure to send those ARCs out there.

Now, how do you get these marvelous things made?

When I came to a point in my self-publishing journey where I realized I was going to need paperback ARCs (as opposed to thinking they were optional), I googled how one goes about creating them. I may have been having one of those not-great days (or weeks), but I couldn’t find any helpful information on the subject. Finally I emailed an editor friend of mine and asked the question. He said, “Can’t Amazon do that for you?” I was like, “Oh, they can?”

I figured they could, but I just wasn’t sure, and when I searched the KDP site, I found mentions of ARCs with no specifics about how to create them.

Here’s the thing: I’m working several months ahead because I’m an author who 1) likes to work ahead and 2) has had little to no exposure on social media websites and needs time to “build a following,” 3) knows it takes time to ask for and receive blurbs from authors and reviews from reviewers. Because I’ve worked so far ahead, I am not prepared to jump on Amazon and start selling the book. My launch date is June 1 of this year, and Amazon does not allow authors to pre-sell the paperback version. (They do allow you to sell your e-book in advance via pre-sales, however, which is great.)

So I set up pre-sales for the e-book version, but I was confused when it came to setting up the paperback account, and I did not want to accidentally set up an account that would start selling the book prematurely, in unfinished form. However, the only way to make ARCs through Amazon is to go through the entire process of setting up your paperback account.

When you come to the end of that process, you will be offered a chance to make “proof” copies. These are advanced reader copies. During that process, you will upload your interior pages, upload a cover, and print via print-on-demand up to five copies of the proof, which will have a “watermark” around the top of the book that says “Not for Resale.” If after you proof the ARC, you discover changes you want to make, you can easily upload a revised file before your launch date, so that the correct and final version of your book is the one that is sold to customers.

So, yes, Amazon can make your paperback ARCs, as can Barnes and Noble and the international book distributor called IngramSpark! (though Ingram charges a $49 fee to “list” a book, so you won’t want to make your ARCs with Ingram unless you plan to have them distribute the book for you).

Now that we know where to go to get them made, how do you actually do it?

Uploading a book on any of these sites takes time and thought. It’s not something you can whip together in ten or fifteen minutes. That’s partially because there are many decisions you’ll have to make that pertain to the particulars of your book, such as its size and whether the cover will be glossy or matte, and to things like providing a sales description, describing the category properly, and coming up with effective keywords. All of these elements are called metadata, and they are the inner workings that help readers who search for books find your title. (Don’t worry, you don’t have to get the metadata done in one sitting; you can pause in the middle and save your work.)

Metadata is a huge subject in the world of self-publishing, so I am going to save it for my next blog post.

Now you know what ARCs are and why you need them: go create some buzz!

In my next post, I’ll give you more information on how to get the paperback ARC made.

Kim Catanzarite is a writer, editor, and instructor for Writer’s Digest University. She has worked as a developmental and copy editor since 1994. Her book They Will Be Coming for Us will be published June 2021.