ADVANCE READER COPY SERVICE
WHAT YOU GET:
- Researched list of 20 media contacts based on the target audience for your book
- Professionally drafted pitch letter sent along with every advance reader copy
- Coordination of printing and shipping of advance reader copies to media
outlets (Note the cost of printing and shipping is NOT included)
- Follow-up with each media contact
*Please be advised that the majority of this coordination will happen
via email between the author, the publicist executing this program,
and the media outlets they are pitching.
An advance reader copy or (ARC) is a tool to help you generate publicity for your
book. To be specific, an advance reader copy is a book that is printed before the
publication date so that it can be submitted to media outlets to generate publicity.
As a publisher, we submit advance reader copies to various media outlets and independent
bookstores approximately three to four months before a book's publication date. Why do
we do this?
If you’ve ever subscribed to a magazine, you know that the next month’s issue always
arrives a few weeks before that month actually begins; the May issue arrives in
April, the June issue in May, and so on. If your book is scheduled to be released
in May, the magazine’s editors will want to cover your book in the May issue to
make sure they deliver their readers the most timely content. To get into that May
issue though, the editors will need a copy of your book well before its May publication
date, and that’s where the advance reader copy comes into play.
Media outlets that need significant lead time to cover something are exactly the
type of outlets we target in the Advanced Reader Copy Service. Want your book to
be considered for review in Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist or other prominent
book review journals? They’ll need copies several months in advance of your publication
date.
As a part of the Advance Reader Copy Service, we research a list of 20 long-lead
media outlets tailored to reach your book’s target market. We welcome suggestions
and run our final list by you before sending out the advance reader copies of your
book. We also craft a professional pitch letter to grab media members’ attention
and provide them with all the information they need in order to feature your book.
Follow-up with every contact a few weeks after the books go out is also included
with the service.
Not included in the price of the advance reader copy service is the cost to print
and ship an advance run of 20 books. Depending on the page count of your book, this
small run can be very expensive, and it’s important to consider this additional
cost before purchasing the service. You may also need to be flexible with your publication
date if you are considering the advance reader copy service.
