First… please don’t be a pirate. Book pirates hurt authors. Here are six ways to get books free without being a book pirate scumbag.
It’s really discouraging to check my web traffic reports and see that people are trying to find ways to read my books without paying for them. I often put on freebies and discounts to help me expand my audience, but blatant attempts at illegal book downloads HURTS. This is how I survive.
Anyway… for those wondering … how do you get an ARC of a DD Prince book?
I only have a small ARC team. Why? First of all, piracy is rampant. I have a small and trusted team that get advance copies so that they can get me feedback and get the ball rolling with feedback and giving readers reviews to check out when a book goes live.
I have a couple beta readers and alpha readers that get me feedback. I have a a couple people that get free early access because they help me with my marketing, and there are a handful of readers that get a first look because they help me with final edits and post reviews around release day.
I recently added a few people to my ARC team but only a fraction of those that applied.
Why didn’t I get picked for your ARC team?
if you’ve applied and haven’t been picked… there might be several reasons.
- I didn’t have enough information / the form was incomplete. I don’t want to give the book away for free if there’s little to no chance of a review. People not on Goodreads and with Amazon reviewer profiles aren’t super-helpful.
- You don’t have a habit of reviewing books online. You gave your links and I checked but there were little to no book reviews and little to none of MY books.
- You didn’t like my books or seemed negative in your reviews in general. I read negative reviews of my books on your profile. You’re entitled to your opinion, but if I’m seeing 2 and 3 star reviews on my previous books, you’re not my target audience. The negative reviews always come eventually on every book, even if most people love the book. I’m not about to encourage a bad review around release date.
- You only reviewed something of mine just around the time you applied but it was clear you aren’t someone who generally reviews or who reads my work. If you’re just getting into the habit of reviewing, please apply again in future.
- You didn’t give me a compelling reason to add you to the team.
- There are too many applicants and I didn’t have enough spots to add you.
I occasionally recruit ARC readers but typically do so only from my reader group on Facebook. http://facebook.com/groups/ddprincefangroup
Tips to write helpful book reviews that won’t (likely) break the author’s heart.
All reviews have the potential to help an author, whether negative or positive, but here are some tips for writing a helpful review that’s kind to an author’s hard work.
Whether you like writing long and detailed reviews or just a couple lines, that’s okay.
-Don’t spoil the book. People cruising reviews usually don’t want to know how it ends. If you want to list a spoiler, warn about it giving the reader an opportunity to look away before something is spoiled.
-There’s a difference between constructive criticism and book bashing. You’re entitled to your opinion and you don’t HAVE to write a review to stroke the author’s ego, but most authors appreciate constructive feedback to help them grow and learn though we hurt if our ‘babies’ are ripped to shreds in reviews. The elements of great fiction is something that’s subjective.
-If there were things you didn’t like, that’s fine. But reviews can be just positive or they can share positives and negatives. Remember when you post that the author could read your review so it’s always kind to imagine their reaction to reading a review.
Thanks to those who take the time to review your favourite books. This is not an obligation. The only thing I ask my readers is to please don’t steal my work. If you do take the time to write a review, it’s super-helpful for marketing purposes and I appreciate it.
Where can you review?
The retailer you bought it from is the best place to post a review. Goodreads and BookBub are also great options that can help an author increase the visibility of their work.
If you have a book blog, this is also fabulous. Instagram and TikTok are great places to share reviews, too. Hashtags can help book lovers find those reviews and might help your favourite authors increase their book sales. (ie: #booktok #bookstagram)
Word of mouth helps, too! In addition to book recommendations via reviews, it’s also great when you share book recommendations in book-focused Facebook groups or other social media.
Thank you!