How Can I Join DD Prince’s ARC Team?

I frequently get asked how readers can read early copies / advance review copies of my work.

I do have an arc team, but it’s not open to new applicants.

I keep it very small and most of the people on my arc team have been with me 8 yrs or longer. My team includes early super fans, proofreaders, and eagle-eyed people who help me with my pre-publishing process.

It’s a trust thing and it’s a practicality thing.

Trust: I’ve seen many authors get burned having their arcs shared on piracy websites so adding new members requires vetting. And honestly, having a team too big and having to chase for reviews on release day can be frustrating and time consuming for me. I’ve seen authors share hundreds of copies in the hopes of high review numbers on release week and having only a small percentage of those ARC reviewers actually post a review. We do this for a living. Every book sale counts and giving away hundreds of freebies can hurt the bottom line.

I love that some people are excited to read my work early but my small team works so I try to keep it that way so it stays manageable. And practicality: the arc process serves a purpose to help me and if I have too many arc and beta readers, it’s not helpful to my pre-publishing and release day process because it becomes too much to manage obtaining feedback, getting review links, etc, etc.

Another way to get an early look at my books is to be on my street team. Street team members are out promoting my work in book groups and recommending me when opportunities arise to help me gain traction. As a thank you for that, I share early copies of my books and give the street team member access to any books from my backlist that are available, too. Street team members are superfans who have read most or all of my work and are subjected to NDA agreements, etc, as I occasionally use them for beta/alpha reads as well as share insider info, early looks at covers, etc. I also keep that team very small, but I occasionally open that list up to new applicants through my reader group on Facebook, DD’s Chickadees.