The Advance Review Copy

 

A book sent with intention before anyone else can buy it is not a free copy. It is a handshake.

When Lois and I published Five Dollars, we did something we had never done before. We sent copies out with a letter and a five-dollar bill, asking others to pass the kindness on.

Not long after, a woman wrote to tell us she’d used her five dollars to buy lunch for a homeless man she passed every day. She said, “I realized I’ve been waiting for someone else to fix the world. But your letter reminded me I could start.”

One message. One book. One human act. It hit us harder than any royalty check ever had.

The advance review copy works the same way. Not because you include five dollars. Because you include intention. A book arriving in a padded mailer with a personal note is not a product sample. It is an act of trust between the author and the person holding it.

 

What an ARC Is

An advance review copy is a finished or near-finished copy of the book sent to selected recipients before publication. The purpose is simple: put the book in the hands of people positioned to talk about it before the public has access.

The recipients fall into four groups.

Bloggers and bookstagrammers who review books in your genre. They have audiences built on trust. A recommendation from a blogger their followers respect carries more weight than any advertisement.

Podcast hosts who interview authors. The ARC is the reason they say yes to the booking. A host who has read the book asks better questions. A host who hasn’t read it asks generic ones. The ARC is the difference between a good interview and a forgettable one.

Trade reviewers — Kirkus, Foreword, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal. These require submission months before publication, and we will cover them in a later campaign. But the process begins here, with understanding the ARC is the vehicle.

Community leaders, subject-matter experts, and local influencers whose endorsements connect the book to its natural audience. The pastor if the book is about faith. The veteran if the book is about service. The teacher if the book is about education. The person whose credibility in the field lends credibility to the book.

 

The Note Matters More Than the Book

Every ARC should include a personal note. Not a form letter. Not a press release. A note written to this person, explaining why you chose them, what the book is about, and what you are asking.

The ask is direct. “I’d be grateful for an honest review on Amazon in the first two weeks after publication. If you’re willing to mention the book to your audience, I’d appreciate it. If it’s not the right fit, no hard feelings.”

The note is the five-dollar bill. It transforms a package into a relationship. The recipient knows the author chose them specifically, not as part of a mass mailing. The personal touch is what earns the review, the mention, the recommendation. Without it, the book sits on a stack of other books waiting to be read. With it, the book moves to the front.

 

When to Send

ARCs go out four to six weeks before publication. Earlier for trade reviewers — Kirkus requires submission months in advance. But for bloggers, podcast hosts, and community leaders, four to six weeks gives them time to read and prepare their response for launch week.

The timing connects directly to the launch team. The launch team members receive their copies two weeks before publication. The ARC recipients receive theirs earlier because their reviews and features take longer to produce. The two groups work in sequence — ARCs building the external conversation, the launch team building the Amazon foundation.

Together, they ensure the book does not arrive in silence.

We learned with Five Dollars what every author learns when they send a book with intention: words paired with purpose, delivered personally, ripple outward in ways you will never fully see. The advance review copy is the organized version of this truth. One book. One note. One person positioned to carry the message forward.

Send it with the same care you brought to the writing. The reply may change the book’s life.

The Power of Authors by Evan and Lois Swensen explores what it means to write with purpose — and why the books reaching the most readers are the ones sent first to the right hands.

The Power of Authors is available from Amazon or your favorite bookseller: http://evanswensen.com. If you’d like an autographed copy, you can order it here: http://bit.ly/4pgmzjM.