Beyond the Blurb | Stop Supporting the Sale of ARCs

Morning, friends!

In several discussion posts, I’ve addressed ARCs on a variety of issues. And I feel as if I need to discuss them further. Book Expo and BookCon have passed, and yet seeing ARCs being sold on eBay and other sites infuriates me. But it doesn’t surprise me.

At the starting price of $99 USD, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, sold for $255.00 USD (roughly $350 CAD) on eBay. Yes, it’s signed. And yes, this particular seller routinely offers ARCs. Unfortunately, the author and publisher will never see that money.

Beyond the Blurb | Are Selling, Trading, and Hoarding of ARCs the Next Necessary Evil?

Morning, everyone!

Let’s say this next discussion topic, in my Beyond the Blurb series, branches off from my previous post about the blogosphere fighting over ARCs. They are a controversial topic and a problem that many bloggers, readers, and reviewers deal with.

More and more, I see international bloggers struggle to request them. Even though I am Canadian, and there are several Canadian-based publishers in the country, I may very well be overlooked by American-based ones. Either North American laws prevent them from acknowledging me, or they don’t see the point. And don’t get me started on American giveaways and pre-order contests. However, at least I have some options nationally. But many international bloggers do not.

Beyond the Blurb | Should the Book Community Fight over ARCs?

Okay, book bloggers,

I couldn’t sit on this topic for any longer. And for my next discussion post, I want to talk about the most recent social media spat.

Back in January, Twitter blew up with many bloggers discussing/arguing about ARCs. Susan Dennard, the author of Bloodwitch, stirred up the issue. You can see her Tweet below:

Now, as a marketing and publicity intern at a small publishing house, I do agree with her to a point. Yes, ARCs are expensive to print, ship, and depend on. It’s one of the publisher’s first line of marketing tools that target the right audience. When I see the print quote for ARCs, I want to make sure that all copies will reach the right readers and contact them to see if they’ll post their review.

As a blogger, I don’t agree with Susan completely. I’ve seen Instagram market books quicker and better than just a traditional review. Some of the biggest bookstagrammers like Bridget from Darkfaerietales_ and Kristen from My Friends Are Fiction have large followings. I’ve seen other bloggers admit they don’t always have time to read every single book they receive from publishers. However, a photo and publicity on Instagram are golden though.

So to get back to Susan’s comment, should we bloggers give up an ARC that we won’t read? Should the book community even bother to argue over this situation? Depending on your blogging influence, I don’t think we need to. We can provide a different type of marketing on another social media platform like Instagram.