Guide for authors launching a book
How to Get ARC Readers and Early Reviews
Where to find readers for your advance copy, what the review services cost, the rules Amazon and Goodreads enforce, and what to send.
To get ARC readers, offer a free advance copy of your finished, edited book to people who read your genre, a few weeks before launch, and ask for an honest review. Start with your own newsletter and past readers, then add a service such as BookSirens, Booksprout or NetGalley. Never make a review a condition of the copy, and never pay for one.
Below: what an ARC reader is, the review rules that decide whether those reviews stay up, where to find readers and what each service costs, and a step-by-step campaign with an invitation you can adapt. Prices were checked on each service's own page on October 6, 2026.
What an ARC reader is (and isn't)
ARC stands for advance reader copy, sometimes called an advance review copy or a galley. It's a near-final copy of your book, usually an ebook, given free before publication. An ARC reader reads it early and posts an honest review around launch, so the book's page isn't empty on day one.
Writers often mix up three kinds of early reader. They read at different stages and you want different things from each.
Beta readers, ARC readers and street teams
| Reader | When they read | What you want from them |
|---|---|---|
| Beta readers | A draft, before your final revision | Private feedback: where they were hooked, confused or bored |
| ARC readers | The finished, edited book, before launch | A public, honest review on Goodreads, Amazon or their own channels |
| Street team | Around launch, often after reading an ARC | Word of mouth: posts, shares and telling friends |
Send ARCs only once the story is settled. Readers review what they're given, so give them the book you'll publish. If you still want feedback on the story itself, that's a job for beta readers; the AI beta reader gives a quick first read of a chapter while you line up people.
The review rules: what Amazon and Goodreads allow
Free review copies are allowed on both sites. What gets reviews removed is how you ask. These are the rules that matter, from each site's own pages.
Rules for ARC reviews
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Free copies are fine; a required review is not | KDP's customer reviews page lets you give free or discounted copies "as long as you do not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review." Ask for an honest review, and say no review is also fine. |
| Nothing but the book | The same page says offering anything other than a free or discounted copy, including gift cards, invalidates the review. No prize draws for reviewers. |
| No friends, family or business partners | Amazon's Community Guidelines bar reviews from anyone with a personal connection to the author. Give these people the book as a gift, not a review request. |
| Amazon reviewers need a spending history | Only customers who have spent at least $50 on Amazon in the last 12 months can post reviews, so some ARC readers can review only on Goodreads. |
| Ask for words, not just stars | Amazon leaves star ratings without a Verified Purchase out of the overall rating until the reviewer adds text, a photo or a video. ARC readers didn't buy the book on Amazon, so a few written sentences count. |
| Goodreads takes reviews before launch | Goodreads' review guidelines encourage pre-publication reviews from readers with advance copies, and require a reader who got a free copy in exchange for a review to say so. |
Checked on Amazon's, KDP's and Goodreads' pages on October 6, 2026.
Suggest a disclosure line
Give readers a sentence they can paste, such as "I received a free advance copy, and this is my honest review." It meets Goodreads' rule and tells shoppers how the reviewer got the book.
Where to find ARC readers, and what it costs
Your own readers come first: newsletter subscribers, people who reviewed your last book and readers who write to you. They're free, and they already like what you write. A first book has fewer of them, so most debut authors add a service that brings in readers of their genre.
Ways to find and reach ARC readers
| Where | What it does | Price as of October 6, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Your own list | You invite readers and send the file yourself | Free |
| BookSirens | Promotes your ARC to its reviewer community for three months, sends reminders and tracks who reviews | $10 per book plus $2 per reader it finds, or $100 a year for unlimited books; readers you invite are free |
| Booksprout | Runs review campaigns open to its reviewers, with automatic delivery and reminders | $9 a month for one campaign of 25 copies, with bigger plans at $19 and $29; a free account lets you set up a team first |
| NetGalley, through IBPA | Lists your digital galley for reviewers, librarians, booksellers and media | $179 for one month to $499 for six months, for IBPA members; NetGalley quotes direct prices on request |
| StoryOrigin | Review copies with each reviewer's history, plus automatic follow-up | $10 a month or $100 a year |
| BookFunnel | Delivers the file to any device and helps readers who can't open it | Secure ARC delivery starts on the $200-a-year plan |
StoryOrigin's and BookFunnel's pricing pages are linked under Other good resources. IBPA membership is a separate cost.
Services publish their own review rates. BookSirens says about 75% of readers who download a book post a review, and Booksprout says to expect about 8 reviews for every 10 participants. Both are averages across all books, not promises, and both say a reader's choice depends mostly on your cover, blurb and sample.
Two free places to look as well: readers who reviewed books like yours on Goodreads or Amazon, and Goodreads groups in your genre that allow review requests. Read each group's rules before you post.
If your ebook will be in Kindle Unlimited
KDP Select requires the ebook to be exclusive to Amazon while it's enrolled. For a pre-order, KDP says the Select term begins on your release date, so send ebook ARCs before then. After launch, ask KDP before sending free ebook copies of an enrolled book.
How to run an ARC campaign, step by step
Finish the book first
Send the edited, proofread book with its final cover. Run the self-editing checklist on every chapter, and see types of editing for what an editor catches that you won't.
Pick your launch date and count back
Give readers enough weeks to finish before launch. If you want trade reviews too, those editors need galleys months ahead.
Put your ARC kit together
The file, the cover, the blurb, your launch date and where to post. A service listing lives or dies on the blurb, so the book blurb generator is worth a pass first.
Invite readers
Your own list first, then a service. Invite more people than the number of reviews you want, because some won't finish.
Send the copy with a no-strings ask
Say a review is welcome, any rating is fine and there's no obligation. Never ask for five stars.
Remind them in launch week
Send one short note with direct links to your Amazon and Goodreads pages and the disclosure line. Services send their own reminders.
Thank them and keep the team
Thank everyone who read. Readers who post become your team for the next book; quietly drop anyone who takes copies and never reviews.
A timeline that works for most self-published novels
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 3 to 4 months before launch | Only if you want trade reviews: send galleys to review magazines, which work months ahead |
| 6 to 8 weeks before | Invite your list and open a service listing |
| 3 to 4 weeks before | Send the copies, so most readers finish in time |
| Launch week | Send the reminder with direct links |
| Two weeks after | Thank readers and note who posted |
Suggested timing, not a rule. A long book needs more reading time; a short one less.
Your ARC kit
- An ePub and a PDF of the edited book, or a delivery link that handles devices for you
- A line on the first page: "Advance reader copy. Please don't share this file."
- The cover and the blurb
- Your launch date and the pages where reviews go
- Content notes, if your book has themes some readers want warning of
- The disclosure line readers can paste
- Your contact for download problems
An ARC invitation you can adapt
Subject: A free early copy of SALT LEDGER
Hi Maya,
You signed up to hear about my books, so you're among the first to know: SALT LEDGER, my new mystery, comes out on March 4. I'd love to send you a free advance copy.
If you read it and want to share what you thought, an honest review on Goodreads, or on Amazon in launch week, helps other readers decide. Any rating is welcome, and there's no obligation at all. If you do post, a line saying you received a free advance copy keeps things clear.
Just reply "yes" and I'll send your download link.
Thank you,
Jo
- No strings. The copy is offered first. The review is invited, not required, and any rating is welcome, which keeps it within Amazon's and Goodreads' rules.
- Where and when. It names the sites and the week, so the reader doesn't have to guess.
- Yes first. Sending the file only after a reply means it goes to people who want it.
How many ARC readers do you need?
Fewer than you might think. In a 2018 guest post on Jane Friedman's site, David Wogahn suggests having "perhaps ten or more" reviews before you spend money promoting a book. Reviews keep arriving after launch, too, so the first wave doesn't have to carry everything.
To reach about 10, invite more than 10. On a service, use its published rate as a rough guide. With your own list, expect a lower share, since nobody sends reminders unless you do.
Paid review offers and other scams
Real readers don't charge you
Writer Beware reported in September 2025 on fake book clubs charging "spotlight fees" of $55 to $350, and fake review groups asking $20 to $30 per reviewer, with a minimum of 30 to 50 reviewers. Paying a reader for a review also breaks Amazon's rules. Don't send your file to anyone you can't verify.
A service that charges you to list a book, such as BookSirens or NetGalley, is different: you pay for the listing, readers aren't paid, and nobody is promised a review. Paid editorial reviews from trade magazines are a separate thing again, and they aren't customer reviews. To see where ARC services fit in a whole launch budget, read what self-publishing really costs.
If a publisher is handling your book
A traditional publisher's publicity team sends galleys to trade reviewers, booksellers and librarians, often as digital galleys on NetGalley or Edelweiss+. They work far ahead: Publishers Weekly asks for galleys at least three months, preferably four, before the first day of the publication month. Ask your publicist when ARCs go out, and send them a list of readers, bloggers and authors you'd like to receive one.