Advance Readers Copies

I revel in receiving Advanced Readers Copies of books from publishers.  These ARCs (sometimes called proofs or galleys) are given to book reviewers and book sellers in exchange for honest reviews and hand-selling the book at their bookstores.  They also ask that you state this fact with your review of the book.

This gift of pre-publication reading means I have often read many bestsellers by the time they are published and being talked about.  These ARC’s come to me in both digital and printed form, and have not gone through the final edit – so you find yourself slowing down at a few typos here and there — not to mention the odd formatting especially with digital editions.  They also sometimes lack cover art — so it is very surprising to see how the real book looks when it hits the shelves. (I find myself imagining the perfect cover as I read).

Quite a few of the ARCs I’ve read are pretty bad and I don’t get beyond the first few chapters, others are just not my type, and some are so horribly formatted (I’m talking digital here) that you can’t make heads or tails of what you’re reading.  But, happily, most are admirable — if not amazing.

I finished one of those simply great ARCs the other evening, and was ready to tell you all about it here.  The back cover says publication in March 2016, but something gnawed at me.  I’m a very minor player in the book review world, but I do keep up with book review publications and I hadn’t seen it on any bookstore “new arrivals” shelves.  (Trust me, I am a pretty major bookstore junkie browser.)

So I did some sleuthing and found out that this wonderful book’s publication has been delayed until October 2016.

Publishers ask that a reviewer NOT review an ARC until 30 days of its publication and I like to wait until it actually is published —  just to be sure.

So I will review another book here on Book Barmy shortly — one I just re-read and loved just as much as the first time I read it – yikes 30 odd years ago.