Plug Your Book: Q&A: Should I print Advance Review Copies of my book?

QUESTION: I want to submit Advance Review Copies (ARCs) of an upcoming book to the review journals such as Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Soon I'll have copies of the finished book, but I don't have any copies marked "ARC."

I've gotten quotes for printing ARCs, and the cost seems astronomical. Is this really necessary? One self-published author told me you can submit finished copies of the book with a cover sticker indicating it's an ARC.

Is a sticker good enough? I really need the big reviewers to mention this book, and I can't take a chance that they will refuse the book because of the sticker.

ANSWER: A sticker might work, and it might not. Just consider the way things works at the review journals: Envelopes containing review copies are opened by low-level employees, perhaps unpaid interns. They're inundated with books, most of them unacceptable. So they're looking for any reason to reject as many books as possible, as quickly as possible. They've probably all been told contradictory or arbitrary things. If it's not from a "trade" publisher, it goes in the trash ... if it's not four months before publication, it goes in the trash. These young people don't have the time to consider the books on their merits. And besides, most of them wouldn't know a great book if it fell on their head.

So follow the submission guidelines as closely as possible. Otherwise you're gambling unnecessarily. If the ARC sticker looks good, then the book might avoid the trash heap at three out of four places, but ultimately not selected for review by any of those three. And perhaps the one publication where the book was tossed was the one place where it might have been reviewed. You'd never know.

One option is to keep your costs down by using print on demand for your ARCs for trade publications like Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. You could probably get by with the ARC stickers for postpublication reviews at newspapers, magazines, etc., where there the submission guidelines aren't set in stone. Also, in these situations, the package would likely be opened personally by the reviewer or columnist, who would make an informed decision on whether to review the book.

You're right, a prominent review can make all the difference. On the other hand, the chances of any book getting reviewed aren't too great, and increasingly, trade reviews have less and less bearing on which books really succeed in the marketplace.
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