The ARC question

[Megan @The Book Babe]

How do I get them, really?

Do I need to initiate contact, or will they?

What kind of information do I include in a request? 

What's the amount of followers I should have before I request?

Pageviews? Do they matter? 

Do they really care what your blog looks like?

Just any kind of information that you have would be helpful. Anything, really.  

thebookbabesreads.blogspot.com

[Jennifer Kitchens]

It depends on who you're asking.  There are a lot of sites out there that you can sign up with their "programs" to get free copies, some of them ARCs.  The most popular is NetGalley.  They deal mostly in eBooks, but if you're fine with that, they are great.  You sign up, then browse the available books.  Put in requests for what you want to read and then wait for approval.  I haven't used it myself in a while, but it was pretty easy the few times I've done it.

There are other sites like booksneeze, bloggingforbooks, and dorrancepublishing that also do a similar type of program, though they tend to have less ARCs, but still free books.

If you're going to contact a publisher directly, I would wait until you have some consistent numbers to tell them regarding your readership.  Pageviews and followers do matter to some publishers, especially the bigger ones.  If you're making this kind of request, I would make sure to make it professional and specific.  Tell them who you are, what kind of books you read, average pageviews and followers, a link to your site, as well as any specific book or books that you want to review.  It often helps if you email about a certain book or two - it both shows that you have taken the time to look at their inventory, as well as the fact that you know what you want.  Or, if you want ARCs that haven't been advertised yet too much, then be specific on what kind of books you are interested in and specialize in (ie, young adult or contemporary paranormal, etc)  It's hard to do and you will get shot down or ignored often - don't get discouraged.  

A third way is to ask around on forums like this.  Search out people who are posting and asking for reviews.  Once authors start using your services for reviews, they talk.  Then you might get more books (and ARCs) to review.

Good luck!

Clean Romance Reviews

[Megan @The Book Babe]

Thanks! I did Netgalley for a while, but now that I'm not in possession of my own computer anymore (it died) it makes it kind of hard. Thanks for the advice! :)

[Kerry Pacious]

I have used Net Galley. Many of my favorite authors I follow on FB & Twitter and they do giveaways for ARCs all the time. The more you are established in your blog the more opportunities you will have. Connect with people that do author promotions & blog tours. I personally go with Sizzling PR but there are many out there. I hope this helps

 

Kerry

I am a book addict...and proud of it

[Megan @The Book Babe]

It did! Thank you . :)

[ManOfLaBook.com]

I signed up for the giveaways on LibraryThing and Goodreads.

Once I won a few, and have estublished my blog (3-6 months of consistent blogs about books) I contacted the PR person whose name usually comes with the ARC, either in a letter or printed somewhere on the book.

That's how I made my first contacts.

Also, every publisher's website has a "Contact Us" page, some even have contacts for bloggers, or to request ARCs.

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Megan @The Book Babe]

Thank you! :)

[Colette]

For the popular arcs, initiate contact. Include how many followers you have on your blog, page views, twitter followers-anything that allows them to see how many people you can reach. Also be sure to include a mailing address in the request. Netgalley and edelweiss are your best bet if you don't have a lot of followers yet.

[Megan @The Book Babe]

Edelwiess? What's that? I'm still fairly new to all of this. :)

[Emily @ On Emily's Bookshelf]

You get them from publishers, giveaways, and sometimes authors.

I've had about 50/50 results, but up until a month ago no one contacted me with a review request, but in April a lot came in, for some odd reason, and so sometimes i've initiated contact, sometimes i've been contacted.

I include my blog name, how long i've been blogging, the genres/books(if you're looking for a specific one, include title, author, and sometimes ISBN) i'm looking for, and your mailing address- some publishers won't send books if you don't include your mailing address in the first email.

It varies, depending on the publisher. I've seen publishers who are fine with five followers, and some whom five hundred aren't enough for- it depends on the ARC, it's popularity, etc.

Yes. The horrible truth is that yes, stats matter. Think about it- if you had, let's say, five hundred copies of a book, and your job was to spread the word, would you give a copy to someone with 500 pageviews or someone with 5000? Yes, they are just a number, but the most important number out there, because they signify how many people look at your blog, care what you have to say. In this way, comments are also important too- your readers show that they care about what you post by commenting.

And it is a lot nicer to have a nicer blog- if you were looking for houses, and there was a plain, old one, and a fancy one both only costing you shipping, would you buy the plain old one or the fancy, beautiful one? At least, this is my opinion.

That's really all I have. Good luck! :)

[Megan @The Book Babe]

Thank You! I've been contacted a few times by authors, and have contacted a few authors myself, but I haven't had any luck with publishers. I've won some books, and if it's an arc, I've contacted publisher's with my review, but that's basically the extent of my contact, besides for one or two books, which I never got a reply on. :(

[Mary (BookHounds)]

Here is everything you need:

Parajunkee's Book Blogging 101

[Megan @The Book Babe]

Well, thank you! :)