For indie authors, reviews are not optional. They influence whether readers click on your book, whether Amazon recommends it, and whether your launch builds momentum or stalls in the first week. This guide walks you through everything you need to know about Advance Reader Copies: what they are, why they matter, how to build a reliable team of readers, how to distribute safely, what the rules are, and exactly how the process works from preparation to launch day.
What is an Advance Reader Copy?
An advance Reader Copy, sometimes spelled as Advanced Reader Copy and often abbreviated as ARC, refers to a copy of your book given to a select group of readers before its official publication date, with the purpose of collecting reviews in time for launch.
The group of readers who receive your ARC is commonly called your "ARC team." When the process works well, your ARC team reads your book in the weeks before launch and posts their reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, or other platforms as soon as your book goes live. You start your launch day with real, honest reviews already visible to potential buyers, rather than starting from zero.
It is worth being clear about what ARCs are not. ARCs are different from beta reads. Beta readers receive an earlier draft of your manuscript and give feedback on the writing itself: the pacing, the characters, the plot, typos. ARC readers receive a finished version of the book and their role is simply to read and review, not to critique. If you use both beta readers and ARC readers the expectations you set with each group should clearly reflect that difference.
Why ARCs Matter and What to Expect
When a potential customer lands on your Amazon book page for the first time, one of the first things they notice is the review count. A book with no reviews creates uncertainty. There is no social proof, no signal that other readers found it worth their time, and no way for a newcomer to gauge whether it fits what they are looking for. A book with a solid number of honest reviews tells a very different story, even if not every review is a five-star one.
Reviews also matter to Amazon's algorithm. New books with no early review activity tend to lose visibility quickly. Books that attract engagement in the first days and weeks after launch signal to the algorithm that readers are interested, which supports placement in search results and recommendation features.
ARCs break what is effectively a catch-22: you need reviews to generate visibility, but you need visibility to reach readers who will review. By distributing your book in the weeks before launch, you ensure that reviews are in place from day one rather than waiting for them to trickle in on a book that is already losing momentum.
One expectation that is important to set from the beginning: not every reader who receives an ARC will leave a review. Some will read your book and enjoy it, but not get around to posting. Some will not finish in time. Some will lose track entirely. This is a consistent reality of ARC programs, and the proportion of ARC readers who follow through with a review is often lower than authors hope for when they set up their first campaign.
This is why planning your team size with that gap in mind matters from the start. If you want ten reviews on launch day, your ARC team needs to be meaningfully larger than ten people. How much larger depends on how engaged and well-matched your team is, which is where building the right team comes in.
Building Your ARC Team
Some authors recruit fresh ARC readers for every new release. The more sustainable approach, however, is to build a long-term ARC team that you use across multiple books. Over time you accumulate a reliable group of readers who know what you write, enjoy your books, and understand what is expected of them. The process becomes significantly easier with each new release.
Start with your newsletter subscribers
Your existing newsletter list is the best starting point. These readers have already expressed interest in your work by signing up, which makes them far more likely to actually read an advance reader copy and follow through with a review than someone approached through a cold platform.
A straightforward invitation email to your list, or e.g. a subset of active subscribers of your list, asking who would like to receive early copies of your upcoming books in exchange for honest reviews is usually enough to get an initial team started. You can also include an ARC team invitation as part of your welcome email sequence for new subscribers, so every reader who joins your list is given the opportunity to raise their hand from day one.
Expand through social media and reader communities
Beyond your newsletter, your social media followers are a natural next pool. A post asking for ARC readers in your genre can attract engaged readers who are not yet on your mailing list. Genre-specific Facebook groups and reader communities on Goodreads are also worth exploring, though readers from these channels tend to be less familiar with your work than your existing subscribers, which affects how likely they are to follow through.
Prioritize genre fit above all else
Team quality matters more than team size. A reader who does not typically read your genre is unlikely to finish your book, and even less likely to leave a useful review. When building and maintaining your ARC team, prioritize readers who are genuine fans of the type of book you write. A smaller team of well-matched, motivated readers will consistently outperform a larger team of poorly matched ones.
How many ARC readers do you need?
There is no universal number, but the principle holds consistently: recruit significantly more readers than the number of reviews you want on launch day. Even with an engaged, well-matched team, a meaningful proportion of readers will not post a review. This is not a reflection of your book's quality, and there is no way to fully prevent it. It is simply how ARC programs work in practice, and experienced authors plan for it from the start rather than being caught out on launch day.
For a debut author, a team of around thirty to forty motivated readers is an achievable starting point and gives you a genuine shot at launching with a meaningful number of reviews. Established authors with a warmer list and a longer track record can often build larger teams over time as their reader base grows.
A note on who to include
Be thoughtful about including family members, close friends, or anyone with a financial relationship to you, such as a virtual assistant, cover designer, or editor. Amazon values reviews that come from independent readers with no personal or professional connection to you. Including people with a close relationship to you sits in a grey area at best, and carries the risk of reviews being flagged or removed. Building your team from genuine readers in your genre is both the safer and more credible approach.
Keeping your team organized
Once you have a group of readers who have agreed to be on your ARC team, add them to a dedicated group in your mailing provider, separate from your general subscriber list. This keeps your ARC communications clean and makes it simple to reach them as a group for each new release without mixing your messages with your regular newsletter.
How to Distribute ARCs
The simplest way to send an ARC would be to attach the book file to an email and send it directly to your team. This is also one of the riskier approaches though. Once a file leaves your hands as an email attachment, you have no control over where it goes. It can be forwarded, shared, or uploaded without your knowledge. Even if your readers have no intention of distributing it further, the file is effectively out in the wild.
There is also a practical issue for readers. Most people read books on a dedicated reading device, whether a Kindle, a Kobo, or a tablet. Receiving a book as an email attachment is not the experience they are used to, and converting a file to the right format and getting it onto their device adds friction that reduces the chance they will actually read it promptly.
The better approach is to use a platform with dedicated ARC distribution functionality. BookSparker, BookFunnel, and BookSprout are the most commonly used options among indie authors. These platforms control who can access your book by matching the reader's email address against your ARC team group in your mailing provider. Readers can download the book in their preferred format or have it delivered directly to their Kindle or other reading device, giving them the same seamless experience they would have with any regular book.
This keeps your content protected while also making it easier for your readers to actually read your book, which is the entire point. The more frictionless the experience, the more likely your ARC team members are to follow through.
Things to Keep in Mind
Amazon's rules on ARC reviews
Amazon KDP explicitly permits authors to provide free copies of their books to readers for the purpose of collecting reviews. This is an important distinction from physical products sold on Amazon's marketplace, where sellers are prohibited from offering free products in exchange for reviews. For books published through KDP, distributing advance copies for review purposes is clearly legitimate.
There are, however, boundaries to observe. According to Amazon's Terms of Service, leaving a review must always remain voluntary for the reader. You can ask your ARC team to post a review in return and you can explain why it matters to you as an indie author, but you cannot require it as a condition of receiving the book. If a reader downloads your ARC and posts nothing, that has to be genuinely acceptable.
When choosing a platform for ARC distribution, it is worth paying attention to how they handle this. Some platforms use methods that go quite far in the direction of enforcing reviews from readers. This creates a real risk: if readers feel pressured and report to Amazon that they were required to leave a review, it can lead to reviews being removed and your account being flagged. A platform that handles distribution professionally while leaving the communication and follow-up in your hands is generally the safer choice.
Amazon's Terms of Service also specify that you can only ask for an honest review, not a positive one. Also, readers who leave a review for a book received for free are expected to disclose this within the review. A brief statement such as "I received a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review" at the end of their review is all that is required.
Reviews and KDP Select
If your book is enrolled in KDP Select (to make it available through Kindle Unlimited), you have agreed to exclusivity: your book will be available only through Amazon. For books that are already published and enrolled in KDP Select, distributing your book to an ARC team through a third-party platform is technically in conflict with that exclusivity agreement.
For new releases, however, there is an important nuance that many authors overlook. The KDP Select exclusivity period begins on your release date, not at the point you upload your manuscript. Even if you have already uploaded your book to KDP and ticked the KDP Select box, you can distribute your ARC to readers before the release date without breaching the exclusivity agreement. Your book only enters KDP Select the moment it officially goes live.
If you plan your ARC timeline correctly and ensure that distribution closes before your release date, KDP Select exclusivity does not have to prevent you from running an ARC campaign for new releases.
The Common Process of Using ARCs to Get Reviews
The steps outlined below assume you have already built your ARC team. With your ARC team already in place, the process for each new release typically involves three stages: setting up a landing page for your ARC book, sending an email to your team with access to the book, and sending a follow-up email asking for reviews once your book is live.
Step 1: Set Up a Landing Page for Your ARC Book
For each new release, you need a controlled way to give your ARC team access to the book. BookSparker is designed specifically for this. Within BookSparker, you set up a dedicated landing page for your ARC book. This page is not publicly accessible. Only readers who are part of your ARC team group in your mailing provider can download from it, keeping your content protected while making distribution easy to manage.
Through BookSparker, readers can choose their preferred download format or have the book delivered directly to their Kindle or other reading device. This removes the friction of manual file conversion and gives your ARC team the same experience they would have with any other e-book.
One practical feature worth using is the option to set an expiry date on your ARC landing page. Setting the page to close just before your release date means you automatically comply with KDP Select rules without having to remember to close access manually. Once the page expires, the download is no longer available.
For the ARC file itself, most authors use the same version they upload to KDP. One possible useful addition is to include a direct review link in the back matter of the ARC file. For a book on Amazon, leaving reviews is only possible once the book is live. But already including the review link surely doesn’t hurt.
Step 2: Send an ARC Email to Your ARC Team
Once your landing page is ready, notify your ARC team. Send an email from your mailing provider to your ARC team group, including the link to your BookSparker landing page. BookSparker handles the access control automatically, ensuring that only readers on your ARC team can download the book.
Keep this email warm and personal. Your ARC team members have volunteered their time to support your book, and the tone of your communication should reflect that. Tell them what the book is about, share your release date, and let them know how much you appreciate their help. This is not a transactional request. It is an invitation to be part of your launch.
Timing matters here. Send this email early enough that your readers have a realistic chance to finish the book before your release date. Most authors find that sending the ARC one to two weeks before launch gives readers enough time while keeping the momentum close to the release. A book that arrives with only a few days to go leaves very little margin for real life to get in the way.
Step 3: Send an ARC Review Email to Your ARC Team
Once your book is live, send a second email to your ARC readers asking them to post their review. This is the email that drives the actual review activity, so it is worth taking care with the tone and the details.
Keep it genuine and human. Explain how much reviews mean to you as an indie author, and remind your readers how easy it is to leave one. You cannot ask for a positive review, but you can absolutely be honest about why reviews matter and how they other readers to you’re your book. Remind your team that readers who received a free advance copy should include a brief disclosure in their review, such as: "I received a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review."
Pro Tip: Use a Direct Review Link: Rather than linking to your book's product page and asking readers to find the review form themselves, include a link that takes them directly to the review submission page. On Amazon, this link takes the following format:
https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?asin=[YOUR-ASIN]
Replace [YOUR-ASIN] with your book's ASIN number, which you can find on your KDP dashboard or on your Amazon product page. For example, clicking the following link takes a reader directly to the review page for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:
https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?asin=B019PIOJYU
Removing every unnecessary step between your reader's intention to review and the moment they actually submit it meaningfully increases the proportion who follow through.
If your ARC team includes readers from multiple countries, there is an additional step worth taking. Amazon operates separate stores for different regions, and a link to the US review page will not work smoothly for a reader in the United Kingdom, Canada, or Australia. BookSparker's Smart Book Links feature solves this automatically. You create a single link, and BookSparker redirects each reader to the review page on their local Amazon store based on their location. A reader in Australia is taken to the Australian Amazon review page, a reader in Canada to the Canadian one, all fully automated from the same link in your email.
Ready to Run Your First ARC Campaign?
BookSparker gives you a free ARC distribution page, access control via your mailing provider, expiry date setting, and direct Kindle delivery. Free to use on every plan, including Free Forever.
If you need any help setting up your ARC landing page, configuring Smart Book Links, or organizing your ARC team group in your mailing provider, reach out to us. We are happy to walk you through it.
