As a Book Blogger, ARCs are a natural phenomenon to me. Now you may or may not wonder what an ARC is, so I will help you out here and tell what ARC is an acronym for.
ARC is used interchangeably for all of the following.
- Advanced Readers Copy
- Advanced Reading Copy
- Advanced Review Copy
These are called Proofs or Proof copies.
You may wonder what ARCs are. So here goes.
It is a copy of a book (can be physical and digital) that is provided to a book blogger before all edits and formatting are made. This copy does not have the final cover most of the time as well.
The main reason for the distribution of ARCs is to build hype around a title near its release so that they may translate into higher sales of the books.
Now, to the purpose of the post. I am writing this post to point out the problems I have with ARCs. They are;
- Formatting: I hate (LITERALLY HATE) the formatting of ARCs. Specially in the digital copies. It is so bad one has to sometimes make guesses as to what may or may not be happening.
- Editing: As a Grammar Nazi, I just can’t stand grammatical errors or spelling errors in what I read and write. Does not necessarily mean that I don’t end up making them here and there, but I still hating them in what I read. It is not as if I am going to read the book again once a finished copy is available!
- Quoting: Sometimes, when reviewing, I like to talk about certain instances in a book that I felt strongly for (positive and negative) but it’s difficult to do so when you aren’t sure if a particular instance will come out the same in the final copy.
- Book Cover: As someone who has admitted on record to judge books by their covers, this put a very big setback because the cover of the ARC is not really the cover of the book and does not give any information on the book. It’s like a curtain is always between me and the book.
I think I have been able to put in all my thoughts about ARCs up there.
As you may wonder what may have brought this one, let me tell you that I am currently reading an ARC and despite whatever the story and the plot, this formatting and editing will form a part of the rating I ascribe to the book.
Happy Reading!
Hina Loves To Read 
I have to politely disagree with you rating the ARC on its formatting and editing. You have chosen to read an advanced copy which for the majority are uncorrected proof copies of the manuscript. To penalize the book and it’s Author for your decision to read a copy not in its final form is I feel unfair. It most likely won’t reflect the formatting or editing of the final edition. However, I will state I have read the same ARC and some grammatical choices of the author were frustrating so I agree with you on that point.
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I respect your opinion but as I said, those things matter to me. I have read ARCs which are formatted and edited to an extent and it shows.
At the end of the day, I believe the publishers and authors owe it to bloggers and reviewers to provide them with a copy that resembles the final piece at least.
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The formatting and editing of the ARCs are an issue for me too, Although I understand that these are uncorrected copies and make it a point to not decrease my ratings of the book, they do make me a little frustrated while reading.
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I get it about them unfinished but I believe the reviewers and bloggers deserve to be given something in which the editors and publishers have put in some effort. After all, it takes a lot of energy for us lot to read and then formulate a review, don’t you think.
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That is a fair point, I have to agree.
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Thank you
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Really an interesting take on ARCs. There are few facts I wasn’t aware of.
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Thanks!
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