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I claim you, from now until death finds us.
-Shadows of Sin
ARC TEAM EXPECTATIONS
I know this isn’t the fun part of joining an ARC team—the fun part is clearly the free books! But I take the ethics of requesting reviews from readers seriously, so these rules help you know what I expect from you, and what you can expect from me.
I EXPECT THAT YOU WILL...
SHARE YOUR HONEST OPINION
I insist that each and every ARC team member share their honest thoughts on my books. If I find any ARC team members posting reviews that don’t reflect their genuine opinion, that is a one-way ticket off of the ARC team. Of course I want you to love my books, but I know that not every book will fit every reader. Just be honest and constructive both about what you love and what doesn’t work for you.
COMMUNICATE WITH ME
Your ARC application commitment for leaving a review is before or on the day of release, so please email me with a new timeframe if you will take longer for a given book. Assuming you leave your review in that new timeframe, you’ll still be eligible for future ARCs.
KEEP ARCS PRIVATE
As part of your application, you have sworn to not giving away your ARC copy. I take this seriously because I’m not a celebrity author who sells millions of books per day. I’m always willing to help out a reader who contacts me and truly can’t afford one of my books, but every book that someone downloads from a piracy site or social media directly hurts me as an independent author.
Each ARC copy is unique to you, and my ARC delivery service can tell me if pirated copies came from an ARC team member. Violating this is as “zero tolerance” as not leaving honest reviews.
READ YOUR REVIEW REMINDERS
I will send some standard reminders with each and every email sharing that it’s time to post your review. These are important, so read them every time just in case something changes. With how often Amazon changes the rules, I’ll always keep these as current as I can to make sure that my ARC team is following both ethical practices and Amazon’s reviewer terms.
RESPECT THAT ARC COPIES AREN'T FINAL
The only restrictions I will make on what you put into your reviews relate to typos and formatting issues. Because I want you have enough time to read, ARC copies are often prepared as soon as the final story copyediting is complete. But the ARC might also come before final cleanup of the manuscript, so please don’t assume that any typos still exist in the published version. Feel free to share any you find with us privately, and we will make sure we check for them. But give our talented proofreader and formatter the benefit of the doubt and don’t mention any typos or formatting issues in reviews.
LEAVE AMAZON REVIEWS
While I acknowledge the value of, and appreciate, reviews on other ebook sites, the fact remains that Amazon reviews make the biggest difference for an independent author these days. You have committed to reviewing on Amazon as part of the application process, and I will indeed be expecting every ARC reviewer to leave a review on Amazon, even if you leave reviews other places.
DISCLOSE THE ARC OR NOT AS YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE
Amazon continues to hide reviews that suggest a relationship with the author, so reviews that disclaim that reviewers received a copy in exchange for a review might get hidden. I won’t ask that you avoid such a statement, but I also won’t insist that you include it either. Handle disclaimers in whatever manner makes you comfortable. If you do include them, just add them at the end so people know what you think about the book first.
CONFIRM ONCE YOUR REVIEW IS LIVE
Please share your review with us once Amazon confirms it’s published by emailing me. Note: communication avenue may change in the future.
YOU CAN EXPECT ME TO...
SEND COMPLETE STORIES
While I am still finding the best way to communicate with you (sending emails through Bookfunnel) I may still send regular emails. It’s important that you open any those emails. To make this easier, I won’t get cute with emails I send you guys about ARC team business. I’ll make sure to include “H.G. Johnston's ARC Team” in any miscellaneous emails I send regarding the ARC team.
LEAVE ENOUGH TIME TO READ YOUR ARC COPIES
I always try to leave around 1 month for you to read ARC copies. But I am only human. Every now and then I slip up and forget to leave you enough time for reviews. When this happens, I always make sure to apologize and ask that you do your best, but I won’t hold late reviews against you.
REMIND YOU WHEN IT'S TIME TO LEAVE A REVIEW
The ARC platform I’ve chosen, Bookfunnel, will send you a series of reminders for every ARC: beforehand to nudge you to finish up reading, on the day of release, and a reminder if you’re a couple days late. The same “only human” disclaimer aside (or unanticipated changes in Bookfunnel’s platform), it’s only fair that I help you honor your review timeframe commitment in any way I can.
UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE ALSO ONLY HUMAN
Yes, I certainly will remove an ARC team member who downloads all my books and never leaves a review, or who habitually “doesn’t get around” to reviewing for a month after launch. But if you’re a solid ARC team member who has had a run of bad luck or a major deadline at work, or even if you’ve just joined and something comes up, just tell me. We’re all human, we’re all doing our best in this busy world, and we’re all in this ARC team together. I’ll always treat you with patience and courtesy because, at the end of the day, you’re doing this to help me out.