People periodically ask me* how ARCs get out into the wild. Well, there are three main ways, not counting contests. Namely...
1) You are already on a list, which is in the possession of my publisher, and they will send you one automatically. Most large review outlets are in this category. Feed is being sent to Fangoria Magazine, which is sort of like saying "Seanan, we're going to dip you in chocolate, roll you in selected pages from the script of Night of the Living Dead, and deliver you to James Gunn with a gift tag."
2) You contact my publisher and request an ARC. You probably need to prove that you have a review site or an affiliation with a legitimate review outlet. Your Livejournal is unlikely to count, I'm afraid. I'm sure there are exceptions, but you'll need a readership the size of like, Ohio.
3) You contact me through my website and request an ARC. I go through a lot of the same vetting steps as my publisher—I'll go read your blog, I'll look up the magazine you say you're affiliated with, I'll ask the magical moon ponies whether they've really seen you dancing naked at midnight in the middle of Mare Imbrium—before I decide one way or another.
Be aware that any time you elect for an option that includes the word "ask," you may get told "I'm sorry, no." ARCs are an extremely limited commodity, and just to make things more fun, the number printed tends to decline with each book. It's reasonable math. Your first book, you want to spread it as widely as possible. So you give more copies away, trying to create as much early excitement as possible. Your second book, well, some of that buzz already exists, right? So you don't need quite as many free copies out there, circulating and being read before the actual release date. As the number of people asking for ARCs goes up, the number of ARCs to be had goes down. This isn't the author being mean, or the publisher being dumb. This is using your promotional dollars as sensibly as possible.
What do ARCs have to do with promotional budgets? A lot. Page for page, making an ARC costs more than printing a hardcover. The print runs are small enough that they never tip over into bulk pricing, and since ARCs have no resale value (people selling them on eBay and earning my eternal annoyance aside), there's no way to recover the cost, beyond praying that sending the ARCs out into the world will result in positive reviews and higher sales. So as the "spread the word" value of the individual ARC goes down, the number of overall ARCs printed will also decline, putting those dollars back into the promo budget. I've been very lucky, and have received a decent number of ARCs for all three books to date. The definition of "decent" will continue to shift as days go by.
As a secondary note, if you ask me for an ARC, and I say "yeah, okay," and the ARC then shows up on eBay, I'm afraid I won't be sending you any further books. I can't afford the copies or the postage.
Hope this helps.
(*For values of "me" that mean "the Internet at large, only they use my name, so my Google spiders pick up the post and bring it back to me.")
I hate to say it...
January 27 2010, 22:31:59 UTC 7 years ago
Economics of course falls on deaf ears as most people don't understand that while you write for pleasure (so I'm learning - I don't have anything published or even close to it. me <--noob) they forget that you have to run the published end like the business it is. And that sometimes means being that nasty person who has to say no even when they want to say yes.
People love freebies unfortunately. And even more-so when times are tough as they are now. :-/
Re: I hate to say it...
January 27 2010, 22:35:05 UTC 7 years ago
I hate saying no. I still have to do it. :(
Re: I hate to say it...
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January 27 2010, 23:00:50 UTC 7 years ago
I have a question, if you don't mind answering in as much detail as you wish: I know you're a filk artist. To what extent do you deal with the music industry--for instance, you have CDs out; that requires the use of a recording studio, but are you affiliated with the music industry's equivalent of a publisher or agent? What kinds of similarities have you noticed between the music and book publishing industries?
I'm curious because I just started a class called "History of Rock and R&B" and among other things, we're covering how the music industry works. I'm a lot more familiar with publishing in the context of writing, but I don't know it well enough to be able to pick out what kind of things apply to both and which apply to only one. Copyrights, marketing, agents, that sort of thing. If you'd care to help my curiosity out, I'd appreciate it. :)
January 28 2010, 05:10:58 UTC 7 years ago
No agent, no real marketing outside of word of mouth. :)
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January 27 2010, 23:41:56 UTC 7 years ago
Just to be clear, this helps rather than hinders the getting of the ARC? (No, no I don't have any plans.) :-)
January 28 2010, 02:14:53 UTC 7 years ago
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January 27 2010, 23:45:13 UTC 7 years ago
But do they hang in the air in precisely the same way that bricks don't?
January 28 2010, 05:11:33 UTC 7 years ago
January 28 2010, 02:20:32 UTC 7 years ago
Do they sell these books cheap? Can you put me in touch with these people?
What kind of a person gets rid of a book?
January 28 2010, 05:12:34 UTC 7 years ago
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January 28 2010, 05:13:30 UTC 7 years ago
A Local Habitation will be available state-side March 2nd; not sure when it'll get to Canada (although people could carry it to FKO).
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January 28 2010, 09:47:55 UTC 7 years ago
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January 28 2010, 05:14:19 UTC 7 years ago
Ripley is losing the extra hair now that she's on thyroid meds, thankfully...
January 28 2010, 08:34:29 UTC 7 years ago
Sadly, I've experienced the law of diminishing ARCs more than I like to think about. Used to be I'd see ARCS from Jim Butcher or Kim Harrison or others of that ilk, but the more popular they get, and the further they get in their series, the less the publishers need people like me (I'm afraid 'contributor to SF Site and Green Man Review) pales in comparison to the New York Times...) Sooner or later, the time comes around when I no longer get the books from the future by my favorite authors. And that's like denying an addict his crack.
I will note, in all seriousness again, that in the current economic climate, publicity's taken a huge hit from what I can see. Used to be Penguin would send me just about everything from Ace, Roc, DAW every month, either as an ARC or as a finished copy. These days? Not so much. ARCs are far and few between, finished copies a little more plentiful, and I find myself running across books in the store and never even knowing they were out. Alas. So keep that in mind, people, the publicity-related freebies aren't as plentiful as they used to be in the golden ages. :>
February 1 2010, 22:08:14 UTC 7 years ago
January 28 2010, 14:03:35 UTC 7 years ago
February 1 2010, 22:08:23 UTC 7 years ago
January 28 2010, 16:26:06 UTC 7 years ago
Fangoria used to be the horror go-to for me, however the quality has slumped in the last few years (for me at least) and I've begun to seriously question the journalistic integrity of Fango's magazine writers/reviewers.
For my own selfish reasons I hope that Rue-Morgue magazine will be reviewing Feed! This is my new fave for horror/dark arts culture and news.
Good luck with both of your upcoming releases! I absolutely loved Rosemary & Rue so I have no doubt that they will both be winners :)
February 1 2010, 22:09:19 UTC 7 years ago
January 28 2010, 17:13:57 UTC 7 years ago
February 1 2010, 22:10:14 UTC 7 years ago
January 28 2010, 21:11:15 UTC 7 years ago
February 1 2010, 22:12:10 UTC 7 years ago
I'll ponder the eBooks thing.