Advance Reading Copy and Advance Reader’s Edition
I collect Advance Reading Copies, better known as ARCs. ARCs are uncorrected proofs or galleys printed prior to the publication of a book for promotional purposes. You may also hear them referred to as an Advance Copy, Advance Readers Copy, Advance Review Copy or Advance Reader’s Edition. Either way, I find them intriguing and seek them out whenever I buy.
Advance Reader’s Editions are great because they’re scarce (print runs are very small) and you can often get the book well before it’s actually available to the general public. Better yet, they’re in soft cover format instead of a bulky heavy hard cover book. To top it all off, they’re generally cheaper than a First Edition.
An Advance Readers Copy usually has a letter from the editor in the preface and includes marketing and publicity information on the back cover. The cover art on an ARC may be completely different and sometimes there are real differences in the content, though that seems more the exception than the rule in my experience. There are frequently typographic errors in the text, though I don’t find that it detracts from my reading of the book. In fact, it’s a sort of sleuthing that I enjoy. It enhances the feeling of privilege - that you’re getting a sneak peek at the author’s work.
Collecting ARCs isn’t really mainstream, but it is acknowledged by bibliophiles and I highly recommend reading the esteemed Ken Lopez’s take on the topic. There’s also a bit of controversy about the subject from a publisher perspective, exacerbated by the used books market on the Internet. Every Advance Reading Copy is labeled as ‘Not For Sale’ on the cover, plain as day. Never mind that pesky ‘possession is nine tenths of the law’ axiom.
Scribner went so far as to put a letter on the cover of Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story that essentially pleads and browbeats recipients into not reselling the book. In this letter EVP Susan Moldow cites previous experiences in which Advanced Reader’s Editions showed up on eBay shortly after being distributed. I find it a bit shocking that a publisher is worried about such a small rounding error.
Instead, I’d like to think Scribner isn’t that shortsighted, that perhaps this was a bold, sly move to encourage people to sell copies on eBay and increase the buzz on the book. I mean really, what better way to get folks to sell these on eBay than to actively campaign against it right on the cover. Talk about a collector’s item! Fine Books & Collectibles has a nice article on the subject, including a stance on the unenforceability of the ‘Not For Sale’ language.
Unfortunately, publishers are concerned about the resale of Advance Reader’s Editions. A few times a year Alibris would get threatening letters from publishers or their lawyers demanding that we remove certain ARCs from the site. With that in mind I actually held off on my review of Zeroville until it was published. I’d purchased it as an ARC well before the release date, another great addition to my collection which includes (among others) Fluke by Christopher Moore, Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem, Jennifer Government by Max Barry, Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff and Th1rte3n by Richard K. Morgan.
Thing is I gave Zeroville a great review which might have helped the hype and sales. In my mind, Advance Reading Copies are to books what private Beta sites are to the Internet. What do you think? Are you a reader who likes the idea of an ARC? If you’re an author, what’s your take? Any publishers nosing around the blog, jump into the fray! Booksellers, have you gotten those nasty-grams from publishers? If so, what did you do?
January 8th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
I’ve received two e-mails from authors before about the sale of ARC’s. We sell about 1 or 2 ARC’s a week…always, of course, after the book is published and usually a year or two later that we’ve picked up at thrifts or in bulk online. I completely ignored the e-mails…there is absolutely nothing wrong with selling ARC’s provided the book is already been published and is print.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Hope you enjoyed JG.
If you’re interested in an author’s perspective, I wrote about ARCs a little while back:
http://www.maxbarry.com/2005/11/24/news.html
Max.
January 9th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Max,
Thanks for stopping by and yes, I very much enjoyed Jennifer Government. (Wincing a bit regarding my Company review now.)
I hope you get the film adaptation made soon, I think JG would work well on the big screen. Kidman over Garner eh? Split the difference, maybe Jessica Alba? Sort of a Dark Angel revisited type of thing, right?
January 9th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
First of all, I think that one of the major points of ARCs is so you can write an early review - so no need to hold off - publishers usually ask that any “quotes” be verified against the final version -
but the whole issue of selling them becomes a non-issue when looked at logically -
first of all, yes, it is true that publishers do not make any money from their sale; the production of ARCs is a form of advertising - of publicity for the book - so do publishers make any money if a copy of a magazine with their ad in it is sold? Of course not -
Any ARC which is being sold is being sold as a “second hand book” - authors do not make any money from the sale of second-hand books - nor, by the way, do they make money from remaindered copies.
If an ARC becomes a “hot” item, it just might keep the number of remaindered copies down -
In terms of publicity, it is better for both the author and the publisher is the ARC is sold and read again (assuming, of course, that the book is worth reading) - if the ARC can command a high price, that is almost always an indication that the real first printing is either “huge” (like Steven King’s books) or will sell out (like “The Kite Runner”)
Therefore for good books, selling an ARC can be a benefit, and for mediocre books, it is irrelevant - it is hard to even give away some of those ARCs -
The other side of the issue is what should happen to ARCs after they are published -
Basically, there are 3 choices:
1. destroy them - since ARCs are sometimes bibliographically significant (representing the earliest published version of the book, sometimes different from the final version, and sometimes including information about the size of the print run, comments from the author, etc) this is certainly not a good option (although I’m sure many are destroyed)
2. give them away (which, of course, makes no money for the publisher or author and so has all the drawbacks of selling them and none of the benefits)
3. sell them - which has the added benefit of showing that the author’s work is “valued” - perhaps even collected….
January 12th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I look at ARC’s and related advance printings purely from a collector’s point of view (i.e., a pristine, mint, unread copy of the earliest uncorrected proof is the most desireable). From this perspective, I do not believe it is much of an issue about the purchase affecting retail sales. A hard cover first edition copy is just as important to me as a collector as a mint uncorrected proof copy is. I think an Advance Reading Copy is LESS desireable than an Uncorrected Proof simply because an ARC is intended to be read for purposes of publicity and review whereas a Proof, if it is truly an earlier printing, provides a serious collector or researcher additional insight into the thinking of the author and editor as the book approaches its formal release into the marketplace.
Steven Williams
January 13th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I had an Op Ed piece published in the Small Publishers Assoc. of N. America’s SPAN Connection Nov 07 magazine with a contrary view provided by Steve Weber of PlugYourBook.com. It was a reprint of my Oct 5 blog entry. Anybody Want to Buy a Hot Galley?
The last thing we need is yet one more law that cannot really be enforced. Besides, why should anyone care if those ARCs are sold? If sales of what should be a relatively small number of ARCs are going to significantly decrease your sales, you need to rethink your entire marketing plan.
Once you have given or sold the book to me, it is my property. I can do just about anything I want with it, short of making unauthorized copies (violating copyright). There is nothing illegal about it, nor should we try to make it so.
Although some publishers do send out hundreds of ARCs, for most books that is a foolish waste of money (IMHO). We send out ARCs to the big pre-pub reviewers (all six of them) and a carefully selected list of people whose endorsement on a book might make people look twice. (Although there is reason to doubt that celebrity or expert endorsement truly increase sales for most books, but that’s a different topic.)
If those ARCs find their way into the marketplace, rather than going in the trash, I am happy about it. More people to see and read it. More possibilities for some word-of-mouth and viral marketing.
We always make sure our ARCs are as close to final product as possible, so we don’t worry about the negative effects of an unedited book having a negative effect on our image.
We frequently send out promo copies of the final book to bookstores and other retailers. I always tell them to feel free to put it on the shelf and sell it with no obligation to ever pay for it. When it sells, they may decide to order more for stock.
Here’s the last paragraph from my Op Ed/blog entry:
“There are a lot of shady practices, archaic standards, and inherent inequities in the whole idiotic publishing industry. To shift the focus of our ire to something as trivial as reselling ARCs seems shortsighted and a waste of time, energy, and resources.”
And that’s the view from my knothole as a micro-publisher and author.
Walt Shiel
http://SlipdownMountain.com
http://FiveRainbows.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/waltshiel
January 15th, 2008 at 2:33 am
Wikipedia lies! All I said was that the producers floated the idea of Nicole Kidman to play Jennifer Government, and that sounded good to me. My “primary choice” would probably be Naomi Watts.
But writers don’t get to pick these things.
I will stop derailing your comment thread now.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:54 am
*chuckling* Wiki does lie. Naomi Watts … I can see that. A King Kong meets 21 Grams like performance would fit Jennifer Government.
True, writers don’t get to pick these things. or … hey, maybe that can be part of the newly negotiated WGA contract!
No worries about thread tangents. Though, returning to the original theme, I actually sought out and found a Syrup ARC. I’m assuming you’ve got one by now but if not I can pass it along to you once I’ve read it.
February 29th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I’ve been trying to find out whether or not it truly is illegal to sell ARCs (after the book has been published and released to the public). I keep seeing that it is, but I want to find the law that actually states this. Does anyone know what or where it is? If so, do tell.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:53 am
I have TONS of these ARCs lying around. I NEED to start getting rid of them, but I really don’t know what to do with them. I generally like to obey the rules, and you aren’t supposed to sell them (presumably because the book is forthcoming) but in most cases, my ARCs are YEARS old, and anyone who was going to buy or read the book already has.
This is complicated by the fact that I don’t even know where to sell them. I tried taking them to a used book dealer and they didn’t want them.
This is very frustrating because some are by well known authors, and I know there are collectors out there who would want them…