ARCs - Advanced Reader Copies and Amazon

I want to talk about Advance Reader Copies (ARC's) and specifically Amazon.

 

This may well be another one of my less popular subjects, but since making up my mind to be honest with my readers, I can't stop now. 😊

 

An ARC - per Amazon terms of service - must be sent out BEFORE the book goes live. If they go out after the author is, technically, violating the rules if the book is in Kindle Unlimited. That's a big point to be aware of because though it might not happen often, it can lead to termination of the author's account.

 

The only reason any author gives away ARC's is to get reviews. Reviews help other readers decide if they are willing to take a chance on a book or not. The idea is that the increased “social proof” will come back to the author in the form of income by increasing sales/reads. 

 

This is a fair and equitable exchange. The ARC Readers gets a book for free. The author ideally sells more copies of said book making up for the one lost potential sale. The review is the payment the author gets for giving the reader a free book. As has been said, free doesn't feed the kids, but in this an ARC is not a free book. It's a trade for something besides money in return.

 

This system has been in place for many, many years. Before self-publishing even. The Big 5 houses use this same idea and send out ARC's. It's a long-standing agreement between reviewers and publishers that has worked well through history.

 

But then Amazon gets involved. I have many, many ARC readers, some of whom have been with me for literal years. And then, out of nowhere, Amazon bans them and deletes all their reviews. One reader had tens of thousands of faithful reviews deleted! 

 

Because it's Amazon this is almost always done with no warning, no reason given, and no recourse for the reviewer. Amazon doesn't have to give a reason. It's their playground and for all intents and purposes, they don't care. 

 

Assuming the author's books are in Kindle Unlimited, they are now in a bad position. They can't equitably exchange a book for a review. The one place they can “sell” their book is Amazon. The one place the reviewer can't leave a review is Amazon. 

 

The author has to make the decision to cut off that reviewer or not. Which, I am speaking for myself, feels f**k*ng terrible. I know many of these reviewers and am close to them, but now what? How do I, or any author, deal with this? 

 

In the end, it's a business decision. James, who is a life-long entrepreneur, has always said business and friendship don't mix, that's the path to poverty. Plus, do not forget, this isn't my decision, it's Amazon.

 

I think what is happening is that Amazon, in general, hates “paid” reviews. They seem to be considering ARC readers “paid” reviewers because of the exchange. Amazon is increasing their stringency on the reviewers and seem to be heading towards potentially blocking all of them. 

 

They already want a reviewer to note that they got the book for free, which honestly devalues the Review anyway. When I'm browsing myself if I see that on a product it lowers the review in my consideration of the product. Nothing against the reviewer, but that's why Amazon does it. 

 

This situation with reviewers is happening more and more. Almost every release this year I've had one or more reviewers reaching out to me with their reviews being delayed or blocked. I've seen a lot of them lose their rights to review at all. It's terrible. I hate it, but, again, what is an author to do?

 

The linchpin of the problem is Kindle Unlimited and its exclusivity clause. If a book is not in that program, then the author can do whatever they want because it's our product. Our work and our create. You can require reviews on the other sites in exchange on those books. That's not the case on books in KU because… Amazon. 

 

I wish I had the answer to this, but I don't. My heart goes out to the reviewer who it affected and to all the readers who lose out on that reviewers' opinions and insight. There isn't an answer I know of to this one. 

 

James and I do okay, but it has been a lot tougher since the pandemic as it has for most everyone. That's why we're diversifying and figuring out new ways to use our intellectual property (fancy way of saying the stories/books) to create new income streams. We both really want to not depend on Amazon because of the way they treat authors and reviewers. 

 

We also want readers to read our books! And we want them to be affordable to anyone because reading is awesome and that's why we write. Kindle Unlimited is an awesome program for readers. If they would eliminate the exclusivity, it would be awesome for authors too.

 

All these things are in our minds and hearts while we continue figuring things out one day at a time. We're very, very grateful for every reader because as I said, we still make our full time living doing this and there aren't that many authors that can say that.

 

This is already too long. If you read this far, thank you! I want to hear your feedback. Here's a fast response if you prefer to answer that way but I love hearing your thoughts too.