Sep 3, 2018

Let's Discuss: Posting ARC Reviews

I always say every blogger is entitled to run their blog whatever way they want. I mean, it is their blog. But over the years I've noticed that some blogs--not naming names, because I can't even remember them to be honest since I didn't read the reviews--post ARC reviews super early. 


How Soon is Too Soon for ARC Reviews?


We all know that the point of ARCs is for reviewers to read and review them and post about them early to get attention for upcoming releases. But how soon is too soon to be posting the reviews? Do you post a few days in advance? A week? A few weeks? A month? More than a month?

Every now and then I am seeing a review for a 2019 book and I'm just like wow! That's early. I mean we're just breach September...there's still 3 months until the new year. If you post about a 2019 book too early, don't you think some people might forget about said book in 3 months? That seems to be extreme to me.

But I don't know how everyone else operates. If they have a different thought process in mind and that's why they are posting this review months before it will release. 

I tend to just post reviews a week early. Maybe I should up my game and go like 2-3 weeks, but that always feels too soon for me. I figure by post a week in advance, you're exposed to this book that is coming out really soon! And yet, you have just enough time to decide if this is one you need pre-ordered or will just buy right away or whatnot. A week was always my ideal time to post an ARC review.

For those of you who review ARCs, what do you prefer doing? What is your ideal timeframe for posting ARC reviews? Do you like posting a week in advance or do you post as soon as you've finished reading it months early? What's your opinion on this matter?






7 comments:

  1. Totally agree with your thoughts. I aim for posting my reviews in the two week period- a week before the book's release and a week after. Even if I read a book way before its release date I still wait until then. I think it's the most effective way to promote books, after all that's what ARCs are for? But I get that some people work differently and as long as it's exposure for the book it's good.

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  2. Like you, I forget about books if the review is posted too early. I try to post a week or two before publication. Of course, it depends on how many books I have releasing the same day. I only do adult reviews on Wed, Thurs, and Sat and YA reviews on Mon, Wed, Friday. I almost always post the review before publication but am thinking that the week of release would work too.

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  3. Here's my thing about posting ARC reviews, it depends on each book. There are some books where everyone has that ARC and everyone is buzzing about it very early. If you wait to post your review two weeks before the pub. date, readers have already heard about the book and have either pre-ordered it or didn't. And by then, they aren't looking at reviews anymore unless it's a controversial book. This is just my opinion though.

    Thanks for sharing,
    ~Brittany @ Brittany's Book Rambles

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  4. I, personally, don't like posting ARC reviews too early. I typically post them on the release day so that people who don't have access to ARCs can go out and purchase the book if they want to based on my review. Sometimes, if I absolutely LOVED a book and just can't wait to talk about it, I'll create a post with a list of reasons why you should pre-order the book, but it won't be my full review.

    --Sam @ Sharing Inspired Kreations

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  5. I post my review on Goodreads right away, and then schedule a review on my blog for 1-2 weeks before the release date. Blog tours seems to run from about a week or two before release to a week or two after release, so that month around the release date seems to sort of be the sweet spot?

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  6. When I first started blogging and started getting my first ARCs, I had no idea and just reviewed them as soon as I read them. Since then, I've learned that the publishers prefer you wait till within a month of the publishing date to post reviews. Now in a way, that has led to me getting a little behind sometimes on reading books, so I'm still rushing to try to get them in at the last minute instead of way ahead. But of course, that is also probably because I get so many more ARCs these days anyway. Fun post!

    You can check out my discussion post about audiobook narrators HERE

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  7. I recently read a post over at Brittany's Book Ramblings where a publishing professional talked about this. She said that no matter when you post a review it's helpful---early reviews help build buzz, reviews that come out right when the book is released bring it to people's attention, and later reviews remind people of the book. So, I guess there's no "right" time to post, but I do try to post within a couple of weeks before or after release.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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