Pros and Cons of Review Copies and ARCs | Discussion Post #4

Hello everyone!

Today I’m here to talk about (as you already know from the title) the pros and cons of ARCs and Review Copies.. This is just my opinion. We might agree or not and that’s totally fine!

I think lot of people have already talked about this but I haven’t talked about my thought in my blog. And I thought this might be a good opportunity as any others and I hope you can tell me your opinion too!

Pros:

–> You get to read the book before the release date. This is great and even more if you have been expecting this book.

–> You have contact with authors and publishers. If you are a blogger, booktuber, bookstagrammer or something like these this is really helpful for you account/blog/chennel/etc. Once you work with some you might work with more or keep working with some of those. You get some experience in that.

–> You help authors and publishers with books, you let other people know about them.

–> If you are not so motivated about reviews by yourself, this might be a good way to get done some reviews.

–> You might find one of your favourite books or series, or if not favourites, really good ones!

–> You might influence other readers. With these what I want to say is, you read and review that ARC/review copy, someone reads that review goes and reads the book and loves it. Isn’t that amazing? I think it is. And it’s a win-win situation because:

a) the reader of the review found a book that he/she loves.

b) the reader found a fellow booklover that has similar tastes, so now you can fangirl together and you can recommend books to each other.

c) the blogger/bookstagrammer/booktuber whatever has now a new reader,follower,etc.

All this because of that ARC/Review Copy. (Maybe this is all a little too much but hey! it can happen!)

Cons:

–> If the book has a sequel or other book, you have to wait more for the second book, or next book.

–> The pressure and stress. You can get really overwhelmed by this. Having deadlines, reviews to write, videos, post to do everything you want to do in time. It can be really stressful and tiring.

–> You can find yourself just reading ARCs or review copies and not reading other books that are already out in the world.

–> You might not read what you really want just because you need to read those ARCs or review copies in time.

These are all the pros and cons I can think now.

My experience:

When I started blogging I found asking for ARCs or review copies so amazing that I just requested a lot, or accepted a lot. Now I’m dealing with the consequences of that. I have lots of books to review and I’m so behind my list. For months I couldn’t read what I wanted just because I needed to review those books. And I don’t want to be in that situation again. Now I have a better control over myself, trying to get that list of ‘for review’ down but also trying to read whatever I want. It’s not easy, I’m not going to lie, but I’m trying.

Saying No to review copies/ARCs:

It’s not easy and I really hate saying no to some books that might be really good but as I said before, I have this long list I want to finish.

Be realistic with yourself, think what you have to read and what you want to read before you accept a book. That’s what I tell myself.

For month my review page has been saying that I don’t accept review request and I think it will be like that for a while because I need to read what I already have. The authors/publishers who contacted me deserve their review and I’m so late sometimes that it makes me sad. But I’m learning of that. And that’s the best part. I’m learning to consider all things and to think what I want and I can read.

Are review copies or ARCs good or bad?

I can’t answer for you. Eeveryone is different. For me they are good as long as I control how many I have.

Okay, this turned out to be more than Pros and Cons, more deep and long than I thought it would be (😂) but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Let me know your opinion: Are review copies or ARCs good or bad? Do we agree in some pros and cons?