Seeking ARC Readers

What are ARC Readers?

ARC stands for Advanced Reader Copies.

Many authors have advanced readers. Many of you may already know what advanced readers do.

This post is for those who would like to know more. It is important to note that ARC readers are not paid.

Advanced readers actually get to read a book before it is actually published.

Authors provide book copies in PDF, Mobi, or ePub formats to the reader.

 Advanced readers give the writer feedback on topics including:

1. Does the plot work?
2. Is the main character interesting? Does he/she act in ways that make sense?
3. Does the plot crisis work or fall flat?
4. What side characters might have a good story to tell?
5. And many other questions.

While the job of the advanced reader is not to edit or correct mistakes in grammar or spelling, most of the time, ARC readers will let the author know if there are really bad mistakes. Basically, the ARC reader is one of the first readers.

One of the major advantages to the reader is to see the book first. For the author, the ARC reader provides feedback and, hopefully, is willing to provide a review when the book goes up on Amazon or another online retail store.

It is important to understand that ARC readers are not paid for reading, commenting, or reviewing the books they read.

ARC Readers vs. Beta Readers

While ARC readers read books before or just after publication, beta readers read books while they are being written. For instance, Arwen Chandler is my beta reader. As I write, I send two or more chapters to her for her to read. She lets me know if she finds mistakes.

For instance, I used the word 'clip' when discussing guns. She was quick to let me know military and police would not use 'clip,' but would instead use 'magazine.'

Good ARC Readers

A good beta reader is hard to find. A good ARC reader is also hard to find. While it is against Amazon's Terms of Service to pay for reviews or trade reviews, the time-honored system of providing advanced reader copies to those who might be willing to write a review are acceptable.

Amazon wants the ARC reviewer to state in the review that they were given an advanced reader copy of the book. This helps Amazon's customers to differentiate between ARC reviews and those who actually purchased the book from those who were given copies.

Currently, I am seeking five to ten ARC readers. If you are interested, please contact me at author@lynnnodima.com.

• Loves to read
• Likes paranormal, fantasy, and werewolf stories
• Has time to read a novella length story each month
• Is willing to give feedback to the author
• While not required, a commitment to leave a review on Amazon after reading the book is appreciated
• Wants to read books written for a PG-13 or younger audience
• Is willing to read PDF or Mobi copies of my novellas/stories or books (let me know if you don't want to read a book-length story)

I look forward to hearing from anyone interested in being an ARC reader for me.

Later,

Writers: Ping That Blog

Why You Should Ping Your Blog

Pinging your blog posts helps Google and other search engines find your page. It's almost like sending a newsflash to the local television station when you have a newsworthy event. Adding a page to your blog, or updating an old post, are newsworthy events in the world of blogging. You need to let the search engines know the new content, or revised content, is available so they will crawl your page and index it.

Indexing your site allows Google to locate your page when a user types in a key term or key phrase search parameter, such as 'werewolf romances.' If my page has content about werewolf romances, it will be returned in the search. Where it is returned depends on a lot of factors, including how well you selected and used your key terms (a totally different topic).

When you are trying to get your site to rank higher or have more visitors, you should also leave comments on other blogs. After the comment is approved, if it doesn't show right away, ping that page, too. You are helping search engines find links back to your pages, and helping the blog you commented on, too.

Need more information? How and Why to Ping Your Blog is a good article to learn more.

Later,

Draft Cover Reveal for Wolf's Mission: Book 3 of the Texas Ranch Wolf Pack Series

Wolf's Misson: Book 3 of the Texas Ranch Wolf Pack Series

Draft Cover Reveal

Book 3 of the Texas Ranch Wolf Pack series, titled Wolf's Mission, is started. At this point, I have five chapters done.

As soon as I get them back from my beta reader and make needed corrections, I will post the first two chapters.

In this story, Nate, the Alpha to the Texas Ranch Wolf Pack, and his changeling brother, Eli, are sent to rescue a werewolf secret agent captured by the Huntsmen.

The cover shown here is the fourth one I created. It is my favorite of all the covers I made, but it still needs some smoothing and blending. As soon as I have the final version, I'll be posting it here on my blog.

I didn't expect Wolf's Man (Book 1) and Wolf's Claim (Book 2) to do very well today, since it is July 4th. I was surprised to sell some copies and have some reads in Kindle Unlimited, too. It really made my day!

Happy July 4th!

I hope you have a great day with family and friends!

Later,

UPDATE:

The final cover is ready (as in I really think this is the cover I will be using for Wolf's Mission).

Let me know what you think of it in the comments below!

Get Caught Up on the Series!

Book 1: Wolf's Man
Book 2: Wolf's Claim
Book 3: Wolf's Mission
Book 4: Wolf's Huntsman
Book 5: Wolf's Reign (Coming Soon!)