Glossary
ARC
Also called advance reader copy, advance review copy
An ARC is an early copy of a book that an author sends to readers and reviewers before release day, so reviews and word of mouth are ready when the book goes on sale.
Checked by Dario Griffo, founder of Lanternbee, on .
What it means
An ARC is a copy of your book that goes out before anyone can buy it. Most ARCs today are ebooks, often an EPUB or a PDF. Some authors still post paperback ARCs to a few reviewers, booksellers or librarians.
A fantasy author might send ARCs of book three to forty readers a month before launch, so reviews are up on release day. A business author might send a PDF to a handful of people in their field, hoping for a quote for the cover or a mention in a newsletter. A cookbook writer might send printed proofs to food bloggers who want to try the recipes.
The ARC is sometimes not the final text. Readers expect small typos, and many authors print “advance copy, not for resale” on the title page.
Why it matters when you sell direct
Reviews and early buzz help a book sell anywhere, including your own store. When readers land on your book page from your newsletter, they look for proof that other people liked it.
ARCs also carry a risk: an early file can be shared. Sending each reader a personal copy, and keeping a list of who got one, helps.
How Lanternbee handles it
Lanternbee has no ARC tool with a personal link for each reviewer. What you can do today is make a discount code for 100% off the book, limited to how many times it can be used and to a start and end date, and send it to your reviewers. They get the book free from your store, it lands in their library, and each EPUB copy carries their email. It is one shared code, though, and Lanternbee does not track who reviewed. The book has to be on sale in your store for the code to work, and a pre-order only reaches readers on release day, so this suits review copies at launch, not weeks before it.
If you need per-reviewer links or review tracking, keep BookFunnel or a similar service for review copies. Lanternbee sits next to it and handles the sales.
After launch, readers who got the book from your store can leave reviews on your book pages, and every one of them lands on your reader list so you can invite them to your next ARC team.