ARCs From The Mail

Every week I receive packages from various publishers.
The contents of the packages can vary. Sometimes it is mass market paperbacks of new books. Sometimes it is hardcovers of new books. Sometimes it is a comic book. The publishers send these books to me with the hope that I will read and review them, spreading the word about the new releases for potential sales growth. Sadly, since I receive so many books a week, sometimes I can’t get to all of them.
But my favorite packages to receive contain Advance Uncorrected Proofs—or Advance Reader Copies (ARCs).
What are ARCs, you ask?
It’s simple. Once a book has been written, edited, and sent to the production team, it is placed into a designed interior layout until the pages look like what you will eventually hold in your hands. The author goes over those proof pages as a last chance to catch any incorrect information or errors. Then, before the book is sent to the printer, the manuscript is bound into a low print run of ARCs.
The ARCs are usually sent out three to six months before a book’s official release date and are primarily used for review and publicity purposes. They are sent to bookstores, newspapers, magazines, critics, professional bloggers—anyone who might help spread the word about the book.
This week I received four ARCs I am really excited about!

They are Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon, The Ruling Sea by Robert V.S. Redick, The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett, and Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian C. Esslemont.
As you can see, they are not the final copies that will be on bookstore shelves. They have very basic covers and the interior content can also change by the time publication happens. The books are usually quite close to the final product though.
All four of those books will be coming out between February 2010 and April 2010, respectively. I have been looking forward to these books, so it seems my Christmas has come early!
If you are fan of any of those authors, be on the look out on the internet(s) for those ARCs. It is illegal to buy ARCs as no percentage of that sale goes to the publisher or author, but you can sometimes find blogs or the authors themselves giving away their copies in contests!
Happy hunting!