Dec 13, 2013

ARC Essentials with Bloomsbury


ARC Essentials is a new feature here on the blog where I have interviewed several publishers about the process for requesting review copies and then what to do once your review is written and posted. Each publisher has their own way of handling things, so what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.

Today we have:




1. What should I include when asking for a review copy (Page view stats? Follower count? All social media accounts)?
Yes to all of the above! It never hurts to include as much info as possible.

2. How long should I be blogging before I ask for a review copy?
That depends on how many reviews, interviews, etc. you post. Basically, the more content you have, the better. But if you’re new to blogging and don’t have impressive stats to share, tell us what inspired you to start.

3. Who should I contact about receiving review copies?
At Bloomsbury, both marketing and publicity work with bloggers, so we recommend you send your request to TeensUSA@bloomsbury.com, which reaches all of us. We’ll take note of your request, even if we don’t respond, and do our best to get you what you’re looking for.  Also, let us know if you’d like to be included on our blog tour outreach. And please please please include your address. Even if you know we have it, always put it at the bottom of your email. It saves us so much time!

4. Should I email an author about obtaining a review copy and have them forward my request onto their publicist?
You can try that if you and the author have a relationship. But authors get a lot of emails, so you might find it’s not often fruitful. In general, we would prefer review copy requests come directly to us.

5. Do you expect me to review books I never requested, such as an ARC or finished copy I was sent but never asked for?
Not at all. We hope you’ll read—and love!—the books we send, but there is no expectation.

6. When is the best time to post a review?
No more than one month before on-sale, ideally the week it comes out. While pre-ordering is easy enough to do these days, it’s always better when your readers can get their hands on a book you’re excited about right away and share that joy with you. 

7. Where can I send in review links?
TeensUSA@bloomsbury.com. But also be sure to tweet it to us (@bwkids) so we can retweet!

8. Do you want to see all reviews I’ve done—positive and negative?
Yep! We want to know what you think. And if there’s something in your review you didn’t want to say publicly, feel free to include it in the email. We want to hear it all. 

9. Am I more likely to get approved if I request an eARC of a book instead of a physical copy?
Yes, if you can accept eARCs, that works in your favor because we don’t make as many physical ARCs as some of the bigger publishing houses. But if you prefer physical ARCs for any reason (you plan to use it for an ARC tour, for instance), let us know.

10. When is the best time to request a book or be asked to be put on a list to receive a review copy?
4-6 months before publication. Our mailings (for physical ARCs) will be sent 2-4 months in advance, which is about the same time as we post on Netgalley, so be patient if you don’t receive it or get approved on Netgalley right away.

11. Do you have a catalog mailing list for bloggers that I can request to be a part of?
No, but you can find our catalogs here: http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/company/catalogs.  Then send your requests in an email to TeensUSA@bloomsbury.com.

12. If I want to interview an author or ask them to write a guest post for my blog, is it best to contact the author directly?
You can do that, but bear in mind that we might be planning a blog tour and, therefore, you’d have a better chance of getting the author to do this by going through us. Also, in general, an author is going to be more likely to do it if the request comes through his/her publicist. But plenty of authors are open to being contacted directly, particularly debuts. So consider what you think is going to be the best route for that book and author.

13. Anything else you would like to add that you think bloggers should/need to know?
Sure!

1)      We respond to enthusiasm. Did you love an author’s earlier book and give it five stars (or whatever)? Include that in your email! Is this the book you’re more looking forward to this season? Or did you meet the author at an event or see them speak at a conference? Tell us!

2)      We sometimes like to do blogger meet-and-greets with authors before events, so if an author is coming to your city and you’re excited about it, tell us that! Or, if you want to hear about it when we have authors coming to your city, let us know and we’ll make a note.


3)      Finally, if a book is already on sale, consider buying it instead of asking us to send it. Just like galleys, we have limited copies of finished books available to send out. Plus, it’ll win our hearts. And also, it’ll probably be faster.  

Giveaway:
So this week I have another giant prize pack of Winter 2014 ARCs to giveaway from Bloomsbury! Here's what you could win:

A Breath of Frost by Alyxandra Harvey
Going Rogue by Robin Benway
Bright Before Sunrise by Tiffany Schmidt
Insanity by Susan Vaught
Lady Thief by A.C. Gaughen
Cured by Bethany Wiggins
Dangerous by Shannon Hale
Open Road Summer by Emery Lord


a Rafflecopter giveaway

38 comments:

  1. Oh, this is such a helpful feature, Hanna! Bloomsbury is an awesome publisher and I am going to request things from them in the future when I get caught up. I'm going to link up to this post in my weekly recap tomorrow. I think it's awesome and I want to share.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What Kara said. Very, very helpful feature. It's always good to know what publishers expect from bloggers who receive unsolicited books, etc.

    My holiday plans will consist of me cooking a whole heap of food and then some heavy reading and maybe some sleep thrown in. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is such a great feature! What a wonderful idea with awesome information.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm always amazed that they want your request in 3-6 months in advance of publication! That's just so far ahead of time. But, if you don't get your request in early, they might not have any more copies. That's been a hard lesson to learn, because I don't usually plan that far ahead of time.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great feature! I love it!
    You'll be at ALA midwinter again, right? If so, hopefully we'll meet again!
    I just have to take the time to figure out how to sign up, since I've never done one before. But it's in my backyard, so...! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nothing too fancy since family is working Christmas Eve. May go and check out 47 Ronin though!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I absolutely love this feature! It's so helpful for new and old bloggers alike. Thank you so much for putting these posts together for all of us. And for Christmas this year, my husband and I will be heading home (Chicago) to spend some time with both of our families.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We are headed to my parents house for Christmas! We always spend Christmas morning at home so that we can do a nice breakfast, open presents, etc. with just our little family. Mr. Betty hated waking up first thing and being shuffled off to his grandparents' house. I grew up with relatives far away so we were always home and I loved it. So....we compromise and get the best of both worlds! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. this is very helpful! thanks for posting this. even though I've been blogging for 2 1/2 years, I hate asking for books. for Christmas, I plan on staying in all day watching movies with my boys (we're a state away from the rest of our family)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Every on Christmas Eve, my husband's family gathers at my mother-in-law's house, and we exchange gifts. Christmas morning, my husband makes coffee and cinnamon rolls, and my dad comes over to our house along with my mother-in-law and husband's grandma. We watch our kids open their presents and exchange gifts. Sadly, I have no real plans for New Year's. >.<

    This feature is so helpful. I've never gotten up the courage to ask a publisher for an ARC before, and now I feel like I will know what I'm doing once I get the chance to do so. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This was awesome to see in my feed today because I was JUST thinking about requesting from Bloomsbury for the first time for a book I'm dying to read. This was very helpful, thanks!!!

    Holiday plans are just enjoying time with my kids and having family over!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love this new feature! Seriously, it's so helpful to know individualized information for each publisher. Thank you!

    As for my holiday plans, I'll probably spend Christmas with my sister and her family, and for New Year's Eve, I'm getting together with a bunch of friends for a swanky formal party.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Read and spend time with my boyfriend who is coming home from school :)

    Thanks so much for this super informative post and giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is areally great, helpful post. Thanks for posting this.

    As for the holiday's, nothing special. Staying home with family and friends.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well..so far my niece goes in a 1st annual parade saturday night so ill be going there to watch her and others!!! then i still got to get a little more stocking stuffers to get..Christmas Eve i have to work half time at my job then put all the kids to bed and get my living room set up..On Christmas i plan on getting up early with my son and watch him open his presents--he is going to be thrilled!!!! my sister and her kids will come over later on and then they will open presents too. After all my family has a big lunch/dinner.. thanks for the giveaway and Happy Holidays!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fallon Vaughn joefallon1@yahoo.com

    I plan on catching up on reading all my huge stack of books before I start classes in January.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love this feature so much!

    For the holidays I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing. Just decompress. I've very excited about it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Spend time with my little sisters, grandparents. Just all my family. Thank you very much. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Since this is college and it's going to be winter break soon for me, I'm planning on binge reading all the series I need to catch up with. Hopefully I'll get to read at least 40 books in a little more than a month! (:

    ReplyDelete
  20. Stay home and try to reorganize my rooms.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am really enjoying this feature! Lots of great information! My holiday plans are simple this year. We're staying home and for once I get to stay in pajamas and just spend time with my immediate family while we play with all our new toys. =) Happy holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I'll be spending some time with one of my best bookish friends and then going to Israel!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I plan to spend the day with my family, loving every minute of it!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I get to go home for Christmas! I love having Christmas at my parents. So many memories, I just love it! Thanks for all the great information as well.
    Brittany @Spare Time book blog

    ReplyDelete
  25. What a great feature! This was really helpful. My holiday plans consist of lots of Christmas movies, baking cookies, and spending time with family =) Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  26. For the holidays I am just staying home and skyping with my family who live on the other side of the country =) I will probably be doing a lot of reading as well!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I'm just staying home this year and catch up on reading =)
    Happy holiday and thanks for the giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I will be working. The company I work for thrives on Christmas traffic, so I work. :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. I shall be back to read the post when I have more time but to answer your question, we are doing a lot. This Friday we are getting together with my brother and his family and my grandma at a restaurant for dinner. Then we'll go back to my grandma's and exchange gifts. Then on Christmas day we will go to my grandma's house for dinner, one of her cousins will be there. Then sometime in the next few weeks we'll go to my great-aunt's house two hours away and have a big family get together.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Sitting around, gorging on food, and watching x-mas themed horror movies. Oh, and watching our dogs tear into their presents!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Planning on spending lots of time with family, baking, eating, and reading!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Christmas Eve service at my church probably, annual watching of White Christmas that night, presents on C-Day, then grandparents that weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Having a Christmas Day Brunch with my family at my parents' house :)

    ReplyDelete
  34. I so enjoy these posts, and as someone who has done very little ARC-requesting, it's somewhat amazing to me that the publishers are telling us how to do it. It's like McDonald's revealing their secret sauce! :)

    As for holiday plans, I'll be spending it with my family and hoping to see some snow. Hope you enjoy yours, Hannah!

    ReplyDelete

I hope you know that every time you comment, an angel gets its wings.

OK, not really, but thanks for popping by!