The Book Blogger’s Guide: How to Not Go Overboard On ARCs and Review Copies!

Ahhhhh why does time fly by so fastttttt omg I can’t keep up. (!!) February is basically over, yet it certainly doesn’t feel like it. *SIGH* I’m growing old, people. With every day. *Moment of silence as I ponder the mysteries of time* *Awkward pause as you realize how weird and random I truly am* *And then some more awkward silence because this made no sense whatsoever*

HELLO everyone!! I hope you excuse my little weird… um whatever that was. Clearly I’m out of sorts today or maybe I’m always like this I dunno. 

Today I’m here with the start of a kind-of-but-not-really new feature as part of my Book Snacks Babbles discussion series; a book blogger’s guide on… [insert guide name here]. To start it off, I have for you a book blogger’s guide on how to not go overboard with ARCs! Come on, admit it, you’ve had to fight against going on major ARC-requesting sprees at least one time during your blogging journey. It must’ve been quite hard when you found yourself drowning in all the ARCs (or review copies), no? I speak from experience, aha, ’tis quite difficult to stay floating, I tell you.

However, lately I noticed I’ve been quite good at keeping my ARC and review copy count mostly low, which has been quite beneficial in terms of my busy schedule and, you the whole not drowning thing. But never fear, if your ARC and review copy count is rising too fast! I have come to your rescue with this post: you’re welcome. (And even if I haven’t, entertain me alright? Otherwise my reputation will be hurt. And my ego. Ehem.)

Note: I’m mostly talking about e-ARCs, to be honest? ‘Cause I haven’t yet requested books from publishers directly, hehe, sooo. Still trying to get up the nerve to do so! I think the ARC craziness happens more online anyway. But whatever. On to the (very helpful, if I do say so myself—which I do) tips! I accept your thanks in advance. Though you must give me chocolate, yes yes, thank you.

Image credit goes to Freepik, but all edits were done by me.

1. Stay away from the wickedly dangerous thing(s) called Netgalley  (or Edelweiss* and any other reviewing site).

VERY IMPORTANT!!! I cannot stress enough how important this is, for your quest on not to go ARC-and-review-copy-crazy. It can be incredibly hard to refrain from going ARC-overboard, when there are so many delicious-looking opportunities for tasty books. Believe me, I know. Hence, you stay away! Unless you have to submit a review of an ARC, don’t go surfing the site, with the excuse of “I’m just looking”, because you will most definitely cave and request at least a few ten or more ARCs/review copies. Which brings me onto the next thing…

*I’ve never actually requested on Edelweiss, but I’m presuming it works similarly to Netgalley? Correct me if I’m wrong.

2. Never request tons of review copies by making the excuse that you’ll only receive a few.

I did this so many times! Too many times to count, while on Netgalley, I told myself that oh, I probably won’t get any of these anyway, so what’s wrong with requesting them? Yeah. Can you guess what happened? I got bombarded with a bunch of books (…and one time they were all releasing in the same month?? Not my best move, oops.) Another time, something similar happened—I think this was back when I first started blogging—except with Xpresso Book Tours. So you see the pattern here!! DO NOT make excuses and think you won’t get approved—because you never know, right? Better not take any chances.

3. Only request books that are on your TBR, or books you really want to read.

I don’t know if this is the case for everyone out there, but a lot of the times, when I’m on Netgalley or something, as I’m browsing through my favourite publishers, I notice books that aren’t on my TBR, books that I find interesting, yes, but only mildly. And oftentimes? I end up requesting them. Nowadays I’ve gotten much better at being careful of which books I request. As in, I focus more towards books I’ve been eagerly anticipating, and books on my TBR, rather than any and all books that seem mildly interesting. Instead, I just end up adding said mildly interesting book on my TBR to think about another time, you know? (Unless you REALLY want to read ALL the books you find just a little interesting, in which case… uh, good luck with keeping that ARC count low!)

4. If you’re struggling against ARCs or review copies, consider the negative sides.

They do exist! Negative sides of requesting ARCs, that is. And I know it sounds weird, to think about the negative sides to try and stop you from going on a review copy requesting spree, but you never know! Maybe it’ll help your inner self to try and convince the ARC-hungry side of you to not become so hungry. Okay, lol that just sounded weird. Let’s move on, shall we?

The cons…

-How you might not have the time to read all your ARCs. Naturally, the more you request, the more you’ll have to read and so it might be difficult to read all of them—and then review them, too! It might be the better idea to keep the count low and not have as much pressure

-The pressure of meeting release date/deadline. Life happens! Things happen! And pressure happens, as you try to meet the release date for each review copy. If you have a lot of them, it might get difficult, particularly if your review copies are all slated for release around the same time. So you might want to keep that in mind!

-You might not get the chance to read as many books that you own/bought/borrowed/want to read—you know what I mean. As you spend more time on ARCs and review copies, the less time you have for books you already own! And it’s great that you’re spending time with those review copies (you kind of have to), but your other books need some love too. 😉

Okay, so there’s actually a lot more cons to requesting ARCs than you’d expect?? So really I could go on and on about this all day, but I might save that for another post. Right now my point is: keep in mind of the negative sides to ARC requesting as well as the positive sides! Sometimes it may help to dissuade you from going ARC-crazy.

5. If you receive review copy requests, remember you don’t have to accept ALL of them!

I don’t know if this is common among every blogger, but sometimes bloggers may feel that it’s an obligation to accept all or any of the requests they receive? So if you’re trying to stay on top of your ARC/review copy pile, accepting all your review copy requests (if you get any) is not exactly helpful if you’re already trying to juggle other things like Netgalley and your own books, you know? So don’t feel bad about saying no to requests! If it makes it easier, feel free to not allow any review requests, temporarily, if you wish. You do what’s good for you! Just remember that you don’t have to accept all the requests you receive.

6. Eat chocolate.

(Anyone have any for me? Chocolate, that is.)

Don’t you dare scoff at this! This is a perfectly valid reason. Hear me out here though. Maybe ‘eat chocolate’ is a bit too specific (hey, it’s what I do so don’t judge) but basically I’m trying to say occupy yourself with something else. Like eating chocolate. And some more chocolate (and hoping those extra calories disappear). And more—Okay, okay, fine; I mean, occupy yourself with other things like blogging, reading, dancing, or doing whatever else your favourite pass times happen to be. Instead of focusing on ARCs and review copies, and other temptations like Netgalley, etc. just concentrate on something else! It’ll probably help with the first tip I mentioned too.

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So, I think that sums this post up! Unfortunately this post has come to an end—but do let me know your thoughts and please don’t feel shy of joining in on the conversation! To help you out, here are some prompts:

• What are your thoughts on requesting ARCs and review copies?
• Do you struggle with keeping your ARC count low?
• Which of these have you tried before? (And if you have; how did it go?)
• What other negative sides have you encountered in ARC-requesting?
• Do you have chocolate?? (Er, of course this is valid. Why are you questioning this?? Also, which types of chocolate do you like?)
• And, um, anything else that came to your mind?

*Inserts British accent* Now, I must bid you farewell. Good luck on keeping your ARC count low! 😀 Happy reading!