Advance reader program explainer

What is the advance reader program in a nutshell?

We’ll provide you with advance (i.e. not yet published) versions of books. These could be beta versions, which aren’t yet ready for publication, or ARC (advance reader copy) books, which are pretty much ready for publication but haven’t yet been released. However, in some instances, ARC books may already have been published. We’ll give you the ARC books to read for free. For the beta versions, we’ll also give you the books to read for free, plus you’ll get a £10 GBP bonus as a thank-you for giving the author some feedback at the end. The bonus will be a bit higher if the books are more than 120,000 words long.

Is this a job or a side hustle?

No – being an advance reader with The Niche Reader is not a job, gig, or side hustle. It’s a voluntary opportunity for book lovers who enjoy early access to upcoming books and want to help authors by providing thoughtful, constructive feedback.

We offer free books and a small thank-you bonus for beta projects, but this is not a form of employment or freelance work.

Why are you doing this?

The program serves a very useful purpose for authors. Giving away beta versions of their books enables them to gather feedback from real readers (you!) and improve them before they are published. Beta books are normally sent during the editing phase, when the author still has room to alter the story and when the book as a whole isn’t yet completely polished.

Giving away ARCs is also useful for authors. It helps them to generate interest and attract reviews for their books when they launch them. In some instances, authors may have struggled to attract reader reviews organically even after launching their book, so some ARC projects might therefore be for already-published books.

So what do I have to do?

For beta projects, you’ll need to read the books within two weeks of them being made available to you, and you’ll need to provide some feedback. The feedback is gathered via a form on our website and will be shared with the author.

For ARC projects, you’ll also need to read the books within two weeks. You won’t need to provide any detailed feedback, but we’ll ask if you noticed any obvious quality issues, such as formatting problems or typos. We’ll invite you to review the books on Amazon when they are published or when the author asks us to, which will usually be shortly after you have read them. Reviews are not mandatory, and they must always reflect your honest opinion.

If your book is longer than 120,000 words, you’ll have a bit longer than two weeks to read it.

Am I eligible to take part?

There are some eligibility requirements:

You must have access to an electronic device that will allow you to read the books in PDF or EPUB format. This could include an e-reader, a computer, a mobile phone, or similar. You will need to be proficient with technology to transfer the files to the device of your choice. We don’t provide hard copies of the books – only electronic copies.

You must be a resident of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, or any EU country. For ARC projects, you must have an Amazon account and be eligible to leave Amazon reviews (this involves spending requirements: check your Amazon store for details).

How does it work in practice?

There will be a book listing on our website for every project on the advance reader hub, and there you’ll be able to apply to join the beta/ARC teams. Success is not guaranteed as places on each team will be limited. The application process is really quick and easy, though. If you’re accepted onto a project, we’ll email you with details on how to download the books via our website.

We’ll share some information about you with the authors whose books you request to read. This is so they can see who is reading their books and so that they can be involved in the selection process for their advance reader team if they wish.

You can apply to join as many projects as you like, so long as you can feasibly complete them all.

A note on book piracy

We will provide you with digital book files for your beta and ARC projects, and these are for your use only. You may not share them with anyone else. We have taken a range of measures to prevent book piracy, including adding digital watermarks to every book copy, linking it to the user that downloaded it. This means every book file you download will be traceable back to you. Thank you for your cooperation.

What’s my next move?

If you haven’t already, go here to register for an advance reader account on our website and create your profile. Then you’ll have access to the advance reader hub, where you can peruse our current advance reader projects and learn more about the program via the detailed FAQ.