ARC SERVICE
Introducing our ARC service…
The Niche Reader’s ARC service helps you to get Amazon and Goodreads reviews for your book, thereby boosting your social proof, credibility, and sales. We hand-pick a team of ARC readers for each book, and once they’re finished reading it, we invite them to post their reviews.
All of our ARC readers are real readers who are passionate about their favorite genres. We ask them for detailed information about their preferred genres and subgenres when they first join us, allowing us to segment them according to their preferences and match your book with readers who are in your ideal target audience.
Our ARC service can be used shortly before publication of your book, and it can also be used for already-published books.
The benefits of our service
Your target audience
All of our ARC readers are real readers. We have detailed information on their interests and preferences, and we always ask why they want to read each book, enabling us to match your book to readers who are in your ideal target audience. This sets us apart from other ARC services, which are often less selective in their approach.
Trust and reliability
It’s incredibly difficult to find trustworthy, reliable ARC readers who are in your natural target audience. Our service resolves this problem: we hand-pick ARC readers for each project and take detailed information from them, including their address and their biographical information, to ensure trust. We deter unreliability by barring readers who do not consistently finish the books they have been assigned.
Compliant with Amazon’s rules
Our service is fully compliant with Amazon’s rules. We invite our ARC readers to leave customer reviews on the Amazon listing for your book. However, it is not mandatory to leave a review, and nor do we influence the content of any review. Our ARC readers are not paid; all they receive is a free copy of your book, which is permitted. This means all reviews are voluntary, unpaid, unbiased, and compliant with Amazon’s rules. What you pay for is for us to distribute your book to our ARC readers. We guarantee a minimum number of registrations for your book, but we do not guarantee reviews.
Security
We use a secure system to deliver electronic book files to your ARC readers, ensuring they can only be accessed by members of your ARC team. We also add digital watermarks to each book, consisting of both visible and invisible elements, linking every copy to the reader who downloaded it. This makes every copy traceable and thus creates a strong deterrent against file sharing. These measures help to guard against piracy and protect your book.
Final checks
When your ARC readers have finished reading your book, we ask them to inform us about any typos, formatting problems, or other minor issues that might have slipped through during your editing process. We will aim to calibrate the timetable of your ARC service so that you receive any such feedback several days prior to the publication of your book, allowing you to make changes if they are required.
Street team
Once the ARC process is over, you can request that certain readers join your ‘street team’ for future projects. This means we’ll give them priority if they register for books you submit in the future, helping you get reviews from readers who are already familiar with your writing. This is particularly useful if you’re writing a series.
Statistics
70%
Average percentage of our ARC readers who leave a review on Amazon
4.2
Average Amazon star rating from our ARC reviews
Testimonials
“I highly recommend The Niche Reader’s ARC service, which generated an impressive number of reviews for my book. I was glad that most of the reviewers enjoyed the book and gave it four or five stars, and the reviews were well-considered and well-articulated. It’s a stream-lined service, easy to arrange and efficiently done, with the system of reminders and deadlines for the readers helping to ensure a high review rate. I’ve already booked again. Thank you. It’s just what authors need.”
“Using the ARC service has been a fantastic experience. I’m pleased with the reviews that have been posted for my book – all of them were positive, well-informed, and clearly came from people who love reading my genre. The service was extremely professional, and the communication from the team was excellent throughout.”
How it works
1
Send us a booking enquiry
To get your ARC project started, send us a booking enquiry via one of the buttons on this page. You’ll need to tell us what date you would like us to invite your ARC readers to leave reviews on Amazon (this can be the same date your book is published or any date afterwards). We’ll then be able to propose a start date for your ARC project – usually either the 1st or the 15th of the month – that will align well with your review date. You’ll also need to tell us about your book.
2
Complete your booking
We’ll review your booking enquiry and send confirmation that your book is suitable for our service, as well as a proposed start date. We will then send you instructions to complete your booking, including paying the fee.
3
Send your book files and other information
Before your ARC project begins, you’ll need to send us your book via email in electronic format. We’ll need PDF and EPUB files to accommodate our ARC readers’ varying reading devices. Please see our FAQ section for information on how to generate these files. Don’t worry – it’s straightforward and free. In addition, you’ll need to send us a short blurb for your book, a longer description, and an author bio. We’ll also ask you a couple of questions about your ARC reader selection preferences, if you have any.
4
Selections
When your project begins, we’ll advertise your book to our list of ARC readers and invite them to request to join your ARC team. We will then select 15–20 readers from those who apply, taking into account your selection preferences.
5
Reading and reviews
Once selected, your ARC readers will read your book. When they are finished, we’ll ask them to tell us if they noticed any minor quality issues, such as typos or formatting errors. We’ll then inform you about any errors they found. When your chosen review date comes around, we’ll contact your ARC readers and invite them to review your book on Amazon and, if you have opted for it, Goodreads. Reviews may take up to 72 hours to appear, though usually they come through quicker than that. ARC projects for books of up to 120,000 words will take four weeks to complete from the start of your slot to the review date. Projects between 120,000 and 160,000 words will take five weeks. Longer books will have bespoke timelines.
6
Add ARC readers to your street team
Once the reviews have come in, you’ll have the option of adding particular ARC readers to your ‘street team’ for future ARC projects. This means they will be given preference during selections for your future ARC teams.
Pricing
$236.40 USD
Frequently asked questions
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Which countries do you accept bookings from?
We welcome clients who are resident in the United States or the United Kingdom. If you are not resident in one of these countries, please enquire at contact@thenichereader.com to see whether we can help you.
I'm new to this. What is an ARC reader exactly?
An ARC (advance reader copy) reader is someone who reads your book prior to publication and then, hopefully, leaves a review for you. These early reviews can give your book a significant boost in the first few months, and beyond.
How is this different from your beta reader service?
ARC readers read a polished version of your book that is ready for publication, with the aim being to generate early reviews, whereas our beta reader service involves beta readers reading a rougher draft of your book during the revision stage, with the aim being to generate feedback to inform your revisions.
Do I need any permissions to use this service?
If you are the sole author of your book and are self-publishing, you don’t need any permissions.
However, if you have a publisher for the book, you will need their permission to use this service. If you have a co-author or co-authors, you will need their permission. And if you are a publisher, you will need the permission of the author/s. These permissions may already be covered by existing agreements; if not, you will need to seek specific approval.
Who are your ARC readers?
All of our ARC readers are real readers who have subscribed to The Niche Reader to read books in their favorite genres via our beta and ARC projects. Most of our ARC readers are either US or UK residents, but we are also open to ARC readers who are resident in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and the EU. All of our ARC readers are 18 years old or over.
How many ARC readers will I get?
A minimum of 15 and a maximum of 20.
Where will you invite ARC readers to leave reviews?
Amazon and, if you opt for it, Goodreads.
Are you sure this complies with Amazon's rules?
Absolutely! Amazon is clear that you are not allowed to pay someone for a customer review. However, our ARC readers are not paid, either for reading your book or reviewing it.
Nor are you paying us for reviews. You’re only paying us to distribute your book to our ARC readers and provide you with a minimum number of registrations for your book, but we don’t guarantee any reviews at the end of this process.
We do invite your ARC readers to leave a review, but they don’t have to, and we don’t influence the content of any reviews, so there’s no guarantee they will be positive. All of this means we comply with Amazon’s terms and conditions. Similar paid ARC services have been running for some years, including well-known ones like Netgalley.
Should I book in advance?
Yes – we recommend booking at least two or three months in advance, as our schedule can get quite booked up.
How long will my ARC project take?
Projects for books of up to 120,000 words will take four weeks to complete from the start of your slot to the review date. Projects between 120,000 and 160,000 words will take five weeks. Longer books will have bespoke timelines.
Which genres do you accept?
We accept a wide range of fiction genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mystery, thriller, historical fiction, romance, horror, literary fiction, and contemporary fiction.
We accept Young Adult, but bear in mind all our readers are 18 years old or over. We accept non-fiction on a case by case basis.
We do not accept children’s fiction or erotic fiction.
At what point in the writing/publication process should I use the ARC service?
You can use the ARC service just prior to publication to help generate early reviews for your book, and you can also use it for an already-published book if you would like more reviews. Whatever the case, your book must not be enrolled in KDP Select while we are distributing it to our ARC readers. You can enrol it in KDP Select once the book files have been distributed and the reading process has started.
What if my book is part of a series?
If your book is the first in a series or is a standalone within a series (i.e. it can be read without having to read previous books in your series in order to understand and enjoy it), then you can proceed as normal.
If your book is part of a series, is not the first book, and does not stand alone, we can certainly still accommodate it. We will ask you for a short synopsis of the series so far, which we will share with your ARC readers. This will give them the context they need. We will also instruct them to only apply for your project if they are happy to read a book that is part of a series, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
What if my book is over 160,000 words?
Books over 160,000 words will have a longer timeframe and may also require bespoke pricing. Please use the booking enquiry form, and we’ll get back to you with more information.
What if my book is very short or a novella?
We are happy to accept short novels and novellas, but we do not offer discounts for these.
How can I send you my book?
Books must be sent to us electronically, via email. We require PDF and EPUB book files to accommodate our ARC readers’ reading devices. These files are straightforward to create and convert using free tools. We recommend Calibre, but you can use alternative software if you prefer. We can provide assistance with this process if required.
Tell me more about the selection process for ARC readers.
Before we select your ARC readers, we’ll ask you a couple of questions about your selection preferences. We’ll then invite ARC readers to register for your book, and we’ll assess their suitability based on their history of participating in ARC projects with us, their own interests and background, and the reason they give for wanting to read the book. We’ll take your preferences into account to ensure we pick ARC readers you’ll be happy with.
My book contains graphic violence, sex, and/or bad language. Will this upset my ARC readers?
Before we advertise your book to our list of ARC readers, we will ask you whether it contains any of these things. If it does, we will put a warning on the application form recommending that ARC readers who might be offended by them should not proceed. This helps to ensure the right people apply.
How do you prevent piracy?
Whenever you share your book with others, there is always a risk of piracy, and no one can eliminate that entirely. However, we have taken a range of precautions to substantially reduce the risk. Your book files will be uploaded to secure servers that only allow authorised people, including your ARC readers, our team, and the company that manages the servers, to access them.
We also add digital watermarks to each book, consisting of both visible and invisible elements, linking every copy to the reader who downloaded it. This makes every copy traceable and thus creates a strong deterrent against file sharing.
Moreover, we require our ARC readers to provide us with a range of information to help us ensure they are acting in good faith, including their biography and interests, why they want to join your project, their contact information, and their physical address. We also require all our ARC readers to agree to our terms and conditions, which legally obligate them to keep your files confidential.
How do I pay?
You can pay by credit or debit card.
Which payment currencies do you accept?
We accept USD for US residents and GBP for UK residents.
What are the full terms and conditions?
You can view our full terms and conditions here.
More questions?
If you have any additional questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch by emailing us at contact@thenichereader.com.