How to Get ARCs for Free and Write ARC Reviews

You might have noticed that in my book reviews, I sometimes include a line like “Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book”, what does that mean? How do you get free books? And more importantly, how can you responsibly get free books and write reviews of them that authors will love?

If you’re anything like me, you love discovering hidden gems before everyone else. This is where ARCs – advance reader copies – can be really helpful. Many think of them as simply a way to get free books, and yes, at the end of the day, you are getting a free book out of it, but it’s also a great way to support writers, including big and indie authors, share your thoughts with future readers, and help a book around its publication with early reviews. Over the years, I’ve read a lot of ARC books, mostly ebooks but sometimes even physical books (like this copy of The Cinnamon Spice Inn) that I’ve received for free from authors and publishers.

Read more: Cosy Witch Book Review: Uncharmed

That’s where ARCs, Advance Reader Copies, come in. They’re a great way to get free books, support indie authors, and share your thoughts with future readers. Over the years, I’ve read plenty of ARC books (nearly 300 at this point!), some ebooks and some physical copies, and I’ve learned that writing an honest review that’s genuinely helpful isn’t just good for the authors and the readers, it’s great for the publishing world too.

If you’re just getting started out in book reviewing, you might be wondering how to get your hands on advanced reader copy books like other book reviewers and, once you do, how to write ARC reviews that authors actually love and potential readers find useful.

No gatekeeping here, I’m diving straight into it and sharing where I personally find ARCs, how I choose ones that I think I’ll love, how I keep up to date with reviews and more. Read on!

How to Get ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies)

The question I know you all want to know the answer to is “How do I get ARCs?” There are so many ways to start getting free copies of new books, whether you’re a book blogger, an interested reader, or just starting out as a book influencer. Here are some of the best places and methods:

1. NetGalley

This is the most popular platform for requesting digital ARCs from big publishing houses and small publishers. You sign up, create a profile (make sure to link your own blog, social media handles, and mention your favorite genres), and start browsing available titles. Netgalley is useful for everyone from book bloggers to librarians. It has a large range of titles across fiction and non-fiction, with genres to suit most tastes. You can easily browse and make an ARC request of your choice.

Here are a few tips on how to best use Netgalley (I’ll do a full post on this one day!):

Keep your feedback ratio (reviews submitted vs. books downloaded) high as publishers look at this to decide whether it’s worth granting you access to an ARC. Imagine being a publisher, if you see someone with a 23% feedback ratio, you’re unlikely to select them as one of the few reviewers just in case they don’t review it. Netgalley recommends keeping your feedback ratio over 80%. I’m working hard on getting mine back above this right now!
Write .helpful reviews A couple of sentences isn’t going to be helpful to the publisher, author or a reader! There’s no set formula for a review (I break down some good ways to write a review below if you need help), but sharing your honest
Submit your review on time. When you request an ARC on Netgalley, you’ll see the publishing date, and when you’re approved to read and review it, sometimes publishers will ask you to wait until one month before publication date or the publication day itself before making your review public. I personally keep a spreadsheet with dates I need to read ARCs by!
Share your reviews on Goodreads, your own blog if you have one, your social media and Amazon, Waterstones or another book retailer to build credibility and trust with publishers, as well as helping an ARC book that you enjoyed with a positive review!

2. Edelweiss+

Similar to NetGalley, this platform connects ARC readers with publishing houses. It can feel a little more industry-focused, but it’s worth checking out if you want to read books ahead of release day. It’s not one that I’ve personally used and it looks like it might be mainly US based, but it’s worth exploring if you’re looking for ARC books.

3. Author Newsletters & Mailing Lists

Many indie authors and self-published authors run their own ARC team or street teams. Joining their mailing lists or filling out a Google Form from their social media platforms is often the best way to get a free copy of a specific book before anyone else in order to help them promote it or to leave an early review.

4. Bookstagram & BookTok

If you’re active on Instagram or TikTok and share book reviews, book cover design aesthetics, or reading experiences, publishers and authors may reach out to you directly. Use hashtags like #ARCReview, #Bookstagram, #BookTok and interact with other book influencers to get noticed. Authors or publishers who are promoting books that align with your posting may get in touch and offer ARCs – and this feels like such a huge moment when you get your first one!

5. Book Tours

Joining book tours is another great way to access advance reader copies, sometimes even physical copies too! There are plenty of companies and indie organisers running tours for new authors and small publishers. You’ll be asked to share your review or a photo on social media platforms and your own blog. Often it’s a case of seeking out publishers who are running them – for example, following them on social media or signing up to a mailing list. You usually need to apply to be part of a book tour, and having good social metrics, such as engagement, as well as a proven track record of giving books honest reviews will help support your application.

6. Reedsy Discovery

A fantastic valuable resource for finding hidden gems from indie authors. You can apply to become a reviewer, and if accepted, you’ll get access to advance reader copies and new books in your favourite genres. I haven’t personally used this as a way to request ARCs yet.

7. Booksirens

Booksirens is another platform for ARC readers with a large community of readers and authors. I am a member of this one and I really enjoy the metrics they give you when you connect your Goodreads which allows publishers to understand how you personally review books – for example, here is the overview from mine:

Sian has rated / reviewed 811 books and over 237k pages with an average rating of 4.2. 38 of these books were rated / reviewed in the last 3 months.

Sian wrote a review for 270 of these books. 417 people have found Sian’s written reviews to be helpful on Goodreads.

Sian is in the top 1% of reviewers on BookSirens, based on review volume.

I haven’t actually requested any advance reader copies from Booksirens yet despite having an account for around a year – this is only because I’m trying to work my way through my Netgalley books and existing TBR before I get any more!

Read more: Where to Find Books to Read

8. Direct ARC Requests

You can always email specific publishers or authors directly, just make sure to include:

Who you are (with links to your blog, Goodreads reviews, and social media handles).
Why you’re interested in their book (mention favorite genres).
How you’ll promote it (e.g., own blog, book tours, social media platforms).

This method can take a little more work, but if you build relationships, you’ll often be the first to get future ARCs!

Why Honest Feedback Matters (Not Just Positive Reviews)

When I first started accepting review copies, I thought I had to give every book a positive review. After all, an author trusted me with their entire book before the publication date, and it felt like a lot of responsibility. But the truth is that honest feedback is far more valuable than flattery. I remember reading a book I got via Netgalley that wasn’t my taste at all, and honestly, I’m not sure who’s taste it would be! I was worried about submitting a negative review, but there were no implications of doing this afterwards. Sometimes you might be able to suggest who would enjoy the book, or point out the errors that put you off the book so they can be corrected.

If you only shared glowing star ratings without mentioning any key points, new readers might feel misled, and the author won’t have anything to work on for their final versions or future projects.

That doesn’t mean you need to be harsh or scathing. It’s about balancing constructive criticism with encouragement. If the writing style wasn’t for you, or the character development felt a little flat, you can say so, just explain why. Authors love knowing what worked and what didn’t. It can be hard to rate a book low, but imagine you’d bought the book, how would you rank it then? Sometimes publishers might ask you not to tag the author on social media in negative reviews, which is fair enough. You might refrain from publishing anything publicly about the book if it’s something that you just didn’t enjoy; in this case, you can just share the review with the publishers directly or via whichever platform you received the book on.

As time goes on, you’ll get to know what type of books you connect best with. I’ve personally found that I very rarely get a book that I’d rate less than 3 stars from Netgalley any more. In fact, most books I receive ARC copies of get a 4 or 5 star rating from me, and that’s because I’ve refined my taste in books so well that I can easily identify what will be a good book for me!

What Makes a Review Helpful for Future Readers and Authors

When you’re reviewing on Goodreads for yourself, a one line review such as “It wasn’t for me” is fine. When you’ve been given the responsibility of reviewing an ARC, you need to add a little more detail for a helpful review. Both industry professionals and book lovers are looking for more details than this!

Here are a few things professional reviewers often highlight:

Was the plot engaging from start to finish?
How did the characters develop?
Did the writing style keep you hooked?
Were there favourite genres or tropes that readers should know about?
What was your favourite part or character?
Was the book similar to others you’ve read?
Why did you choose this specific book in the first place – do you like the author’s other works? Had others recommended this to you? Did the cover catch your attention?

I like to include my own personal opinion because that’s what makes reviews authentic, and I guess, what’s the point of writing a review if it’s not what you really think?! But I also always try to include some key points that help potential readers decide if the book fits their taste, with a breakdown of the plot, any tropes such as enemies to lovers or slow burn romance, and an overall suggestion of who I’d recommend it to.

How to Discuss Character Development and Writing Style (Without Spoilers)

This is one of the trickiest parts of writing a book review. ARC reviewers are often the first to share thoughts, so you don’t want to ruin the experience for interested readers who don’t want to know what actually happens in the book!

Here’s what I do:

Talk about character development in general terms, for example: “The main character shows strong growth as they face challenges” rather than giving away specific book twists.
For writing style, describe how it feels: lyrical, fast-paced, witty, dark.
Share key points like pacing and tone without mentioning major plot reveals. Sometimes I’ll include a line like “I’m sure you can guess what happens next!” or I refer to how twisty it is so that readers know there’s a fun ride but they don’t necessarily know which avenue it’s going to go down.

The key point is to give enough detail for future readers to know whether it’ll be to their taste while also keeping the surprises intact.

The Importance of Transparency When You Receive a Free Copy

If you’re given a free copy or review copy, always make that clear. Whether you’re posting on Goodreads, your own blog, or social media platforms, transparency builds trust with your wider audience.

I usually add a line like:

“Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for a review copy of this book.”

This small detail makes a big difference, both for your credibility and for publishing houses or self-published authors who might want to work with you again.

There have been controversies over Booktokers receiving ARCs and using other peoples’ reviews to make up their own (just to hit their goal feedback ratio on Netgalley, for example). Being transparent with your audience is key, and it’s a shame that some reviewers feel that they need to keep up with others by sharing fake reviews.

Where to Share Your ARC Reviews

Posting your ARC reviews in multiple places helps authors get that vital social proof on release day.

Here’s what I do when I’ve finished reading an ARC. I try to read my ARCs around 1 month before release, which gives me the chance to make sure I finish it in time and schedule in reviews:

Step 1: Publish a review on Goodreads as soon as I’ve finished the book. This is the best place for visibility among book lovers!
Step 2: Share my review on Netgalley (as this is my number 1 source for ARCs). On Netgalley, you can provide a link to your public reviews, so I always link to my Goodreads review of the book.
Step 3: I often share my Netgalley ARC reviews on a couple of groups on Goodreads to get them more visibility and engagements.
Step 4: On the book’s publication date, I share my review on Amazon if the publisher has specifically requested it – especially if they email with a follow up to ask you to do so on publishing day.
Step 5: I publish a review on my blog, either on publication day with a dedicated review post (for example, I did this for Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher here) or in a round up of mini book reviews. I’m trying to keep a schedule of book publication dates now so that every Netgalley book gets its own post, but that doesn’t always happen!
Step 6: I update my Netgalley review with any new review links (blog, social media), and if I’ve had an email directly from the publishers, I’ll send the review link over directly to them. This helps to build a relationship with publishing houses for future book launches that you might be interested in.

My posts are usually shared across social media too. Here are the top places:

TikTok – I sometimes share a face to camera talking post with my review, a written review in the caption of a static post, or sometimes share the review in a round up on BookTok.
Instagram – same as above; Bookstagram is a friendly place to share book reels or static posts about books.
Facebook – my blog posts usually get shared on my blog Facebook page.
Twitter/X – I personally don’t use this currently, but I know a lot of book reviewers do.
Threads – this is becoming another popular place to share book reviews. Again, I’m not personally sharing mine there currently, but it’s a great option.

Tips for Managing Late Reviews and Time Frames

We’ve all made this mistake once or twice, or maybe a few more times! It’s easy to get overwhelmed, especially when the time frame between receiving the ARC copies and release day is tight, or you fall into a reading slump. Personally, I suffered from the same problem as many of us when we first signed up to Netgalley – requesting more than I thought I would be approved for, then falling behind! For me, it was lockdown and having kids that ended in late review after late review. I’m still catching up now, but here are my tips on completing those outstanding ARC reviews, and how to avoid getting overwhelmed by ARCs:

Don’t take on more than you can handle, there are never enough books, but there are only so many hours in a day.
If you join a reviewing platform like Netgalley, take it one book at a time to start with. Once you’ve reviewed one, you can request another. When you’re more confident in your reviewing schedule, you can request more at a time.
Use a spreadsheet or Google Form to track deadlines and review requests.
Communicate with authors if you’re running late, they understand that reading an entire book and writing helpful reviews takes time.

How to get advance reader copies for free — This is a book I read as an ARC from Netgalley, then spotted on the shelves later in Waterstones – there’s something so exciting about seeing a book you’ve championed as an early reader making it big!

Writing Reviews That Matter

Being an ARC reader is more than just scoring free books, it’s about becoming a valuable resource for both authors and future readers. By providing honest feedback, highlighting key points like character development and writing style, and sharing across social media platforms and your own blog, you can make a real impact on the publishing world. It can be a lot of work, but your valuable feedback means a lot to authors.

Whether you’re supporting small publishers, cheering on new authors, or championing your favorite genres, every honest review counts. It’s also super exciting to see a book that you read as an advance copy sitting on a shelf in a bookshop – like, I helped that happen!!

Happy reading, and good luck on your ARC journey! Let me know if you have any questions that I can help answer, and I’ll get working on a post about Netgalley in more detail (I’ve been on it for more than 10 years now!).