HOW TO GET ARC READERS | Booksprout vs Book Sirens vs NetGalley + more!

As with every book I release, there's always something new I learn in the process through trial and error, experimentation, making mistakes, and finding success in other areas. One of the things I really focused on for Tethered Spirits was distributing ARCs and getting early reviews. I tried several different methods for this and tracked my results as part of an experiment to figure out what worked best for me, and today I want to share those results with you. We'll look at BookSprout, Book Sirens, NetGalley, and a few other options indie authors have for getting early reviews on their books.
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BUY TETHERED SPIRITS: books2read.com/tethered-spirits
Cat Rector's KZbin Channel: / catrector
Learn more about me and my books: tahernandez.com
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Follow me on Twitter and Instagram! @ta_hernandez5

[@disposable157]

01:30 - Book bloggers 04:55 - Miscellaneous approaches 06:12 - Booksprout 07:40 - Book Sirens 09:56 - Netgalley 10:46 - Netgalley co-op 15:40 - Your own signup form

[@derekb.4292]

That was so valuable, thank you! I feel like so much of authortube is either condescending or just dishonest/unrealistic with results. I loved how grounded and genuine this was and I learned a TON! I also didn't do ARCs for my first two books, but I am exploring options for my third (all three are standalones) so this insight has helped me understand what I should do and what to expect.

[@ta_hernandez5]

Good! I'm so glad it was useful. Good luck with your own ARC process. I hope it goes will for you.

[@mtgbooks5633]

I"m with you. It was nice to watch a video that actually focused on comparing services that sought out new readers, rather than revolving around harassing everyone you know via mass emails etc...

[@trevorwalker2434]

Thank you for the video. This is extremely useful to me as a first time author with no experience of ARCs !

[@mtgbooks5633]

Thanks. This was one of the most useful videos on getting ARC reviews that I've seen. Most advice is redundant and focuses on your own pre-existing network. It's hard to find anything about tapping into actual readers that aren't already part of your network. Also, I just wanted to comment that I also noticed that Netgalley reviewers have a tendency to think they are editors. It's as though they are looking for things to point out, rather than reading the books as an actual reader would.

[@soarpurpose]

There are so many people pushing that if you do this or that, will succeed. Glad that someone is being honest about the reality of it. It's not that easily & can be prohibitively expensive.

[@blackmaverickcomics]

Keep up the good work writers. We need a strong community to get ahead in this market.

[@AaronSprague1]

My wife and I are a publishing team she writes the books and I help with marketing, publishing and IT. My experience with these platforms and getting ARCs was almost identical and your video really helped me realize we are not unique. Congratulations on the book looks like it is doing well, I have it in my wishlist hope to get to it soon, really great cover, I like the book formatting, consider adding some A+ content to highlight being a finalist in self publishing blog. Jesse Sprague is my wife who is also a female independent fantasy/sci-fi author, the struggle is real. Love it keep it up.

[@ta_hernandez5]

Sorry for the delayed response but thank you for the comment. I did actually see this comment when you posted and decided to go ahead and add some A+ content to my Amazon page for Tethered Spirits, so it's there now. :) Thank you for the suggestion!

[@classloner]

Thanks. As a new reviewer, this is great information to help authors!

[@christinalange3280]

I set up the $29 month plan on booksprout and have only got 1 person sign up so far, even with a fantastic cover and tags. And it's scifi thriller with romance. I don't think they have enough reviewers.

[@lewascrom]

I sighed up a few hours ago and now I'm starting to feel some type of way about it. Dang.

[@amymirashi]

This video is SOOO helpful!!! Thank you for sharing your experiences ❤️

[@ta_hernandez5]

You're so welcome! Glad it was helpful. :)

[@jaco9286]

6:03 skip long intro. 6:14 booksprout 7:44 booksirens 9:58 netgalley

[@ChetanRao]

Thank you so much for such a well-thought-out and honest overview. Super helpful!

[@rubyrosebuds]

Thank you for such an honest video. You gave great tips and provided an excellent overview of the results with different services. I learned a great deal from your video. Well Done!

[@lallison100]

Thank you for sharing your ARC reader/review experiences. This is helpful as I explore my options.

[@harrylbonyoutube6981]

This was very helpful. Thank you for detailing this.

[@jamiewhimsy]

Thanks for all the insights! Very informative!

[@paulmahoney5326]

Thanks for your honest review of the different options you've tried. It was interesting and very helpful. I hope you have success with your future ARC groups.

[@travisbragg6276]

Helpful insights on your process. Thanks!

[@lancebwilkins]

Thank you T.A.! Great information for indie authors. I've wasted a lot of time going down unproductive rabbit holes. Nice to hear from others like yourself with similar experiences.

[@gothicliterarysociety7577]

This was really helpful! The best video I've found on this topic. Thank you!!

[@SulaimanKarriem]

Your strategy is Brilliant. Thank you for this informative information

[@TheMarketingNomad]

Such a helpful video! Thank you for this!

[@Julia-Maine]

Thanks so much for such an informative video. Very much appreciated.

[@MrVlandus]

This was very interesting. I like all the research you have done. Bravo.

[@markjjenkins]

I was wondering about my poor results on Booksprout and was starting to experiment with Book Sirens when I came across your video. Just the content I needed - thanks and good luck!

[@ta_hernandez5]

Glad it was helpful!

[@mtgbooks5633]

I also had nonexistent results with booksprout.

[@Bambireadsbooks]

I’m so sorry to hear that, i have added your books to my tbr and will leave you reviews :) thank you for the video

[@Bambireadsbooks]

I am a review and tend to Work with book tours on instagram and Facebook most often i rarely have authors reach out to me individually:( i wish more did but i see why not

[@disposable157]

I've watched a bunch of videos on self-publishing recently and this was legit the most useful out of all of them. 10/10, no notes

[@nadineraal9345]

thanks for this. I’m glad that someone else had an exasperating experience of book bloggers! And Netgalley is definitely a tough crowd

[@tarikbouchnayf]

Very useful info! Thanks for sharing!

[@a.j.torres3131]

Ooh thank you so much for this video, very intriguing as I'm still deciding what to use for further ARC options for RaF 😊🤞

[@ta_hernandez5]

Glad you found it useful 😊

[@DaleLRoberts]

Great insights. Thanks for sharing!

[@jessicamccoy5861]

Thank you for this video. I'm interested in reviewing books. But had no idea on how. This gave me lots of information on where to go to sign up.

[@NikolPopovics]

Late to the party with this comment but this was really helpful. I haven't released a book in 3 years and things have changed in indie publishing so much. This was really helpful for me getting back in the game. I never considered asking my followers to review, but I will definitely give it a shot. Thanks so much!

[@ta_hernandez5]

Good luck! I hope your launch and your ARC process goes well.

[@watcher6004]

Very helpful information. Subscribed.

[@royhunt1493]

Excellent information thank you. I'm on my second and third, practically at the same time

[@taim1696]

Thank you so much for this video. Great Information!

[@growvegwithme]

Thank you this video was really informative and helped me not to spend money on options that won't work for me. By the way, I love the sound of your book, tethered spirits as I write YA fantasy too so I appreciate how difficult it is to find readers and reviewers for that genre 😭

[@user-kx8wp1fy6l]

That was very helpful, thank you!

[@Maliandjoe]

You are so super helpful! Thank you!

[@wielandsmith]

Thanks for the great video. You cleared up a lot of things I was wondering about... I think I'll definitely try Book Sirens and the form... though I'll need to rebuild my social media presence.

[@LilianaVT]

Thank you for this valuable information!

[@guyblaise3770]

T.A. Thank you for sharing! Great video....

[@myrillionissilly]

This was an unexpectedly useful, awesome video. Thank you, so much! I subscribed. :)

[@ta_hernandez5]

Awesome, glad it was useful. Thank you!

[@themedip]

Really helpful video. Thanks!

[@mlp4apc]

I have not considered ARC on a broad scale. Gave a few copies to family and friends before the initial launch. After viewing your video, I am really considering it. Thank you for sharing.

[@sherrylandgraf556]

Just came across your channel. Thanks for sharing. Info. helpful!

[@TheSolotramp]

I appreciate your video!!

[@hotPrayers]

thank you for this!

[@MWinklerBooks]

That was such a helpful video. Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us. :) The NetGalley results are surprising. I would think a majority of those who signed up would post a review. Weird. For my debut I only had a sign up sheet I linked to on social media. I didn't use the question about linking to a platform where they talk about books though. I'll have to remember that for book two.

[@ta_hernandez5]

Yeah, the NetGalley results were really surprising to me too. I was expecting a higher rate of reviews, especially after I had already tried to screen out readers who weren't likely to follow through. How did the sign up sheet work for you? I was wanting to time travel back to my first novel and find out if it would have been very effective for me at that point before I had any kind of audience or platform.

[@MWinklerBooks]

@@ta_hernandez5 hard to say. I only had 3 sign ups, but being new and not really promoting it much may have been part of the problem. I am grateful though. Three is better than nothing. Besides, I doubt I had that many followers or talked about the book much. Even today I struggle with promoting my book 😅

[@nextinstitute7824]

Thnx for the coop tip!

[@1QueenMovie]

This was so helpful! I should've watched your video before I posted my book to NetGalley and spent so much for it. So far I have a lot of requests and approved at least 50. Haven't heard anything from any of them. So it's not going so well on this platform. So I will try the sign up method. I wish I seen this video first. But thank you so much for posting this and your experience. - LeQuita

[@ta_hernandez5]

Glad the video was helpful. I'm sorry NetGalley isn't working out so well for you. It sucks to pay so much for a service and not get much out of it. I definitely think the co-ops can still be worth it as they are a much more affordable option, but I was also a bit disappointed by my results with NetGalley.

[@claytonwchurchill9308]

Good stuff, thank you!

[@haiaokuwa]

Thank you for this.

[@kirkalex5257]

Nice. Thank you. Best wishes.

[@buffyshellmouthcollection]

People who refuse to read Indie Books are missing out on a lot of amazing talent. I can’t even fathom why we as self published authors are placed at the bottom of the barrel. I believe that we all have an audience it’s just how and where do we find them. I’ve had more success marketing on Instagram than placing books on some of these sites but I am still on a huge hunt for the best Arc sites that may help me advance further in my series. I tried BookSirens and received 3 readers. Two that seemed like horror lovers and one that didn’t look like a horror readers at all granted we should not judge a reader but the reviewer ended up complaining that my story was graphic and shouldn’t be considered horror when indeed horror book do have graphic scenes ask Stephen King. Lol. I have used Book sprout and I had one reviewer that loved the novel. I’m not sure if I would try them again. I heard that Netgalley are Brutal and if you read most of netgalley reviews on traditionally published books on goodreads are so mean and you know what bravo in picking on who you wanted to read your work. A lot of people like free books and might not even read the genre you wrote and still request your book and give you a low ranking. And that’s so smart to check out how they review books as well. Right now I signed up with book funnel and also try Hidden Gems. I just set up an arc read for next month. It might be a good way to get your novel out to readers there as well. Thank you for posting your thoughts on these arc sites. Very informative. Good luck in your Author journey. Indie authors rock👏🏽

[@adventureswithtime]

Great info. Thanks. Do you launch hardcover, paperback and digital all at the same time?

[@ronalda.geobey8042]

Really informative video. Just wondering about protecting the EPUB from sharing. Did you watermark it?

[@ta_hernandez5]

I did not. That's kind of a risk you take with ARCs, and that was part of the reason why I tried to be pretty selective with my sign up form and wanting some kind of verification that the person does read/review in my genre. NetGalley also allows you to manually approve people who request an ARC, so you can only approve people who have a higher percentage rate of actually leaving reviews, which is what I chose to do.

[@jbavar32]

Thank you for making this video. It was quite helpful and timely as I am planning on releasing my first book in a couple of months. Since I don’t have a following yet perhaps the co-op approach for NetGalley might work best for me. I could still try the google form and reach out to facebook and instagram groups. Any advice for a new author would be appreciated.

[@ta_hernandez5]

Yeah, if you don't yet have a following, it is a little trickier. I would still say to use social media to your advantage as much as possible, try to connect with readers and even other authors who read/write in your genre and then post about the ARCs when they're available to see who wants one. But using NetGalley might be a good idea in this case. It still will get you some reviews, I just was personally a little surprised/disappointed by how few people actually followed through.

[@asenstoyanchev9082]

Thank you for the helpful video. I have a question - how do you request people to leave you an Amazon review if your book is not even published there? How does the process work?

[@jbavar32]

I do enjoy your blogs, one more question if you don't mind. Is providing a reader with your book as simple as emailing them a .epb file or pdf of your book or do you provide them a link where they can download it for free?

[@ta_hernandez5]

You can do either. I have sent out epubs and/or PDFs, but I have also used something like Bookfunnel or StoryOrigin to give them a download link.

[@michaelelizondo1831]

Nice😅. As a newbie, I was curious which social media did you focus on using Google a form?

[@nextinstitute7824]

Hi there! So where did you find those bloggers? Could it be that that site wasn't really good? I'd love to know where to find the good ones...

[@omegarojo9597]

As a reader and arc reviewer I would love to hear your thoughts on what a “good review” should include.

[@ta_hernandez5]

Honestly I think any review is a good review from the author side of things, especially as an indie author where reviews are harder to get and carry so much weight on Amazon and other retail sites. Even if it's just very brief, one or two sentences saying the book was great or not great or whatever. It doesn't have to be long and I know how time consuming it can be to write detailed reviews. Detailed reviews are great but really, any review is helpful.

[@rebeccak7031]

This was so incredibly helpful. How did people post reviews on your Goodreads profile if your book wasn't released yet. I mean Goodreads wouldn't have the unpublished book on their database so how did people post reviews of your unpublished book there ?

[@ta_hernandez5]

You can manually add your book to Goodreads even if it hasn't been released yet. You do it from your author profile dashboard, and then that does allow people to post reviews before the book is released.

[@SkateGuard]

I so wish I would have watched this before I did the exact same process with reaching out to book bloggers - I had exactly the same experience! :/

[@_joannahans]

How do you get around Amazons terms of service? It says you cannot offer free product in exchange for reviews. HELP 😅

[@ta_hernandez5]

Books seem to be kind of a gray area and I'm not entirely sure what the rules are. I have seen plenty of reviews on amazon where they explicitly state that they got the book free in exchange for a review, but I have also heard of reviews being taken down when they use that phrasing. As far as I know, there's not really a way around it, so it's just kind of a gamble you take and hope that when they post the review on Amazon, it won't get removed. I always ask ARC readers to post the review on Goodreads because they don't get taken down there, and honestly, most people will only post on Goodreads and not cross-post to Amazon or another retailer site.

[@bethesqueakywheel5162]

This is very helpful. Where did you post your sign up sheet?

[@ta_hernandez5]

Glad you found it helpful! It was a Google sign up form and I posted links to it and asked for readers on Twitter, Instagram, and my newsletter. It seemed to get the most engagement on Instagram.

[@artnunymiss2530]

@@ta_hernandez5 This is really clever and useful. Thanks so much for sharing.

[@mical7582]

Thank you for this video. It seems that some sites e.g. booksprout, are more suitable for certain genres. Like some sites favor romance books and the covers and blurb has to capture their attention. Same with book bloggers.

[@ta_hernandez5]

Ooh, that's a really good point! I hadn't considered that.

[@ACSloan-jr3kf]

Is there any wisdom to posting an ARC after a book has launched?

[@ta_hernandez5]

I've done this with my first series since I didn't actually do ARCs at all when I released it. I then learned about how important reviews are and offered review copies months later (maybe even a year or two later) to anyone willing to read/review the book. I just called them review copies instead of ARCs. I posted about them on social media and then I think I also used Booksprout for that, but it was a few years ago and my results with them were better than they have been more recently. I believe Book Sirens also lets you post review copies after a book has already come out.

[@JennyHansenLane]

Did you want reviews to Amazon?

[@ta_hernandez5]

I was looking for reviews for Goodreads and Amazon. Since Amazon doesn't let you post reviews until the book is actually published, I asked ARC readers to review on Goodreads and then once the book went live, I emailed them all once and politely asked if they could also post on Amazon. Most didn't, but some did, and that was great. :)

[@JennyHansenLane]

@@ta_hernandez5 you asked your reviewers to post again, correct?

[@emmyaddams1007]

Sounds like Book Sirens needs to only charge you if they leave a review-you’re paying (charging you) $2 a download and 40 people could download but not do a dang thing about it. That would be such a waste.

[@MichaelDFortner]

It is no longer free.

[@ta_hernandez5]

I'm not sure which one you are referring to, but yeah, unfortunately I think these all are paid services now.

[@tracym6151]

Unfortunately net galley is full of trolls who are just trying to get free books and don’t care about reviewing indie authors. If you are traditionally published the service works well but not for most Indies.

[@smlambert9418]

I signed up for booksrout 45 days ago and paid the $29 per month Unlimited reviews package and it has been 45 days and so far I have not received any reviews. And the bad part is when I contacted Booksprout to ask why I did not receive any reviews. they responded that I should get my own friends to submit reviews on their site (What the heck?) why would I pay $29 per month just to get my own friends to review my book (Definitely a scam)