FINALLY!

It’s taken longer than I thought it would, but I’m ready to ask you to be a member of my ARC Reader team for my new book, Hard as Stone: A Sam and Meg Stone Mystery. As a reminder, ARC stands for Advance Reader Copy. It’s an early, still not-quite-finished version of my upcoming book, Hard as Stone: A Sam and Meg Stone Mystery, that you get early, hence the term Advance, and free of charge. In exchange, I ask that you write an honest review online when the book comes out. Here are some things to keep in mind before you sign on the dotted line, metaphorically speaking. There is no line, dotted or otherwise. 

• The main purpose of having ARC readers is to generate reviews. It’s not just to share the book with people early. Please only sign up if you genuinely intend to leave reviews online. I had about twenty people sign up to be ARC readers for my first Sam and Meg Stone Mystery, Cast The First Stone, and that generated three reviews on Amazon.  Statistically, that’s the same as no reviews. Reviews generate interest, which drives sales, which leads to more reviews. ARC readers are the key to starting that process. 
• Remember that long, developed reviews are not needed. Just choose the rating and add as little as a sentence saying you liked it. Assuming you liked it. If you didn’t like it, say that. But I really hope you like it.
• The two most common places to leave reviews are Amazon and Goodreads, but you can leave your review on whatever online platform you normally use to buy books. 
• An optional second task for ARC readers is to let your friends and family know about the book. Yes, likes are nice and shares are fine, but a post on the social media platform of your choice telling folks about this great new book you’ve read would be so helpful. As is word-of-mouth. Tell your friends and family! 
• A last function of ARC reading is to serve as my last line of defense against typos and other infelicities. See a misspelled word? Please let me know! See a formatting issue, like a new chapter starting on the same page as the end of the previous one? Drop me a message. See a gaping plot hole or something happens you just don’t understand? I’d love to know that. This is, of course, also optional.
• Everything but the review is optional. I mean, the review is optional in that I can’t force you to do it. But by signing up to be an ARC reader, you’re entering into an agreement with the author that, in exchange for an early look at their book, you will help them by reviewing the book when it is published. That’s the baseline. All the other stuff would be really deeply appreciated, but it’s definitely over and above the call of duty. 

Still interested? Click here or the button below to sign up. 

Godspeed!

Joe