Advance Review Copies

Part of the publishing process is giving early access to books so reviewers and booksellers can have a sneak peak. These books are usually produced while edits are still ongoing so there will be typos, punctuation issues, possibly some format errors and very occasionally some plot holes. They are either called uncorrected proofs or advance review copies (ARC). The covers are often similar but not the same as the finished cover.

Penguin have produced one for Half Moon Bay and mine arrived today. If the ARC looks like this I can’t wait to see the finished book!! Thanks, Ali, and the rest of the Penguin team.

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30 thoughts on “Advance Review Copies

  1. Jess, you are very generous and I’ll be a little nervous waiting to see what you think of Half Moon Bay.

    And you’re right, it’s a lovely feeling to hold a bound copy in my hand for the first time. Each book is special but that feeling never diminishes. It’s magic!

  2. Oh Wow, I love that cover, even if its not the finished product one 🙂 I can’t wait to read this book Helene! Wish you all the best of luck and success with it (but I doubt you need it, because your brilliant all on your own).

    Must feel pretty special though, being able to see it in book format for the first time, rather than glimpsing it via the computer screen or on loose sheets of paper.

  3. Sandy, it’s a very strong image and does remind my of the heroine, Ellie. Glad you approve!!

    I suspect the actual cover won’t change much from this one and that’s a bonus to have ARCs out and about already with a recognisable cover.

  4. It’s a great scene. Evokes a sense of the woman either still standing strong after a profound experience or bracing herself with the help of mother nature for a battle.

  5. Thanks, Bree, glad you like the colours – they are very striking and hopefully will carry through to the actual cover. Great to hear how you go about dealing with ARCs as well. Thanks for dropping by!

  6. Fiona, I wish she checked every post for me as I appear to be a lousy proof reader… 😀

    And good to hear the reviewer received an incorrect version on their ereader. Must be a minefield in the early stages of editing with several different versions floating around the e-sphere! Of course, how wonderful that she still loved the story!!

  7. I just wanted to clear up about the uncorrected proof ladies. I’ve just heard from my publishers who say it was a technical glitch that that particular reviewer had with their ereader. Nice to know. 🙂

  8. Thanks Bree and Monique, that’s nice to hear as it worried me a little. I can imagine its not easy to read and would stop the flow of the story.
    Oh Helene I wish I had someone to check my blog posts over. 🙂

  9. Oh wow I love it! Pretty 🙂 That’s a lovely cover Helene, the cover gods love you!

    When I receive an uncorrected proof copy I review it as such – I don’t quote it and always make sure that I state in the review that the final version may be different. It can be hard sometimes if you get one littered with mistakes (this seems more common in ebooks) but most tend to be pretty good quality. I don’t take marks off an ARC but I might if it’s a finished copy with mistakes that yank me out of the story.

  10. Hi Monique, thanks for dropping by and sharing your experiences with advance copies. I must admit I wince every time I find an error in a published book, but then I know how hard it is to find typos.

    I have a friend who sends me any typos she spots on my blog posts (thanks KM) and another one who finds typos in my books and sends those through for the reprints (thanks GH!). I don’t know whether the tighter turnaround times contributes to more errors or whether working in soft copies is the real issue. I can see mistakes more clearly on a hard copy yet so much of my editing is now done on the computer…

  11. I like the look of the cover! Lovely cool colours.

    @Fiona, when I get an uncorrected proof, I accept it as it is – that’s why it’s a proof. I wouldn’t review harder because of that; I consider myself lucky I have the book. Having said that, I don’t think I’ve read a single new book lately that hasn’t had a mistake in it that should have been picked up in proofing. That niggles a bit more, but it doesn’t generally affect my response to it.

    Monique

    Monique

  12. Awesome Helene!!! I’ve already had a look on NetGalley to see if I could get an ARC of this book…unfortunately no!!!

  13. Well there is a little more, Efthalia, but I have to wait just a little longer before I can share! It’s been a really wonderful couple of days 🙂

    Glad you like the ARC cover. It’s a little bit unusual but it really suits the mood of the story. I’m sure the cover on the finished book will be quite similar this time around.

  14. I really like the colour tones that are on that cover. Captures the title really well. So this is what you were teasing us about. Lol I even went to the Penguin website incase there was something there.

    I’m certain it will do awesomely well.

    Smiles,
    Efthalia

  15. Ouch, Fiona, that’s unfortunate…

    I’m really happy with this ARC. I did have one on a previous book which I thought went out a little under done. I’ve read a few ARCs myself now and I can see that the mistakes can niggle a little, but I figure it’s all in the spirit of a sneak peak!

  16. Oh love it Helene. (Although i’m not sure about using uncorrected proofs as a few of my reviews have ‘taken points off’ because of the mistakes.) But i’m looking forward to getting my hands on the read deal when it comes out. 🙂

  17. Ooh I like those winner stickers! I thought you were giving ARCs away and that waa the big news. Youa re a tease!!!!!! I will be patient and wait for the real thing. *grumble*

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