Most authors picture ARC management as handing out early copies and hoping reviews appear. That is the version that disappoints. A book that reaches release day with reviews already on the page got there because someone ran a system in the weeks before, and that system is what ARC management actually is.
Here is what the work involves, what it can and cannot promise, and what to expect from a campaign, whether you hand it to me or run it yourself.
ARC management is a system you run before launch
An advance copy campaign has a shape. It recruits the right readers, delivers the book in a format that cannot leak untraceably, keeps the team warm through the read, and makes leaving a review on release day the easy default instead of a chore. The order matters more than any single piece. A hundred copies handed out with no follow-up produces the silence most authors mean when they say ARCs did not work for them.
What a managed campaign includes
When I run one, the pieces are a signup form built for your genre and tone, a reader team pulled from my network of 4,000+ readers and any list of your own, a toolkit that goes out with the book, a reminder sequence across the read, and review tracking through launch. The toolkit carries the blurb, the tropes, the content notes, the review links, and a plain line that release week is ideal and later is fine. The forms and the list are reusable, so a second campaign is mostly running the sequence again rather than rebuilding it. The book goes out watermarked through BookFunnel, so a leaked copy is traceable.
Who it is for
The service exists for the author writing the next book while the current one launches, who does not have the week it takes to run a team by hand. That is most indie authors. You do not need an existing ARC team, because building one is part of the job. If you have run a campaign before and it ended in a spreadsheet of readers who never posted, the follow-up sequence was almost certainly the weak point, and rebuilding it is most of what a managed campaign does.
The timeline
A campaign works backward from release day. Signups open around six weeks out. Copies go to the team about two weeks before release, early enough to read and late enough that the book does not get buried under a reader’s other ARCs. The toolkit lands with the book, reminders run across the fortnight, and the review push happens on release day when the retail links go live. Longer books get the earlier end of that window and a gentler reminder schedule.
What it can and cannot promise
No honest ARC service guarantees reviews, and any that does is worth backing away from. Reviews are asked for, never owed, and never bought. What a campaign buys you is the structure that gives honest reviews their best chance: the right readers, the book in their hands on time, and a review that is one tap away when they finish. The rate you should expect depends on your genre, your book’s length, and how the ask is built, which is enough moving parts that a single benchmark number misleads more than it helps. I go through what actually moves it in ARC review rates by genre.
How I run a team
ARC readers are people who offered to help, usually while juggling several other books, not promoters on a contract. I set expectations plainly and follow up without pressure. A reader who cannot finish, or finishes and did not connect with the book, is told that this is genuinely fine, and is not dropped from future campaigns for being honest. A sustainable team that comes back for your next three books is worth more than a large one you burn through once.
If you would rather write the next book than run the sequence, that is the whole of my ARC management service: recruitment from a reader network that already knows me, the toolkit, the reminders, and the tracking through release week. Tell me the book and the date and I will tell you what is realistic.
Frequently asked questions
How far before release should an ARC campaign start?
Open signups around six weeks before release and deliver the book to the team about two weeks out. That gives readers time to finish without the book getting lost under their other commitments. Longer books need the earlier end of that window.
Do I need an existing ARC team to run a campaign?
No. Building the team is part of the work. A managed campaign recruits readers from an existing network and genre communities, and the signup form and reader list carry over to your future launches.
Does ARC management guarantee reviews?
No, and any service that promises reviews should be treated with caution. Reviews are requested, never required and never paid for. A well-run campaign builds the structure that gives honest reviews their best chance, but the reader always decides.