Siren’s Heart – Romance Book Release ARC Process

The Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) process can be daunting for new authors - speaking from experience. When I released my first rockstar romance series, I didn’t give much thought to ARCs as I was much more focused on everything that accompanies romance book releases. However, with my new celebrity romances, I decided to change my approach to create more buzz around the release dates.

My primary goal for this ARC campaign was to attract new readers who would be willing to give my books a try. Additionally, I aimed to build lasting relationships by accepting members to a permanent ARC- and Street Team.

Please note that I share all of this without any judgement whatsoever, only the cold, hard facts and numbers of my process. ♡

The ARC process for my celebrity romance

So, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of where I found my wonderful eARC-readers, an overview of how and what I communicated and, of course, the results of this campaign!

Tool overview for my ARC Process

1. Google Forms to verify readers and collect e-mail addresses

2. Mailerlite to send out e-mails

3. Bookfunnel to distribute the ARC and send reminder e-mail on release day

4. Netgalley co-op by Anne Victory for further ARCs

   (If you join the co-op please mention my affiliate code ‘haileyfrost’ and I might receive a small affiliate bonus ❤)

Finding Romance ARC Readers organically

When preparing for the release of my romance novel Siren’s Heart, I began searching for ARC readers about two months in advance.

The majority of ARC reader applications came from Facebook groups. I targeted groups specifically focused on ARC readers, as well as broader bookish groups centered around spicy romance. These groups often allow author promotions either through pinned posts on designated days or by direct posting.

I also reached out to bookstagrammers with profiles focused on contemporary romance. To ensure a good fit for both sides, I reviewed their recent posts to see if they regularly included book reviews or primarily featured book photos. Most bookstagrammers I contacted had fewer than 3,000 followers, and I made sure to follow them and personalize each message.

And I just have to point out that I only got very lovely responses from all bookstagrammers who answered, so don’t be scared to reach out!

What definitely helped get applications, as quite a few of ARC readers attested to in their review, was the Siren’s Heart cover.

ARC - Applications for my Romance Book

This time I opened 3 different applications: For my Street Team, for a permanent ARC-Team and exclusively for Siren’s Heart with the opportunity to apply for Siren’s Game, the second book of the celebrity romance duology, as well. I created the application as form in Squarespace or as a Google form.

This is how many applications I received (including those who applied to several teams):

• Street Team: 45 applications, 20 accepted to the team

• Permanent ARC- Team: 99 applications, 83 accepted to the team

• Siren’s Heart ARC-Team: 285 applications, 204 accepted to the team

This honestly was a mind-blowing number for me already, considering that I’m still a small author!

I also joined the Victory Editing Netgalley Co-Op, which enabled me to rent a 1-month-spot on Netgalley, where I got 322 applications and approved 86 readers. The Netgalley Feedback function gave further confirmation that the cover was a huge asset when it came to finding ARC readers.

Netgalley Feedback for Siren's Heart

ARC Team Acceptance Criteria

For the Siren’s Heart ARC-Team, my only criteria were for the reader to be at least 18 years old and that they provided some kind of link to any profile where they intended to post their reviews. This was mainly to prove they’re a real person.

For the permanent ARC-Team, I required a link to the readers Amazon and Goodreads profile, since those reviews are mandatory in order to remain on the team. I also had a quick look at the Goodreads profiles, just to check that romance is a general interest of the person who applied.

When it came to the Street Team I was a little more picky and accepted readers who have supported me since my first series, and those who had social media channels that seemed like they would align with my target group. So I checked whether their focus was contemporary romance instead of historical, fantasy or dark romance. Whoever I didn’t accept, I offered the permanent ARC Team or only Siren’s Heart ARC membership to.

For Netgalley, I accepted readers who had high Feedback rates (above 70%) and seemed from their profile like they would enjoy my book.

Communication with my ARC Teams

To better communicate with my ARC readers, I decided to run a little experiment and used Mailerlite. In my prior ARC-processes, readers applied and then got the ARC. This time I wanted to go about it in a more structured and transparent way for readers – and I dare say Mailerlite has better data protection than a random Excel or Google Doc chart, which is absolutely an added bonus.

In short, what I sent to my readers were:

1.       A confirmation E-Mail shortly after the application

2.       A quick reminder a few days before I sent the ARC

3.       The ARC (Bookfunnel)

4.       Release day E-Mail (Bookfunnel)

5.       Thank you E-Mail and gentle reminder 2 weeks after release

I did ask my ARC readers to send me links or screenshots to their reviews, in order to receive the Siren’s Game ARC as well, which was already communicated in the application. As a result I was in a steady contact with some of my readers via e-mail and social media, to answer questions and also regarding giveaways I was doing during the ARC period.

The results

4 weeks after release, this is what the review-situation for Siren’s Heart looks like:

• 292 E-Mails sent via Bookfunnel, 253 downloads of the book

• Goodreads: 157 Ratings, 141 Reviews, on 255 tbr’s

• Amazon: 58 Ratings

• Netgalley (after 3 weeks): 44 Feedbacks (that tie into both the Amazon and Goodreads Feedbacks)

But what about actual sales you may ask?

To preface, I’m exclusive on Amazon and as such my book is available in Kindle Unlimited. I have to warn you, those numbers might be a bit underwhelming considering the amount of time the ARC process took, but I’m all for transparency, so here you go:

• Sales: 6 e-books, 2 paperbacks

• KENP Reads: 6.431 as of 2 weeks after release (equal to ca. 21 people reading the full book)

• Pre-Orders for Siren’s Game: +1 compared to before ARC campaign

However, I am hoping that the amount of reviews will benefit Siren’s Heart in the long run and that the campaign helped me build long-lasting relationships with my ARC readers.

Readers’ Feedback on the Advanced Copy Reading Process for Siren’s Heart

In the ‘Thank You’ email sent after the ARC period ended, I included a feedback form for readers to share their thoughts on the overall process, so I can improve the experience for future ARC team members.

I received about 20 responses. Given that people often speak up more when they have complaints and stay silent when things are fine, I’m taking this as a positive sign!

Where My Readers See Opportunity for Improvement:

One valid critique I received was that readers struggled to know which team they were on since everyone received the same core emails. This was not ideal, but necessary for this celebrity romance duology due to time constraints.

Additionally, I asked ARC readers which submission type for reviews suited them better, and I’d love to share these results with you:

Answer to the question “Do you prefer to send your reviews via e-mail or would you prefer a form like this one (Google Forms) to submit them?”

What my ARC readers liked about the process

Initially, I was apprehensive about sending too many and too lengthy emails and annoying my readers with them. However, communication turned out to be the aspect that received the most compliments on the feedback form!

Besides the content of the emails, my readers greatly appreciated being able to communicate directly with me. And, I just have to add, I thoroughly enjoyed receiving and responding to their messages.

My conclusion to the Siren’s Heart ARC process

I am very happy with how the ARC for Siren’s Heart went. There is always room for improvement but I found this process a very good starting point.

However, I am not sure I will use Netgalley for Siren’s Game – while the platform certainly got eyes on Siren’s Heart and I received reviews, it just has to be considered that the comparison to publishing house books, that are the norm for Netgalley, will always be there.

I will continue to sing Victory Editing’s and the Co-Ops praises and I’m sure one day I will make use of it again, but I found that I am just not at that point in my romance author journey yet.

Mailerlite, however, was an experiment that paid off and I will continue to use it for future ARC’s – to communicate with my teams but also to manage them.