How to become an ARC reader
An ARC is an advance reader copy: a finished book handed out before it goes on sale, free, so that real readers see it early. Becoming an ARC reader takes no application fee, no qualifications and no audience. It also pays nothing, and this page is honest about why.
See the free shelfWhat an ARC reader actually does
You take a copy of a book that is not out yet, or has just come out, and you read it like any other book. That is the job. There is no report to file, no rubric, no minimum word count, and nobody checks your work.
What the author is hoping for is that some of the people who read it will post a review around launch. Early reviews matter to indie authors more than almost anything else, because a book with four reviews and a book with forty are treated very differently by browsing readers.
Hoping is the operative word. The moment it becomes a requirement, the whole thing turns into a compensated review, and those get removed.
Four steps to start
Work out which genres you read anyway
This sounds obvious and it is the step most people skip. An ARC is a full book, usually 60,000 words or more. If you take one out of curiosity rather than genuine interest, it sits unread and the author learns nothing. Pick two or three genres you would have bought from anyway.
Find the shelves, not the applications
Some services make you apply per title and wait for approval. Others put books on an open shelf and let you take what you want. Open shelves get you reading the same day. Applications mostly exist so the platform can charge the author for a slot.
Read the terms before the book
You are looking for one thing: whether a review is required. If the terms make a review a condition of receiving the book, walk away. That arrangement is what gets reviews stripped and accounts closed, and the reader is not the one who decides how it gets classified.
Read it, then decide
The copy is yours. If you want to say what you thought, an Amazon review is the thing that helps an indie author most, and a critical one is worth more to them than a polite five stars. If you do not want to, that is the end of it.
One warning sign, and it is a big one
If a service offers to pay you per book, per review, or in points that convert to money, stop there. It does not matter that the payment is described as being for your reading time rather than for the review. What gets judged is the pattern: value moving from an author to somebody who then reviews that author. The reader usually keeps their account. The author often does not keep theirs.
Questions people ask first
Do ARC readers get paid?+
No, and any platform offering to pay you per book is describing something Amazon does not allow. The book itself is the whole compensation. We wrote out the longer version of this on our page about getting paid to read books.
Do I need experience or a following?+
No. Indie authors are not looking for influencers, they are looking for people who read the genre and will say what they honestly thought. A reader with no followers and a real opinion is more useful than a large account posting a summary of the blurb.
How many books can I take?+
On an open shelf, as many as you will genuinely read. There is no credit system and no queue on iWrity. The only real limit is your reading speed.
What format do ARCs come in?+
Usually a PDF or EPUB rather than a Kindle store copy, because the book often is not on sale yet. Files are commonly watermarked with the reader's name, which is how authors protect an unreleased manuscript from being passed around.
Will my review show as a Verified Purchase?+
No. A verified badge comes from buying the book on Amazon, and you did not buy it. Reviews without that badge are weighted less and filtered harder. Anyone promising you a guaranteed number of reviews from free copies is promising something outside their control.
Do I have to say the book was free?+
Yes, if you review it. A free copy is a material connection under the FTC endorsement guides, and Amazon asks for the same thing. One plain sentence covers it.
Reading for free, not for pay
iWrity gives readers free copies from indie authors. No payment, no review required, nothing owed in return. Amazon bans paying for reviews, so we do not pay.
See the free shelf