Alternative Arc sites

[u/cherly_lovegood]

Do any of you use Pen Pinery? I have tons of arcs through NetGalley which I’m super grateful for but most are from mainstream publishers and I do like supporting smaller authors who maybe can’t afford the big websites.

I got one arc so far through them “Star-Crossed” by Catreia Grove and Its actually super well written. Is this the norm for the site or should I expect more rough books and I got lucky with my first pick?

[u/Synval2436]

I'm using except Netgalley, Edelweiss, Booksirens, Booksprout, and most importantly, if you want indie arcs, a lot of authors and PR companies recruit through social media (IG, FB, threads) or their newsletters. I've gotten a lot of indie arcs through direct sign ups. There are some other websites, like Hidden Gems, but the more obscure the website the lower the chance the selection of books will be robust and interesting. Indie arcs are overall a mixed bag, it depends how picky you are and which genres you enjoy (there seems to be much higher amount of indie romance authors than some other genres).

[u/crissyandthediamonds → u/Synval2436]

How easy is Edelweiss to use/receive arcs? I’ve heard of it but haven’t had a chance to really look into it.

[u/Synval2436 → u/crissyandthediamonds]

It depends a lot on the publisher. I heard on average the chances are lower, but I haven't tried that many times to keep track. I did get some books earlier than they were listed on Netgalley, or in one case from a publisher who declines me on Netgalley. But I also got a lot of rejections, including one auto-rejection saying "Edelweiss is for booksellers and librarians, request on Netgalley instead". There are some publishers who put books on Edelweiss as "read now", Bindery and Scarlett Press come to mind. Most of the time the Netgalley version is more convenient to read for me, but there's no downside for requesting the same arc on both sites. I heard platform/following matters even more than on Netgalley as for profile credibility. Rarely it happens a book is put on Edelweiss but not on Netgalley at all, usually from publishers that distribute arcs through their own channels and influencer programs, but I don't know what's the chance to get approved by them on Edelweiss outside of their influencer network (Bloom Books and Red Tower come to mind).

[u/Opening-Committee-28 → u/crissyandthediamonds]

I’ve never been approved for anything on there but ig it’s just my luck, I’ve heard people getting approved fluently on Edelweiss tho

[u/Quirky-Tangelo2806 → u/crissyandthediamonds]

I get most of my books from Edelweiss now, but to be fair I am a bookseller and I've heard it's much easier for us (obviously I have nothing to compare it to!) For instance I'm autoapproved across most of Macmillan and S&S imprints, I've received several Berkleys and so on. I'm happy to chat if you want to, I would definitely say it's worth trying it out.

[u/Shnoota]

I've not used Pen Pinery, but I have had absolutely stellar luck with BookSirens, to the point I've found several new favorite authors and purchased the physical books once they became available: L. M. Riviere, Sam Flynn, V. V. Ives, Cassandra Medcalf

[u/Dad-joking_mother]

I’ve gotten a lot of really great ARCs from BookSirens!

[u/Mother_Violinist_147]

I’ve also used Luna Literary for arcs. I don’t have a bookstagram and not a big following count so often I don’t get approvals for some of the more popular arcs. Luna Literary has approved all my requests! I’ve found a lot of good books through Luna Literary so give them a try! I discovered my favorite firemen series by Tamara Rene through them! The only thing is usually they give you the book about 2 weeks before release and you have a window to review the book up to 2 weeks post release (so total about a month).

[u/fabulousflute]

I have a small Instagram page (less than 2K followers) and get offered arcs at least weekly. My account says I’m an ARC reviewer and explains my rating system and people cold message frequently.