by Marsha Ward
Although I never rabidly watched the TV show, "Seinfeld," I did catch enough bits and pieces to know what a Soup Nazi is. I guess you could call me the ARC Nazi.
What on earth is she talking about? you may ask. What's an ARC?
An ARC is an Advance Reader's Copy, a pre-release version of a forthcoming novel. These are soft-cover versions of the-book-that-will-be-out-soon. They may or may not come wrapped in final cover art, may include errata, and the text may be an iteration that precedes last-minute changes. Publishers usually send them out several months in advance of the book's release to publicize the next big thing in reading, and book reviewers are the intended recipients. More and more, though, selected general readers are getting their hands on ARCs, either through contests, or from a list of the author's fans.
By the way, it's considered very bad manners to sell an ARC on ebay or the like. If you don't want it, just give it to someone who will appreciate it.
Okay. The reason I'm the ARC Nazi is that I have a pet peeve concerning ARCs. Not the existence of them. I love getting ARCs, when I'm fortunate enough. I just hate to hear the acronym referred to as an "Advanced Reader's Copy".
What about slow readers? Don't they ever get any ARCs?
I'm sure the term advanced is not referring to whether you are a rapid reader, but rather that it is coming ahead of the 1st edition final copy. I'd say plenty of "slow" readers get ARCs. That way they can have all the extra time in the world to get a handle on it. Tee Hee.
ReplyDeleteMargaret
You are too funny!!! Well, I have an ARC right now, as you know, and I plan to take good care of it!! You know have undercover narcotic officers are called "narcs?" So what shall we call you? My daughter, the book dealer, says some ARC's become very valuable (like if someone had an ARC of "Twilight" or something) but I have a really hard time parting with any of my books for any reason so that wouldn't do me much good.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!!!!
so why isn't there spell check for the comment area? I misspelled 'how' and wrote 'have' instead... yeah, I'm a writer. (I'm actually a pretty good speller too... but not when I hurry). {{{HUGS}}}
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh, Marsha. I'll never look at another ARC the same.
ReplyDeleteToo funny! It's a good thing you will always be an advanced reader!
ReplyDeleteYou go, you ARC Nazi, you!
ReplyDeleteLOL...Marsha you are amazing!
ReplyDeleteWhere have I been? I've never before even heard of an ARC. How do you get to be one?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have thought of you as a slow reader, Marsha. I wonder if you and I had a race which would be the most turtle-ish. But then, that might depend on the time of day, or how much sleep I was lacking.
This seems like a dumb comment, but at least it shows I read your blog.
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