Join my ARC Team

First things first, there’s a link at the bottom to join my Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) Team. In case you haven’t heard that term before, basically it’s what every author—be they inde or a mainstream bestseller—needs for a successful book launch. None of us, not even George R.R. Martin, Steven King or the great Mills and Boon, can exist and thrive without support. And it’s always nice for us authors to give something back to our readers. More on that below.

When any one of us buys a product on a website like Amazon, we generally look for reviews to prove the product is worth our investmet—social validation. A book without reviews tends to be viewed with suspicion, whether written by a bestselling or first-time author. And yet a book’s launch day is a critical time for its success. So how do authors get those all-important reviews in time for the launch? The answer, of course, is by having an ARC Team.

So, I am looking for an exclusive group of readers who like my genre—that being vampire thrillers, dark fantasy and horror. This exclusive group will receive a free copy of book one, “Blood of the Damned,” probably six to eight weeks before the publication date—to be confirmed, but sometime in 2025. And they have to at least try to read it and post a review on the day of publication. Us authors cannot demand this, we can only request it, just as we cannot tell our reviewers what to say in their review, nor what rating to give us.

And what’s in it for you, dear reader?

– Well, firstly, you get the book for free.
– And you get it before anyone else.
– If you’re able to give me feedback on the book in sufficient time before publication, then you might be assisting with the creative process and really making your mark by helping to produce some, hopefully, extraordinary literature.
– All reviewing ARC Team members will have an honourable mention in the book’s acknowledgement section.
– All reviewing ARC Team members have exclusive access to a Facebook page where you can meet up with the other team members, and we can all have a good old chin-wag about all things dark and dastardly.
– For book one, also, one member of the ARC Team will be chosen to have a character in the book named after them, forever to be immortalised in literature. Imagine, YOU, the next Mina Harker*, Jaime Lannister*, or even Lord Voldemort * (*insert your name here.) As it’s a fairly exclusive club, there aren’t that many of you, so your chances are pretty good.
– And for all those who go above and beyond, there will be more exciting stuff, yet to be announced.

I hope that’s enough to make it worth your while. But also you will undoubtedly be doing your good deed for the day—in fact, as far as I’m concerned, your good deed for the year. Furthermore, I hope to be in regular contact with all my ARC Team and get to know you over the time that you stay with me. If we meet at book fairs, horror conventions etc, then I would love to catch up for a chat and hopefully even a drink—my treat, of course.