ARCs are a perennial source of discussion in the book blogosphere. Readers wonder where to get them. Bloggers feel pressure to review them to stay relevant or to keep up their Netgalley feedback ratio. Authors wonder why more bloggers don't review them. In short, ARCs are a huge source of stress. And that's why I largely opted out a long time ago.
Although sometimes authors may feel that reviewers are not taking their ARCs seriously enough, over ten years of blogging has shown me that the majority of bloggers really do want to commit to reading and reviewing them. And that is a huge source strain for them. Bloggers (and other bookish reviewers and influencers) are people, too--not just faceless entities who churn out content. They understand that writing is hard, that most authors cannot live solely off their writing, and that art has a value above the price tag. They really do want to support authors and literature the best way they can, up to and including doing the free labor of reviewing and marketing books online.
They also have lives that may include full-time jobs, parenting, medical conditions, family emergencies, deaths, and other crises. While they are aware that receiving ARCs implies a commitment to read and review them, the reality is that life sometimes gets in the way--and taking care of one's health and loved ones should take priority over a job task.
Because, to me, that what an ARC is: a job task--with the caveat that bloggers do not get paid for doing it. Authors and publishers, of course, see the book itself as a sort of payment. But while bloggers are certainly grateful to receive free books (hence the desire to read and review them when receiving them), the reality is that a free book is not really equal in cost to the time and labor spent in reading and reviewing the book, not to mention taking photographs or making graphics, marketing it on social media, and perhaps cross-posting the review on several platforms.
The last book I read took me over eight hours. That's just reading it. Add in a few more hours to write a review and market it on social media, and the hourly rate for my labor (even at the U.S.'s federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour) would far exceed the price of an ARC (which, of course, bloggers are asked not to sell and thus arguably has no monetary value). I imagine most publishers and authors cannot actually afford to pay influencers the full amount for their labor, so the whole system is relying on reviewers being willing to read and review essentially for free. But when bloggers and reviewers push back, they are guilted because they are not doing enough to support authors. But if the writing of authors is valuable and should be paid and promoted, why is the writing of bloggers not seen as valuable?
Truly, though, I do see the importance of ARCs as a marketing tool and that is precisely why I so seldom request any. I see blogging as a hobby that I do for my own personal enjoyment. I understand I will never be paid for my blogging, and so I like to keep any implications of writing-for-a-job away, so that I can continue to see blogging as a way to relax and to connect with other readers. Having a pile of ARCs that I have committed to read and review would only introduce stress into the system because I, like so many other reviewers, would feel the need to keep my end of the commitment. When I consider how busy I can get, and how fraught relationships can turn when ARCs are not read and reviewed in a timely manner (or worse, not enjoyed enough to receive a high rating), I just want to avoid the whole situation. Because I do take ARCs seriously, and I would feel guilt if I were not able to read them. For me, the easy solution to this dilemma is not to accept ARCs, so I can read and review on my own schedule stress-free and guilt-free.
In many ways, the conversation about ARCs hinges upon the idea of who blogs are for. While publishers and authors love to leverage them as marketing spaces, I personally did not start my blog to market books but rather to connect with and converse with other readers. I do, of course, read and review many books, and that free labor does end up supporting authors and publishers. But my motivation in writing each day is not to fill in the gaps for marketing positions publishers don't want to hire for. My primary goal is not to sell books for other people. I do want to celebrate literature and to support authors, but I am not in a place where I want to have a formal commitment to market their products, or risk souring a relationship if I find myself unable to. I just want to talk about books with other people who love them.
At the end of the day, most bloggers and reviewers really do understand that accepting ARCs is a serious commitment. They want to support authors and they want to be able to do the favor of reading and reviewing books for them. But that big commitment is also a reason many bloggers, including myself, choose not to pursue ARCs and to simply read books and enjoy them on their own time. And that's okay. Reading is supposed to be fun, not stressful. For me, reading is a hobby, not a job with deadlines and commitments.
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