ARC Request Templates (Email & Profile)

Hi friends and welcome to another bookish resource! I’ve been dubbed the Email Queen 👑 by Soph, and a recent Twitter poll had an overwhelming response for email templates… so I thought that I would share the ones I wrote pertaining to ARCs. And while we are talking about putting your best foot forward on your ARC requests, I have also included some tips on how to make your NetGalley & Edelweiss profile as strong as ever!

This post is not meant to be a how-to guide with links to publicity contacts and the general milestones most publishers are looking for before granting review requests. That isn’t to say that I won’t make that post in the future, but for the purposes of this post I wanted to keep it simple with templates only. If you’re looking for that kind of post, I recommend that you check out the amazing guides by A Whisper of Ink,  Nose Graze, or Novel Knight.

All of these templates are free for your personal use. Please do not copy and re-post as your own without credit.

Email to Publisher Requesting an ARC

I don’t send emails requesting physical ARCs often, but I do have an email template that I can easily tweak depending on the title I am hoping to receive. My biggest piece of advice is to include all the information that they will need in your email so that they are able to make an informed decision. I also include my mailing address to limit the back and forth required.

Good afternoon NAME,

My name is YOUR NAME, and I am a book reviewer over at my blog BLOG NAME. I’m emailing in regards to an upcoming book that I would be interested in reviewing early on my blog and other social media channels.

I am interested in reading and reviewing BOOK TITLE by AUTHOR NAME early to help generate buzz and excitement ahead of its release. Science fiction is one of my favorite genres, and this book sounds absolutely incredible: the themes of control, the use of light access for control, and the idea of time’s meaning being dictated by others all sound like a compelling read. I’d love the opportunity to be an early reviewer and I hope that you will consider my request.

Blog Link: XX
WordPress Followers: XX
Bloglovin Followers: XX
Twitter: XX
Twitter Followers: XX
Goodreads Profile: XX
Goodreads Friends/Followers: XX

Book I’d Like to Review:
TITLE by AUTHOR
Publication Date
Imprint

Shipping Address:
XXXX

Thank you so much for reading and thank you in advance for your consideration. Please let me know if you have any questions that I can answer.

All the best,
Kaleena

As you can see by the bolded & highlighted sentence, my request email is personalized to each specific book that I request. I opted to leave the reasons why from one of my requests so you can see the kinds of quick things I include. Everything else that you should update is in CAPS; if you promo on different platforms than me (Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) be sure to include those relevant stats!

Email Response for Review Requests – Yes

I am really fortunate to get quite a bit of emailed review requests from authors, PR professionals, and publishers. I made the choice to respond to every request (yes, even the ones that ignore my Review Policy), so I have a couple of email response templates for accepting and denying the requests to make it easier for me.

Good morning NAME,

Thank you so much for your email, and I would absolutely love a a review copy of TITLE. Science fiction is one of my favorite genres, and this debut title looks incredible. I love space exploration stories, particularly narratives that discuss the buildings of utopia and I think that I will really enjoy this book.

My mailing address is:
XX

Please let me know if there is a desired timeline for review (I will do my best to read & review by then – if not I will let you know), and if you have an particular hashtags or accounts that you would like me to mention when I share on social media.

I look forward to working with you!

All the best,
Kaleena

Honestly it is pretty easy for me to say yes, but I definitely want to be sure that I have all the information that I need up front once I accept. I always like to include a little blurb about why I think the book is for me, which is bolded and italicized above.

Email Responses for Review Requests – No

Closed to review requests (which they’d know if they looked at my review policy):

Dear NAME,

Thank you for your email. I am always touched by the vote of confidence from authors, publishers, and PR professionals afford to me when extending review requests. Unfortunately I do not have the time or bandwidth for additional books at this time and I am currently not accepting any review requests. I wish you and the author the best of luck with the promotion of this book.

All the best,
Kaleena

Not closed to requests but not interested:

Dear NAME,

Thank you for your email. I am always touched by the vote of confidence from authors, publishers, and PR professionals afford to me when extending review requests. Unfortunately I am close to capacity on requests right now and do not have the bandwidth to take on additional requests outside of my preferred genres.

I wish you the best of luck with the promotion of this book.

All the best,
Kaleena

The book isn’t a good fit for my interests (I use this one rarely):

Dear NAME,

Thank you for your email. I am always touched by the vote of confidence from publishers and PR professionals afford to me when extending review requests. While this book has an interesting premise, unfortunately this book does not sound like the right fit for me so I will have to decline this request. I wish you the best of luck with the promotion of this book!

All the best,
Kaleena

My NetGalley & Edelweiss Profile Information

Just like you want to provide all of the relevant information about your followers and social reach in your email requests to publishers, you want to be sure that your user profile on NetGalley and Edelweiss includes the information as well. Even more so because they don’t have the ability to respond to your email to ask a follow up question (which I doubt publishers would even do this as they are busy and have lots of requests)!

ABOUT ME
I have a passion for reading and sharing my bookish thoughts with others. Every book that I read is guaranteed to be reviewed on Goodreads, and has the potential for review on my blog. In the event that I do not enjoy a book (or in rare instances do not finish), my review will be critical but constructive. Reading is very subjective and just because I do not enjoy a book doesn’t mean that others will not as well. I make an effort to highlight positives about the book, be clear about the reasons why I didn’t enjoy it, and to the extent possible share who may enjoy it.

I also enjoy reading diversely and helping other readers find books that represent them. I particularly enjoy fantasy books that draw from non-Western mythology and folklore, as well as books that feature a cast of characters as diverse as the world we live in.

BLOG AND SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS:
My blog currently has 3,130 (1,097 on WP specifically) followers and is continuing to grow in followers and engagement. In March 2019 my blog had a total of 5,232 views (and a 169 daily average over the last two months), and each post averages 42 comments and 71 likes. I have approximately 2,098 followers on Twitter with an average of 180K-215K impressions per month. I am an active member in the bookish blogging community and incredibly passionate about books – especially spreading the word about lesser-hyped titles.

FOLLOWERS AND REACH:
Total unique visitors: 16,021 since March 4, 2018
Total page views: 38,252 since March 4, 2018
Wordpress Followers: 1,097
Bloglovin Followers: 57
Twitter: @kalventure
Twitter Followers: 2,098
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/reader-voracious
Goodreads Friends/Followers: 301/53

I post five times per week on my blog, and typically 2-3 of those are book reviews. Unless otherwise requested, I tend to schedule my book reviews closer to publication date on my blog (within one month of publication).

CONTACT ME:
I can be reached via email at KaleenaReviews@gmail.com if you have any questions about my review, or if you would like to get in touch with me. I am open to hosting interviews or excerpts in addition to my book reviews.

I built my profile over time using the publisher’s preferences when listed on NetGalley, which helped a lot. I added the FOLLOWERS AND REACH section in February 2019 and it made a drastic improvement on my approval rating on Edelweiss.

📝 Related Post: Edelweiss 101: Tips & Tricks

My NetGalley and Edelweiss profiles are identical, and I update them monthly with my stats and reach accordingly. You’ll also notice that this is largely the same information that is included in my review request email… I am all about streamlining things so I don’t have to update a billion different things differently. I have a GoogleDoc with everything on it and just paste accordingly.

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And there you have it: my list of templates that you are welcome to use and tweak for your own needs! What are your thoughts? Do you have templates that you refer to to make your book blogging life easier?

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