The beta, what it is, who gets in, what is free
For readers and authorsUpdated 3 min read
Booklabria is a closed beta by invitation. Readers never pay; author plans exist but nothing is charged during the beta; ARC files are delivered through protected, expiring links; apps for iOS and Android are on the way; nobody here can give a date.
The short answer
This page is the plain list of facts about the beta. It is what the help assistant answers from when someone asks what Booklabria is, how to get in, what it costs, or when something is coming. If a fact is not on this page, nobody at Booklabria has said it.
What the beta is
Booklabria is a social platform for readers and authors: book discovery, shelves and reviews, author profiles and the Author Journal, Reading Circles, and ARC campaigns with protected file delivery. It is a closed beta: the product is live for the people who have been invited, features are still being finished, and things change as we build. The Terms of service say what a beta means for you; the short version is that you keep your rights and your content, and you should keep your own copies of manuscripts.
Who gets in
The beta opens by invitation. There are three ways in:
- Request an invite. The form on the home page asks for an e-mail address, whether you mostly read or write, and one optional line. When a place opens, a code is sent to that address. There is no queue position to check and no way to speed it up; the same quiet answer is given whether or not an address was already on the list.
- An invite code you were given. A code opens the account form at /signup. One code is one account (or a few, when the code allows more than one use), and a code may carry an expiry.
- An author's reader invites. Every author account holds five reader invites (Studio › Invite readers): a link that opens a reader account for the people who read them. Readers do not hold invites of their own.
Nobody outside the team can promise a place, and neither can the help assistant. Support cannot admit anybody either; only a code does.
What is free
Readers never pay. Shelves, reviews, ARC access, Reading Circles, Goals, Insights, Wraps and exporting your data are part of every reader account, for as long as it exists. There is no reader plan and there will not be one.
Authors have plans: Author (free), Creator, Pro and Publisher (for teams), with founding prices shown on the Pricing page. During the beta nothing is charged: every author feature is unlocked, no card is collected, and there is no checkout. When billing opens, authors will be told well in advance, and nothing changes without their say. Plans, and what the beta unlocks has the detail.
What ARC delivery does
An author runs an ARC campaign and uploads the advance copy to it. A reader applies; the author approves. An approved reader downloads the file through a protected link that expires fifteen minutes after it is issued, with up to five downloads per approval; every download is logged. The file is never at a public address. A reader's ARC reputation measures reliability (reading and reviewing on time), never how kindly they rate. Requesting an ARC and Downloading your ARC cover the reader's side; Running an ARC campaign the author's.
Apps
Booklabria works in a phone's browser today. Apps for iOS and Android are on the way. There is no release date, and nobody can give one yet; when the apps are ready it will be said in the app and on the home page.
Dates
No date has been announced for the end of the beta, for billing opening, or for the apps. Anyone who quotes one is guessing. When something changes in a way that matters, you are told in the app before it takes effect.
Where to ask
Start with the help center. Booklabria AI answers from these pages, links the page each answer came from, and says so when it cannot answer; ask it for a person and it shows you the way. To reach one directly, send it to the team; every message is read by a person.
Where this lives
Related
- Creating your account and profile: Sign up with an invite code, an e-mail address and a password; pick reader or author once; then fill in the profile readers see (name, username, photo, bio) under Settings › Profile.
- Plans, and what the beta unlocks: Readers never pay; there is no reader plan and never will be. Authors have plans (Author, free; Creator; Pro; Publisher, for teams) with planned prices shown on Pricing, but during the closed beta nothing is charged, no card is collected, there is no checkout, and every author feature is unlocked. Authors are told well in advance before billing opens.
- Requesting an ARC: When an author runs an active campaign, the book page shows Request this ARC and the ARC hub lists it under Opportunities with your openly computed match; a request carries a short note, waits for the author's decision, and can be cancelled while pending. There is no waitlist.
- Downloading your ARC, and how the file is protected: An approved ARC downloads from My requests through a link that expires fifteen minutes after it is issued; each approval allows five downloads, every one logged; the file is never at a public address. If a link expires, ask for a fresh one; if you reach the limit, write to the author or support.
- Reader and author accounts: An account is either a reader account or an author account. You choose at sign-up; a reader can become an author later from For authors, which keeps the library and reviews and cannot be undone.
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