A copy an author sent you, and the review it asks for
For readersUpdated 3 min read
An author can send an early copy straight to your e-mail address from a campaign, without you applying. It is a campaign copy: it asks for an honest review by the campaign's date, and the mail and the card both say so. Nothing is owed until you open it; to say no, leave the link unopened and it expires in thirty days. Once taken, Set down is always an honest way out.
The short answer
What arrived
An author running an early-copy campaign can send a copy straight to your e-mail address, without you applying for it. You get one mail with a link to the book. Nothing is owed until you open it. When you do (with a free reader account if you have none), the copy lands in your Library marked From Ana Reyes, sent to you, with the review date under the mark, and a receipt follows by mail.
It is a copy from that campaign, with the campaign's terms: an honest review by the date in the mail, and anything else the campaign lists, such as posting your review on a store or a reading site as well.
Why you, when you did not ask
The author chose you. They had your address, from a list of their own or from somewhere you gave it, and they typed it in for this campaign. That is the whole of it: there is no lottery, no ranking, and nothing you did on Booklabria put you on that list.
Honest means honest
A review of a copy an author sent is a review like any other: a critical one counts exactly as much as a kind one, and an author may not ask you for a good review, here or anywhere. If the book is not for you, say so in the review, or do not finish it and say that instead (Early copy reviews and your follow-through explains how a DNF said out loud counts as follow-through).
If the book is not out yet, your review is held and published on the release day with the others (Reviews held until launch).
Saying no
Saying no is simple: do not open the link. Close the mail or the page and nothing happens; the link expires in thirty days, nothing is owed and nothing is recorded against you.
Once you have taken the copy, if it is not for you after all, press Set down on it under My early copies. That counts as follow-through, not a miss, and the review reminders stop.
What counts against your follow-through is a copy you downloaded and kept past its date (or your extended date) without a review or a set-down. Deciding early is always better than going quiet.
What the author sees
That the link was taken, under your display name, or that it expired unopened. On a copy read here, the author sees the campaign's reading only as counts across its readers, never your progress by name. Your e-mail address was already theirs: that is how the copy reached you. Like every campaign's author, they can also see your follow-through.
How this differs from the other copies an author gives you
Every copy an author gives you carries a mark saying where it came from, and From authors in your Library lists them all. A campaign copy, one you applied for or one sent to you, asks for a review. A copy claimed from a link and a giveaway you won say nothing is owed, and a sample for followers is yours to read while you follow (A copy from an author).
Where this lives
Related
- A copy from an author: the delivery link: An author can hand you a protected copy of their book through a link, a QR code or a giveaway you win, and every one of them lands in your Library, marked with the pen name who sent it. The page shows the author, the book and their note, with one button: without an account you create a free reader account in one step and the book opens; signed in, it is one tap. A copy from a link is a gift: nothing is owed, no review and no deadline, and nothing about it goes on your record. If a link is full, expired or revoked, a claimed copy stays on your shelf.
- Requesting an early copy: When an author runs an active campaign, the book page shows Request this copy and the **Early copies** page lists it under **Free early copies** with the reasons it fits you; a request carries a short note, waits for the author's decision, and can be cancelled while pending. There is no waitlist.
- Early copy reviews and your follow-through: An early copy review follows one extra rule, honesty; your follow-through counts reviews (or honest set-downs) and on-time reviews, never how kindly you rate. Set a book down from My early copies rather than going silent; ask for more time before the deadline.
- Reviews held until launch: On a coming-soon book, a review written from an early copy is held and published on the release day, together with every other held review. The reader is told the date when they post and again when it goes live; the author's Applications count them as held and the book page shows how many are waiting, never the text. Nothing is read by anyone but the reviewer before that day.
- Writing reviews: A review is a star rating (press a star for a whole one, or use Exact rating for any quarter step) with an optional title and a body of at least 20 characters, plus a spoiler flag; edit or delete it from the book page. You can also say how the book felt, up to three moods and a pace; the book's page shows what most readers found once five have said. Reviews of early copies carry the early reader badge and one extra rule, honesty.
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