Early copies

Requesting, downloading and reviewing early copies.

1. 1.Requesting an early copyWhen 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.For readers and authors · updated 2026-10-17
2. 2.How do I get free books?Readers never pay on Booklabria, and there are four ways to read a book for free: ask for a free early copy from an author's campaign, enter a giveaway, open a copy an author sends you, or read the sample or free story an author offers to their followers. Which one you can use depends on what the author has opened.For readers · updated 2026-10-27
3. 3.Reading or downloading your early copy, and how the file is protectedThe author chooses per campaign how you receive an approved early copy, and may offer more than one way for you to pick from: you read it on Booklabria (the file stays on the server, you open it from My early copies, your progress is saved as you read), you download a protected copy through a link that expires fifteen minutes after it is issued (five downloads per approval, every one logged, every EPUB watermarked), or, if the author offers Send to Kindle, we e-mail the watermarked EPUB to your own Kindle address (five sends per approval). If a link expires, ask for a fresh one; if you reach a limit, write to the author or support.For readers and authors · updated 2026-10-17
4. 4.Early copy reviews and your follow-throughAn 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.For readers and authors · updated 2026-10-17
5. 5.Early copies, the stores and the lawHow early copies on Booklabria line up with the FTC's endorsement guides and the stores' policies on free copies. Readers say in each review that the copy was free, and Booklabria gives them the line to paste. Authors ask for an honest review, never a good one, and never see a rating before it is public. Booklabria pays no reviewer and gates nothing on a rating. A reader's e-mail address is never shown to the author.For readers and authors · updated 2026-10-17
6. 6.Sending an early copy to your KindleWhen an author offers Send to Kindle, Booklabria e-mails the watermarked EPUB to your own Kindle address. Set it up once: save your Kindle address (name@kindle.com or name@free.kindle.com) and add our sending address to Amazon's Approved Personal Document E-mail List. Each copy can be sent five times, every send is logged, and the author sees that it was sent, never your address. If it does not arrive, check the approved list and the address, then send again.For readers · updated 2026-10-03
7. 7.Verified professional badgesLibrarians, booksellers, book reviewers, media and educators can apply under Settings › Professional verification for a verified badge, one type per application, with a confirmed work e-mail or a public link as proof. We usually decide within 3 working days, documents are deleted once we decide, and a badge lasts a year. You choose who sees it in Settings › Privacy › Professional badge. An author can tick the types they approve automatically when readers request an early copy.For readers and authors · updated 2026-10-12
8. 8.Highlights and private notes in an early copyIn an early copy you read on Booklabria you can highlight a passage in four colours and add notes, then export them to write your review. They are yours alone: the author never sees them. One highlight can hold about 100 words, all your highlights on a copy together up to 10% of the book, and copying text out of the reader stays off. When reading closes you keep your notes for 30 days, with a notice 7 days before they go.For readers · updated 2026-10-13
9. 9.Cross-posting your review, and telling the authorSome campaigns ask you to cross-post your review to a retailer or review site. Once you have, mark it from My early copies: pick the site (Amazon, Goodreads, BookBub, or Other) and paste the link. Booklabria does not check the other site; the mark is yours, and the campaign owner sees it beside your record and in their funnel. Cross-posts never change your follow-through.For readers · updated 2026-10-17
10. 10.Reviews held until launchOn 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.For readers and authors · updated 2026-10-17
11. 11.Giveaway campaignsA giveaway is a campaign type with no review obligation: the author offers protected copies to readers who enter, either first come or drawn, and each winner receives the book the way the campaign delivers it. A win counts as one reader toward the author's plan, a winner owes nothing, there are no reminders, and an entry that is not drawn costs the reader nothing.For readers and authors · updated 2026-10-17
12. 12.The official rules of a giveawayEvery giveaway on Booklabria carries official rules, linked from the giveaway card and the entry sheet and written from the campaign's own settings: free to enter, no purchase, one entry per account, how winners are chosen and told, what the prize is, and who the sponsor is. The author is the sponsor; Booklabria runs the entries and the draw and delivers the copies. Entering is free, no review is owed, and you can withdraw an entry before the draw.For readers and authors · updated 2026-10-03
13. 13.A copy an author sent you, and the review it asks forAn 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.For readers · updated 2026-10-17