Your first ARC campaign on Booklabria

Before you start

An ARC campaign needs one thing you may not have yet: a book with a file. The book can be published or coming soon (Publishing your first book); the file is the EPUB (or a PDF, for download only) you upload on the campaign's Delivery tab. Everything else, the readers, the dates, the delivery, is decided in the wizard, and nothing is public until you launch.

During the closed beta every author feature is unlocked, so nothing here depends on a plan. When billing opens, the free Author plan runs one campaign at a time with 25 approvals a month; Plans, and what the beta unlocks has the rest.

1. Open the wizard

Studio › Campaigns › New campaign. Five steps, and you can save as a draft at any of them.

2. Which book, when, and for how many

• Which book: one of yours, published or coming soon.
• When it runs: a start date and a review deadline after it. The deadline is what readers agree to; their reliability is measured against it, so give the length of the book its due.
• Reader spots: how many approved readers you want. Once they are filled the campaign says All spots filled.

3. Who it is for

Describe your ideal readers: genres and tropes, at least one language and one region, a minimum of published reviews an applicant must have (zero is fine for a first campaign), and the requirements readers agree to: complete the short feedback form after reading, cross-post the review to at least one retailer or review site. Readers see their match against this on the campaign; it informs you, it never decides for you. When billing opens, the match and the requirements are a Creator feature and up; the wizard says so on this step for an account on the free Author plan.

4. How readers get it

The step is How will readers get it?:

• Delivery. Read on Booklabria (recommended): the file stays on our servers, readers open the book on the site or in the app one chapter at a time, and you see progress by chapter, who finished and where readers stop, as counts. Nothing to download, nothing to pass around. It needs the EPUB. Download a protected copy: readers download the EPUB or PDF, up to five times per copy through links that last fifteen minutes, every EPUB watermarked; you see downloads, not reading progress. ARC delivery and tracking has both doors in full.
• Formats: EPUB, PDF, or both (the download door only).
• A message to your readers: what they should know before they start. Warmth welcome; honesty required.

5. Launch

Review and launch: save as draft (nothing goes live), schedule (applications open on the start date) or publish now. Opening a campaign tells everyone following your pen name that an ARC is available; that announcement cannot be undone, so upload the file first.

Then, on the campaign page's Delivery tab, add or replace a file if you have not already; until a file is there, approved readers cannot read or download, and the summary says No file yet: upload before readers download.

6. Tell readers

Readers find campaigns on the book's page (Request an advance copy, in the ARC module), on the ARC hub under Opportunities with their match, on your author page (Request ARC on the masthead while the campaign is open), and in Home › ARC Opportunities. Two things you can do yourself: Write an announcement (an ARC announcement entry in your Journal reaches your followers' feeds), and, during the beta, spend your five reader invites on people you want reading it (Inviting your readers).

7. Approve the readers that fit

Requests gather on the campaign's Applications tab and, across campaigns, under Studio › Applications. Each shows the reader's note to you, their match, their ARC reliability (a new reader shows as New ARC reader, which is not a mark against them) and their history with you. Sort by best match, most reliable or newest. Approve one at a time or approve selected; Decline tells the reader kindly and does not touch their reputation. Every decision notifies the reader at once.

A reader you approve receives the book the way step 4 set it: Start reading in their My requests, or Ready to download.

8. While it runs

• Reading tab (read on Booklabria): Started, Finished, Reading now, Time to finish, then Progress by chapter and where readers stop. Counts, never names. Until someone opens the book: Nobody has opened the book yet.
• Activity tab: approvals, downloads and reviews as they happen.
• Extension requests: a reader may ask for more time before their deadline; under Studio › Applications, approve with this date, propose a different date, or decline.
• Pause closes new applications and keeps everyone's status; Close for good stops it showing as open (readers who have the copy keep it and can still review). Closing cannot be undone.

9. Reviews, and what to read into them

A review on your book carries the ARC reader mark, and the campaign's Applications show Review posted beside the reader. A reader who honestly set down the book shows that instead of going silent; that counts for them, not against you. Nobody, you included, can reward stars, and asking for good rather than honest reviews is a guidelines violation. Studio › Analytics › Campaign funnel shows everyone who asked, the applications you accepted, the readers who fetched or opened the book, the reviews that followed, and the reviewers who now follow you (Understanding your analytics).

What a first campaign usually gets wrong

• Launching before the file is up. Followers are told at launch; an approved reader with nothing to open is the worst first impression. Upload first.
• A deadline that ignores the book's length. Readers agree to the date; a fair one gets reviews, a tight one gets set-downs.
• Approving by ratings. You cannot see them, by design; approve by fit, note and reliability.
• Choosing download when you wanted to know how the reading went. Only the read-on-Booklabria door reports progress; the download door reports downloads.