Recently I've received ARCs that were five days from release and a couple that are several months away. Since I began blogging, I've wondered what exactly the etiquette is when it comes to this. I've seen blogs post reviews six months in advance and I've seen others post on release day.
The way I see it, there are a few ways this could play out...
- Posting a review months before release - This could gain a lot of interest from those who are already familiar with upcoming releases! You might be the only person with a review for literally months! On the other hand, if there's a book that hasn't been widely marketed (yet), posting so early could mean that not many people are even familiar with the book. In that case, an early ARC review could end up with basically no traffic because no one knows what you're talking about.
- Posting a review days before release - This has been the best experience I've had in the last year and a half. Posting close to the day a book is scheduled for release usually means there will be some hype around the book and quite possibly a lot of traffic and comments! The real downside to this is trying to wait to share your thoughts on a book you might be totally in love with.
- Posting a review on release day - I have never had to post a review on release day, mostly because books are usually released on Tuesdays and I tend to post reviews on Mondays. It seems to me, though, that a release day review would just be one drop in an ocean of reviews.
So what do you do when you're gifted with a shiny new review copy? Do you hang onto it as long as possible before finally reading and reviewing? Or do you read and review as soon as humanly possible? Or perhaps something in between?
