A couple of interesting responses have rolled in after I put out the call for thoughts about whether selling galleys is good, bad, or somewhere in between.
First, Janet Reid of the JetReid literary agency:
I have a small radio show that airs on a division of Oregon Public Broadcasting. Thus, I’m on a lot of publishers’ mailing lists. I don’t want ARCs. I don’t need books that far in advance and I know they are expensive (more expensive in fact than actual books). I tell every single publicist who sends me one that I don’t want them. All to no avail.
The problem is that mailing is automated. Send to “all radio outlets in Oregon” and I get one. They hardly ever pre-qualify the list.
Now, when I get an ARC, what the HELL am I supposed to do with it? Throw it away? Give it to Housing Works? Sell it on ebay?
Some time back the New York Times Ethicist was asked about this very thing. His reply was that once I get the book, or the ARC, or the Nicole Richie diamond bracelet promo, it’s mine. It’s a gift. i can sell it, throw it away, or set it on fire in Times Square.
If publishers want to dry up the ARC market it’s simple: quit sending them, and really, quit sending them to ME.
John Warner says:
My story is more typical than egregious, but I tried to strike back with this:
It worked wonderfully, not. At the time I wrote it there were eight pre-pub copies for sale through Amazon. Now, it’s over 20.Is it a problem? For writers like me who can expect to sell maybe 300 copies max, not a huge one, more like an annoyance, like athlete’s foot, or Terry Bradshaw.