Welcome to another Tea and Biscuits Book Discussion. I haven’t done one of these in a while and thought it was about time to bring this topic to the table. This is a series I do normally every Monday talking about various issues. I would love your comments and responses and if you leave your email, you will receive responses or I will try to get to all of your comments.
So today I wanted to share why I no longer will be proactively reading ARC’s. Now this doesn’t mean I NEVER will ever again, but for now, I have made the decision to stop reading them. I have been thinking about this for at least a couple of years. I wasn’t sure it was something I actually wanted to do but I think it will improve my quality of reading. There are multiple of reasons why I am choosing to make this change.
The first reason is the anxiety and stress that comes with having to read by a certain due date. So I have found that there is a certain amount of stress that comes with reading ARC’s. You have to read a book by a deadline and also there is anxiety while reading on what if you don’t love it? Then you also have to do a review for a ARC that isn’t exactly positive. Writing honest reviews can bring some backlash sometimes. Now when I first started reading ARC’s, it wasn’t a big deal. But as its been quite a few years now, the stress that comes with reading ARC’s has ruined by true enjoyment of a new release.
The second reason is the loss of excitement on reading a new release. There is a certain amount of thrill that comes with waiting until midnight (or in my case because of my time zone 10PM) that comes with reading your most anticipated releases right when it becomes available. When you are reading ARC’s I do think you lose a portion of this excitement. Reading ARC’s don’t have the sense of excitement. I do think after reading ARC’s for a while, you don’t get the excitement from them as you do when you first start receiving them. I want to be able to get excited over reading an ARC. Now it just feels like work in reading them. Like *sigh* I don’t want to read it but I felt obligated to do it and THAT is not what reading should ever be about. I never used to look at reading an ARC in that way and I think it would be better to let them go before I start getting burn out from reading ARC’s.
The third reason is looking to support others in others ways. I have been wanting to do more preorders over reading ARC’s. I know that while reviewing ARC’s can be supportive to authors, but I think I want to instead just do more preorders as I know that supports authors as well. I know that doing preorders can support them in a very important way.
The final reason is to focus on my TBR reading just a bit more. There are so many books on my TBR (check my goodreads if you don’t believe me) books that I have added to my want to read shelf that I have really just neglected. I will probably clean it up a bit more though. But having been doing Romanceopoly has made me realize how much I want to be reading TBR books just a bit more than I have. I will still read new releases. I know for some readers its to stay more relative. That is NOT why I read a new release. I think there is a level of excitement that comes from reading a new release. Reading should be fun and enjoyable and you shouldn’t be reading certain books just to stay relative or important.
This is definitely going to be a change for me. I am so used to reading ARC’s that, starting to switch how I read new releases is going to be an adjustment but I do think in the long run it will deliver better returns. While I understand the appeal of ARC’s, its just not working out for me anymore. I would prefer to enjoy reading new releases once again. And if I am to having a enjoyable time reading ARC’s but feeling like its a chore, I know that there is a change that is needed there. Now does that mean I will NEVER read them? Nope. I am sure there will be certain requests that I will do. But 95% of the time, I am going to stop reading them and instead just wait for it to be released to read it.
Your reasoning makes sense, and it sounds like you are burnt out on ARC and need to make a change, and what better time than at the beginning of the year.
Yeah after a decade of reading ARC’s, it definitely can burn you out, or its just not exciting anymore. shrugs And doing pre orders can support them too and I will still be doing reviews just waiting until the book is released.
I think it is great you are doing this now than later. I am sure you will miss ARC’s sometimes.
Your reasons are some of mine own that I read hardly ever ARC from author. I don’t like to read under pressure 😕
I understand your reasons. It certainly can become a chore after a while.
I have cut back over the years. I went from 5 ARCs a week to 1 or 2 now. My library has been a great source of new releases, so I don’t feel the pressure to try and get ARCs. I didn’t feel too stressed, but I do enjoy the freedom to read what I want when I want and not feel like I should be reading something else. I think you made a good decision for yourself.
It is really nice to not feel the stress of having to have a review ready on a certain timeline. I keep telling myself that I need to cut back. Maybe I will actually do it at some point.
I get just as much excitement from reading an ARC as a new release — but that is probably because 99% of the time the ARCs I’m reading are ARCs I would have read as new releases. If I request them, it’s because I already love the author, truly want to read the book, and would do so on release day. Sometimes I accept ARCs that are offered to me if I want to try the author or if the book sounds interesting, but that is very rare these days. Most of my ARCs are already on my TBR. That way I don’t feel that pressure to read them that you talked about. Usually, I can’t get to them fast enough. It’s nice that you have recognized that reading ARCs no longer works for you and are enjoying reading new releases.
I totally understand what you mean about taking the pressure off and just reading what you want. Over the years I’ve cut back on what I request or take on, but still it can be a lot. I don’t grab any I wouldn’t normally read either. Your post makes me want to narrow that list down even more. I’ve been offered a lot of romance that I haven’t grabbed up just because I’m a little bored by just a plain romance. I like a little something with it, like mystery or it being set in the fantasy/paranormal world.
I think you’ll have a wonderful reading year with a change in how you read, Renee!
I definitely understand your reasons. I stopped reading ARCs (mostly) a couple of years ago for similar reasons. I hope this allows you to make a HUGE dent in your to-read list and I’m sure authors will appreciate the money from your preorders lol.
I stopped at least requesting lots of ARCs for the same reason! Now I have maybe one or two ARCs a month and as they come from publishers (and not PR tours) I usually have weeks or months before posting a review. PR companies for indie authors gave ARCs way too close to the release date.