How to make an ARC that readers actually finish

An advance copy that is hard to open is an advance copy that does not get read. Authors lose a surprising share of reviews not because readers disliked the book but because the file was a 60 MB Word document that would not open on a phone. Here is how to make a copy that gets finished.

Format: EPUB first, PDF as backup

EPUB reflows to any screen and is what every reading app expects. Export it from your formatting tool (Vellum, Atticus, Reedsy, Kindle Create) rather than converting a Word file; converted files lose chapter breaks and italics. Offer a PDF as well for readers who want to annotate, but set the PDF at a phone-friendly 6 by 9 inches with a readable font, not US Letter.

Avoid sending .docx or .pages files. They open with tracked changes visible, they re-paginate unpredictably, and they look unfinished, which colours the review.

Size: under 5 MB

Readers open ARCs on phones over mobile data. Compress images, drop the print-resolution cover from the interior, and check the export size. A novel-length EPUB with a cover should be 1 to 3 MB.

The Send to Kindle habit

Most of your readers read on Kindle. Tell them, in the message that accompanies the copy, that they can email the EPUB to their Send to Kindle address or drop it on amazon.com/sendtokindle, and it appears on their device like any other book. Readers who know this finish faster; readers who end up squinting at a PDF in a browser tab do not.

Three mistakes that lose readers

• A watermark across every page. A single discreet line on the copyright page ('Advance reader copy, not for sale') is enough; a diagonal stamp over the text ruins the reading experience and the review reflects it.
• No front matter at all. Include the title page and a one-line note that this is an advance copy and small errors may remain. Readers forgive typos they were warned about and punish the ones they were not.
• An expiry trick. Files that self-destruct or links that expire in 48 hours tell readers you do not trust them. The copy is already in the world the moment you send it; make it pleasant instead.

What to put in the back

The last page of the ARC is where you ask. One short paragraph: thank the reader, say that an honest review on Amazon is the most useful thing they can do, and give the direct link to the review page. On ReadRipple the reader already has the link in their dashboard, but the back-matter note still helps because it reminds them at the exact moment they finish.