Readers wanted!

How would you like to become a member of my ARC team…? What is an ARC team and what’s in it for me, you may ask…

ARC stands for advanced reader copy. It is common practice in both traditional and indie publishing to send out advanced copies of forthcoming books. The idea is that if enough people read the book ahead of time, they will be primed to submit a review by the time it’s published.

And the more reviews a book has, the more likely it is to sell.

This can work both ways. There is not a single book on the planet that every single person enjoys. Don’t believe me? Go look up your favourite novel on Amazon. Somebody somewhere will have given it a one-star review.

(People occasionally fire off one stars because they were unable to download the e-book first time, or because the cover was ripped. Yup, these eejits walk among us.)

However, most people or publishing houses who form ARC teams are confident that they are sending out a book that is written to the best of the author’s abilities, is polished, free of typos and grammatical errors and is likely to appeal to a decent chunk of the reading market.

In exchange for becoming a member of my ARC team, I provide you a free e-book copy of my latest novel, along with instructions on how to add it to your device. I then send you a gentle reminder to review it the day before it is published, and a follow-up reminder two weeks later.

You can review it wherever you usually buy e-books, whether that’s Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes and Noble or on my website or Goodreads.

If you don’t review it, that is fine. There’ll be no visits from the Pink Glitter Publishing police hammering at your door at six o’clock in the morning and marching you off to ARC Prison. As I don’t write quickly (my general output is one novel a year) I won’t be bombarding you with emails either.

Still with me? Thank you for reading this far. The next book I intend to publish is Gin, Fizz and Tonic. I would describe is as a mash-up of chick lit and quit lit. Facing up to alcohol dependency and finding love. Think Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes and its follow-up, Again, Rachel.

I’ve read quite a lot of quit lit books. They’re almost always non-fiction and often filled with doom and gloom. I fancied writing something funny and uplifting. Here is the blurb:

When Ginny Alexander wakes up from yet another night of drinking too much and misbehaving, she vows to turn over a new leaf.

Her best friend presents her with a unique opportunity to advance her career and fulfil her potential, so she seizes the opportunity and finds herself thrust into the hectic world of events organisation and public relations.

Then the company lands a new account, complete with Liam, the super-cute restaurant boss who knows Ginny of old. Sparks fly as they clash on everything from how to publicise his business to running events and clearing up old misunderstandings.

Gin, Fizz & Tonic by the Wattys award-winning novelist, Emma Baird, explores the themes of love, friendship, self-discovery and denial, with plenty of laughs along the way. Perfect for fans of Jenny Colgan, Marian Keyes, Bridget Jones et al.

You can read the first chapter here.

To sign up, fill in the form below. I look forward to hearing from you and thanks in advance!