Elizabeth Fama, a young adult author, recently requested in her post KILL MY ARC, that reviewers and bloggers get rid of her ARCs after they have read and reviewed them. After this post, there has been much speculation on whether bloggers should pass around these ARCs, or if they should dispose of them after the novel has been released in stores.
Both sides have good counter-arguments, but I still believe in passing around ARCs between bloggers. I don't like to keep the ARCs I receive, because they're not finished copies and I actually like hardcovers better than the paperbacks. I also like to be able to get more people to read a novel so I can talk about it with others! Generally, I will give my ARCs away to other bloggers via giveaways, RAKs, or for other reasons. I've never had a publisher or author tell me not to give away these novels, but I've heard of stories of other authors doing such a thing.
I know that some publishers would give review copies to more bloggers if they had them available. Not all of the publishers have a billion and two copies to give out to bloggers! In order to spread the publicity for this book, wouldn't it be better to have bloggers send these ARCS to others who will love it, review it, and spread praise about the book? It's free publicity, because the publisher only has to pay for the shipping once, yet the book could go to multiple reviewers!
Here's what Elizabeth Fama had to say about what she wants done to her books:
"1. I don't want my ARC to go to a small used bookstore in your neighborhood.
2. I don't want my ARC to go to a struggling public library for anything but collection development purposes.
3. I don't want a deserving teenager—even one who is underprivileged, owns no other books, and who devotedly helped with his library's collection development—to be given my ARC as a gift."
This truly confuses me, and slightly angers me. Elizabeth later claims that the reason she wants her ARC destroyed is because she had to go change some major parts of the novel, but nonetheless- that doesn't mean you have to deprive many people of reading a novel that could be wonderful! Even if a part of the novel changes, it's still a novel and it could still change a person's life. Even an "underprivileged, deserving teenager."
What do you do with the ARCs you receive? Do you send them out to other bloggers or keep them for yourself? Also, if a publisher or author asked you to 'dispose' of a book, what would you do - just throw it away?