Links

Here are some of the companies I’ve signed up with to get ARCs/ALCs for review. Please note that some may use their Instagram account as their main contact point.

I’ve also included PA services and authors I’ve worked with directly.

If you’re an author looking for representation and assistance, check them out. They’re all well run and can be vouched for from a reviewer’s POV.

Tour Organizers

Love Books Tour – One of the first book tour organizers I’ve worked with, it’s one of several that work with authors to promote their work. They are inclusive of all genres from fiction to non-fiction.

Booked with the Emilys – Started by 2 girls named Emily, they help promote various indie romance authors get their work out there. They’re really nice and flexible when life comes up for you.

Colored Pages Tour – This company works with publishers to help promote authors . They make sure to have inclusive tags to ensure that those of that group get priority when choosing applicants for their tours.

Plunged Into Books Tour – Another tour organizer that tries to offer their help to all genre indie authors. They do a lot of promo work, as well as arc reviews.

PR Companies

The Nerd Fam – Works with publishers and authors to promote their books. Occasionally, there are PR box requests. They prioritize inclusive people members of the community that relate to the book, but that never stopped me from applying. All genres of fiction have been offered here

Gay Romance Reviews – As the name implies, they handle all gay romance ARCs/ ALCs that come their way. Their system is very easy and efficient.

Happily Booked PR – Another one of the firsts I worked with when I started Bookstagram. These girls send out a lot of arc sign ups and have a giveaway for a paperback every month. Each sign up you do counts as a certain number of entries. I’ve never won, but being able to have the arc is enough for me.

Torch Lit Ink PR – Great company and relatively new, they don’t offer as many sign ups as some others. Owned and operated by Jane Baez, she has exceptional experience as a small business owner and I’ve never had a problem whenever I needed to reach out.

Tales & Teacups PR – This one I like because, not only are they inclusive but they offer direct arc links you don’t have to sign up for. As long as you have a Bookfunnel account, your email will go to whoever is organizing that arc (could be the author directly, depends). Otherwise, they routinely send out arc sign up you can check out.

Valentine PR – One of the toughest to get approvals for. They do include a lot of detail, especially if what you’re looking at is part of a series and you need to read the previous installments to sign up. While strict on whom they choose, once you get your first approval and submit your reviews to them, it gets a little easier because you’re showing them you are up for the task. They do cover everything from cover reveals to book boosting blitz.

Grey’s Promotions – A division of Valentine PR, I’ve managed to get a few approvals from them shortly after doing a few from Valetine. Doesn’t mean that that was taken into consideration. These two companies do rely a little more on your account’s exposer and activity so you can apply, but it might be a bit before you get one.

Love Note PR – Another small business, the way I started with them was going to their open sign up list and choosing what worked for my schedule. I can’t say they’re strict with their sign ups, but like all PRs, they have the right to be selective based on your application.

Inkspire PR – The incentive to get book swag when you submit reviews by a certain date is not too shabby. Stickers and bookmarks by mail are a nice little treat in addition to getting to read a book in advanced. I found through through an author’s Instagram as they were the ones assisting with their signups. Occasionally, they email about other arcs being offered and , like everyone else, you don’t have to do it if you can’t.

Publishers

Penguin Random House – One of the biggest names in publishing, you sign up for a chance to get access to book requests and arc reviews. The Reader Lounge is where you set up a profile and occasionally, they sent surveys and the chance for free books.

KDPG Influencer Program – This is one of my favorite programs and covers most of the divisions of Penguin house, including Everyday Man’s Library, Pantheon Books, Vintage Anchor Books, Knofp, and Double Day Books. By signing up, you get an email once a month (how frequently is up to them) and you can request a copy of an ebook or physical copy, depending on what they offer that month. Some are books already in print. Some are soon to be. Now, there’s no deadline mentioned regarding reviews. At the very least, you share that you got it on your Bookstagram and socials to promote the book. Reviews would definitely help, as well.

You may not get what you requested but you can pick and choose from the list they offer each month. And if you’re like me, you choose them all and throw caution to the wind to see what they decide on. You may get a better chance choosing to put a request in for their ebooks on Netgalley for review. I actually tried it that for the first time this month (2/2025 requests) and I think I got most of what I put in for. But, each publishing division will send you 1 book only from the selection you choose from AND if they have copies to give.

Berkley Publishing – Another division of Penguin House, they are the toughest influencer program to get accepted into, needing to meet certain criteria to be accepted. You also have to apply every year to stay in the program. However, they did offer a selection of books for “Underrepresented Voices” and you did not have to be in the influencer program to apply. These voices included LGBTQ+, disabilities (mental and physical reps), BIPOC, Asian and other peoples of color. Whether they will offer this again, I don’t know. Best bet is to follow their Instagram for updates.

Hot Tree Publishing – Based in Austrailia, they are a small time publisher trying to read the US and beyond. Sign up for their influencer program and you’ll get the occasional offer for a book to review and the chance to do a book tour for them. I found them on Instagram by chance and they’re one of the best to work with. They do sometimes send swag, but because they’re really small (and possibly bc of shipping cost to the US), they are very selective with whom they send physical copies. The hope is to be featured on social media and accounts that have nice visuals usually get picked. I embody chaos but that’s okay bc you still get the ebook to review in exchange for get it. They work with all kinds of authors, but their main category is MM romance and inclusivity. They’re the easiest to work with and great with communications when it comes to being part of the program.

Bloodhound Books – Now, I forgot how I found them (night have been through a Love Books Tour I did) but, once you sign up for their arc program, they send an email once a month with Bookfunnel links to download the arcs they have to offer that month. It’s a short list, but the email will contain a preferred deadline to get your reviews done to promote the book. By downloading the Bookfunnel file, you’re essentially agreeing to doing a review. UK Based, they’re trying to reach more people in the US and they cover primarily mysteries and thrillers. So far, al that I’ve read from them are excellent.

Boldwood Books – This link is for their Influencer program. This one is pretty new to me and I believe I found them on Netgalley. I signed up thinking that it would be similar to the others: an email a month with a few arcs offered or invitations to a Netgalley read. The email I got had a whole list of what looked like their Netgalley catalog! They offer genres including romance, cozy, thrillers, historical fiction and book club reads. Based on what I saw, they are inclusive, offering an MM romance for this month’s list (2/2025). The email is basically your invitation to their Netgalley listing. If you had found their book outside the program, you would need to put in a request.

Contrarian Publishing – Now, this is one that doesn’t send emails often. Only when an arc is available since they seem to be a small company. But they do reach out with months before the book is released so readers that sign up have plenty of time to read and review. Just sign up for their email program and wait patiently.

Book Whisperer – Another publisher I think I found through a Netgalley “read now”. They do offer the chance to get the book from their Netgalley profile or download via Bookfunnel. They don’t email often as they’re really small, but they cover genres from fiction to non-fiction.

Websites

Netgalley – Finally! Anyone that’s ever done any of this and reading me mention this site was probably wondering when I was going to get to this. Netgalley is the main place where publishers, big and small, host their offerings of ARCS and ALCS. How this place works is, you can request a copy of a review ebook and wait to see if you’re approved. Some will have “Read Now” or “Listen Now” so you don’t need to wait for an approval.

However, bigger companies will have higher standards, going so far as needing a minimum of time active on social media to a certain number of followers. There is also your profile rating. For every review you take on, your rating goes down until you post reviews to bring it back up. Keep that in mind if you take on a mega load of Read Now and then apply for some. Smaller publishers are willing to take on new reviewers, but those like Harliquin will not be so generous.

Note: In order to read these books, you must send the file to your kindle (Kindle email on your account) or read them off an approved app (Netgalley app or Cantook). Audiobooks can only be heard on the Netgalley app.

Edelweiss – Similar to Netgalley, you need to create a personal account if you’re by yourself and wanting to do reviews. I got confused at first and found out about this bc an arc copy was sent there. Problem at the time was that I didn’t have an Edelweiss account so I had to make one. After that, though, the process is the same. There are select books being offered to read right away and some you have to request. This one will let you explain why you want to request a copy, but I haven’t done that yet.

There are mainly books being offered from every category possible so you have to filter out if you want to search for a specific genre. The site has a little more clinical feel but very organized.

Note: In order to read these books, you must send the file to your kindle (Kindle email on your account) or read them off Adobe Digital Editions. They have a desktop and a mobile app. I have had to use the desktop for some files that were not compatible with the Kindle program. I haven’t tried the mobile app version.

LibraryThing – Possibly THE OLDEST book site I’ve ever signed up for. You can catalog any and all books you own and you can import what can’t be found on their database. Every month, there are giveaways from authors or publishers and they will choose winners selected towards the end of the month. The catch: When you start out, you can only get 2 books per month. The more reviews you post, the better your score and the more you’re able to win. That score helps determine if you get picked when you apply for something. I believe you can get up to 8 if you’re score remains good, but you have to post reviews in order to keep that going.

Hidden Gems – Free to sign up, they offer 6 titles at a time to choose from each having 2 days up till the next new title of offered. Various genres are offered so by signing up, you get the daily email update on what’s currently available. In order to put in for one of them, you need points. 100 points will let you claim a ticket for 1 arc. By submitting reviews, you gain more points to be able to claim another title you’re interested. Every day you log in, you earn points (I think 50?), but I’ve always had a balance after submitting a review so I have enough to put in for a claim. The catch: Pay attention to where the requestor wants you to post reviews. Most will ask for GoodReads and Amazon. But some will also ask you to post on Kobo, B&N, Apple books and so sorth. You won’t be able to complete your submission until you post to every site they ask you to and they will check until it’s there. Also, if you don’t submit reviews, your gem status gets tarnished. You can only earn a certain amount of credits based on your status. If you don’t review after claiming a certain number of review copies, the site will prevent you from putting in anymore claims until you do.

Personal Assistants

Emily Peace – Physical Therapist by day, she offers services from Beta reading to PA Services (Arc/ Street Team management, etc.). Having started out as an Arc reader on Instagram, she’s taken that passion to help indie authors by becoming what they need when they need it the most. Emily primarily specializes in all genres of romance and fantasy. She’s open to discuss with whatever an author needs and see what can be worked out. Currently, she is the PA for a few indie authors, including B. L. Lewis, author of “Lies of the Wicked”.

Authors

Now, this is going to be a little vague only because there have been so many that I’ve met through Bookstagram. Some were actually running everything themselves so I really got to know them. Some were using one of the PR companies and eventually I ended up on their permanent team (either run by the same PR or through their PA.) The best way to try and get on an arc/ street team is to check out their profile. Some are still running things on their own or through a PA/ PR. Some might even reach out to you directly because they’re so new to being an author, they don’t have the resource of a PA/ PR and that’s okay.