Early ReviewersOffering Books

The LibraryThing Early Reviewers program ("ER") helps publishers and authors generate buzz and reviews for new and forthcoming books. You provide the books, and we match you with readers eager to review them. We also promote your books to the close to 100,000 members of Early Reviewers, the more than 1 million recipients of LibraryThing's monthly newsletter, and through our social-media channels.

How Does It Work?

  1. You enter the books you would like to offer through the Early Reviewers program on LibraryThing’s Giveaway Entry page.
  2. We announce the titles, in monthly batches, and LibraryThing members sign up for the books they're interested in.
  3. We use an intelligent algorithm to find the members most likely to enjoy and create buzz for your titles. These aren't random giveaways.
  4. We send a list of the winning members and their contact information to you. You send out the books.
  5. Early Reviewers read the books, and then post reviews to LibraryThing. They are encouraged to also cross-post to their blog and other reviewing sites.

What Do You Get Out of It?

You get access to a community of enthusiastic readers—readers who will create early buzz about your books and give you insight into how they will be received by the wider public.

The Early Reviewers monthly batch—and your title—is promoted in a variety of ways on both the LibraryThing site and various social media platforms.

  • Close to 100,000 participating ER members receive a site notification and email each month, whenever a new batch goes live. This notification includes the complete list of titles available that month, as well as links to find the giveaways on our site.
  • Our monthly newsletter, State of the Thing, going out to more than one million LibraryThing members, always contains a section featuring that month’s ER batch.
  • A news item promoting the monthly ER batch goes up on the LibraryThing homepage, where it is visible to all members when they first log on or navigate to the site.
  • A discussion is launched for each monthly batch in our ER discussion group.
  • Announcements are made on both Facebook and Twitter each time a new ER batch goes live, and reminders are given regarding entry deadlines, as they approach.

The publisher and author are granted perpetual non-exclusive permission to use the reviews provided by ER members.

What Does It Cost?

Early Reviewers is completely free.

What Kinds of Books Can I Offer?

ER books should be new or forthcoming titles. Books published more than six months prior to the month in which they are to be offered are not eligible for Early Reviewers.

We are happy to list paper copies, ebooks, and audiobooks. If you are offering an ebook or a digital audiobook, you will be asked to specify:

  • The digital format in which it is to be provided (e.g., Kindle, MOBI, EPUB, PDF, Audible, MP3).
  • The delivery method (e.g., downloadable link, email attachment).

Please note, if you are providing a download link, you will be asked to specify the site on which it is accessible in the Download Link Location field.

When offering ebooks, please be aware that you cannot give away books that are freely available to the public elsewhere. This means, for example, that you cannot offer ebooks to which you also provide free access on your website.

Please also be aware that the format offered in your giveaway—paper, ebook, audiobook—cannot be changed after the giveaway has gone live. Substitutions after the fact, such as sending ebooks rather than print books, are against ER policy.

How Many Books Do I Have to Provide?

We ask for at least 5 copies of each title offered and welcome up to 30. We encourage both diversity and quantity.

How Many Times Can I Offer a Book?

A book may be offered in two monthly giveaway batches, whether consecutive or nonconsecutive. It can also be offered more than once within the same batch, provided that it is offered in different formats—e.g., print, ebook, audiobook.

What Is the Deadline to Submit Titles Each Month?

Our monthly Early Reviewers batch runs from the first business day of the month to the 25th (or the next business day). Titles for each batch of Early Reviewers must be submitted no later than 12:00pm EST on the first day of the batch.

How Far in Advance of the Release Date Should I Offer My Forthcoming Titles?

This is your decision to make. Offer them whenever they are available and you want the buzz to start. Reviews will be posted at any point subsequent to the book's distribution, so be sure you are ready for them to begin appearing online.

Where Will the Books Be Available?

This is also your decision to make. You will choose the countries in which your book will be offered, when adding it on the giveaway entry page.

When Are Winners Selected?

The Early Reviewers batch closes on the 25th of the month (or the next business day), at 6pm EST. Your winners will be selected shortly thereafter, and you will be sent an email directing you to your ER winners page.

How Are Winners Selected?

We use an algorithm to calculate winners, which is based on a number of factors, including:

  • The contents and organization of the reviewer's LibraryThing account.
  • How many books the reviewer has received from ER in the past, and whether they've reviewed them.
  • Factors that suggest a member is likely to review a book, and talk about it widely, on LibraryThing and elsewhere.

Who Sends the Books?

You are responsible for distributing the books to winners. LibraryThing provides a list of names and contact details—addresses for physical books, emails for ebooks. LibraryThing does NOT ship books or store ebook files.

Are There Deadlines for Sending the Books?

Yes. If the giveaway is for a print book, once the batch has closed you have eight weeks to get it to your winners. If the giveaway is for an ebook or digital audiobook, you have four weeks.

Are There Limits on Communicating With My Winners?

Yes. Your winners’ contact information is provided to you for the purpose of distributing the books offered through your giveaway, and cannot be used for any other reason. You may not contact your winners, other than for the purpose of sending the book.

In cases where a digital book has been offered in multiple formats, you may reach out to your winners first, in order to determine which format they prefer. You may not automatically enroll your winners in any newsletter or other program.

Any Other Questions?

Contact AbigailAdams26 at .

For Publishers

Publisher pages are directly linked to Early Reviewers, and will update automatically with any titles you have offered through the program. For new publishers, your page will be automatically created, once you create your first giveaway.

You can add your logo, a description of who you are, and your social media contact information to your publisher page, which you can locate by clicking on the Publishers/Imprints link, under Authors and Publishers in the left-hand side menu.

Please see this publisher page as an example.