Lit Bit: Readers of the Lost ARC

The ARCs are in!

If you’re in the writing or publishing industry, you probably know what an ARC is.  An Advance Reading Copy is a big part of publishing a book.

The Advance Reading Copies, or ARCs, for Tracks, my novel in stories, are here!  I’m even sharing a few photos to prove it!  It’s a good feeling for a debut author — to actually hold your advance reading copy in your hand.

RCs are also known as “uncorrected proofs.”  They serve several purposes.  ARCs are used by the publisher, author, editor, and proofreading staff to look for errors one last time before the final print.  Arcs are sent to other authors in hopes of getting endorsements, quotes, or “blurbs.”  They’re sent to key book stores and book buyers in hopes that they’ll be ordered and featured on the shelves of the brick & mortar shops. And they’re sent to reviewers in the hope that they will be reviewed.  With so many books being published and only a small fraction of them actually scoring reviews, it can be a challenge to get a reviewer to take note.  (Even better than getting any review is getting a good one—but just getting one is sometimes good enough.)

Tracks ARCs aren’t only in my hands.  Lucky for me, Atticus has been great at getting ARCs into the right hands.  One hundred or so ARCs were priority mailed to prominent authors, reviewers, and independent book stores nationwide (and even some international).

Fingers crossed that some of them will be as thrilled to receive their copies as I was to receive mine.

Learn more about Tracks at www.TracksNovel.com.

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Eric D. Goodman, Books Correspondent

Eric's column, Lit Bit, is published every week to Gather Essentials: Books.  Featuring bits on writing, writers, books, and literature, Lit Bit will fulfill your literary longings.

Eric’s novel in stories, Tracks, is being published by Atticus Books summer 2011. www.TracksNovel.com

Eric is a full-time writer and editor.  His work has appeared in a number of periodicals, including The Washington Post, The Baltimore Review, Writers Weekly, The Arabesques Review, The Pedestal Magazine, The Potomac, JMWW, Freshly Squeezed, Scribble, Slow Trains, Whatever Literary Journal, Smile Hon You’re In Baltimore, Read Street, On Stage Magazine, Four-Cornered Universe, To Be Read Aloud, Neck of My Guitar, Travel Insights, Coloquio, and New Lines from the Old Line State: An Anthology of Maryland Writers.

Learn about Eric's full-color, hardcover childrens' book Flightless Goose.

Keep up with Eric’s Lit Bits by joining his Gather network.  You can also find Eric on Facebook, Twitter, and at his literary blog, Writeful.

Listen to Eric read the following stories on The Signal, a program on the Baltimore-DC NPR station, WYPR:

The Stein

Prewitt’s Plans

The Silences

One Last Hit

Cicadas