As a reviewer, I get a lot of what are referred to as advance reader copies, uncorrected galleys, or some other name.
One I recently came across as I was cleaning up is for Michael Lewis’ classic Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, which was first published twenty (!) years ago. It’s still a best-seller and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a part of every baseball executive’s library.
The advanced reader copies usually come with the “warning” not to quote from the text, since it might change before it becomes final. I have seen some mighty strange things aside from typos, such as entire sections that are repeated in different chapters or “facts” that turn out not to be so and are generally (but not always) corrected.
Quite often the book art hasn’t been finalized. The publishers just want to get the word out early as they plan their PR moves. Unfortunately, publicity departments have suffered as budgets get cut; authors are increasingly expected to do their own legwork as far as researching what media might be interested in an interview or review.
Compare the cover of the ARC for version to the final product.
Good choice.
I kept the ARC as a kind of “I knew him before he was famous” kind of thing. The funny part is that I only acquired the final version yesterday, a situation which I will explain in a future TTWK entry.
is available on Amazon.com,
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