The TwiNews Times

What is ARC or Advance Reader’s Copy?

An advance copy, also known as an advance reading copy or ARC, is a copy of a  book released by its publisher before the book has gone to press for a complete printing. ARCs generally do not have the final dust jacket,
formatting or binding of the finished product; the text of an ARC may
also differ from that of the published book if the book is edited after
the ARC is produced. ARCs are normally distributed to reviewers,
bookstores, magazines, and (in some cases) libraries between three and
six months before the book is officially released.

On rare occasions (for instance, the publication of an
eagerly-awaited or controversial book), a publisher may require the
recipients of advance copies to sign a confidentiality of content
agreement. However, in most cases the sheer number of ARCs produced and
their distribution makes that impractical. A typical genre publisher
may create 5,000 ARCs for a new book by a moderately popular writer.

Publishers also produce uncorrected bound proofs, also known as galley proofs,
in advance of publication. Galley proofs were historically only used in
the editing and proof-reading process, but publishers have recently
begun to use them as ARCs. These galley proofs may have bindings and
illustrations similar to that of the final copy, unlike old-style
galley proofs which were usually bound in plain paper covers and
without illustrations. Galley proofs differ from ARCs in that ARCs are
printed in full colour and in the same format as a published book,
while galley proofs are generally printed in black and white and are
significantly larger in size than most books. Publishers who produce
their galley proofs in electronic form do not use them as ARCs. [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_copy]

Please do not believe anyone who tells you they have already read Breaking Dawn. It is not true! Luna from Yahoo! Answers has e-mailed Seth Meyer, Stephenie Meyer’s brother and webmaster, and got this answer:

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"I usually don’t comment on this sort of thing. But if it makes you
feel any better, there are absolutely no Advanced Reader’s Copies of
Breaking Dawn. There weren’t any for Eclipse either."

–Seth
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