Plan and manage advance copies
Create a review-copy request and shipment log
Track every review copy from request to result: who asked, what you sent, when it went out, and what happened next. That keeps you from sending duplicates or losing a promising follow-up.
Why it matters
Outreach without a log becomes guesswork within weeks: you cannot remember who was sent what, you send a duplicate, or you miss the follow-up that would have turned a copy into a review. The log also gives you the only honest measure of what worked, which is worth having before the next book.
Your part
- What you do
- Do it. You normally do this yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Author and Publicist. Author or publicist keeps it; publisher shares its own mailing list where possible
- When
- When review copy outreach begins, usually four to six months before publication, and maintained through the first year (Plan and manage advance copies: twelve to six months before publication, ahead of every review deadline)
How to create a review-copy request and shipment log
- Start the log when outreach begins, and keep it through the first year.
- Give it one row per recipient: name, outlet or role, contact, the format sent, the date sent, a tracking number if it is physical, and where the request came from.
- Add a follow-up date and a result column: reviewed, declined, no response, or pending.
- Ask your publicist or press for their list of who has been sent a copy, and share yours, so neither of you sends a second one.
- Link it to your inventory, so every printed copy sent reduces the count.
- Read it once a month during the launch window and do the follow-up, because that is what turns a copy into a review.
More detail
Once outreach begins, review copies go out in many directions: trade outlets, media, bloggers, booksellers, librarians, award programs, and people who simply asked. A request and shipment log is a table that records each one: who asked or was offered, their outlet or role, the format sent (printed, digital platform, PDF), the date sent, tracking if any, and what happened afterward.
Keep your own log whoever else is keeping one. If a publicist or a press is also sending copies, share yours and ask for theirs, or at least for a list of who has been sent a copy, so neither of you double-sends and both of you know who to follow up with. If nobody else is sending copies, yours is the only record of the whole outreach campaign: who has the book, who to nudge, and later, which outreach actually produced coverage.
Start the log when outreach begins and keep it through the first year. It feeds the inventory (every printed copy sent reduces the count) and your Author Profile on this site (every trade review submission is a row here too).
Common mistakes
- Keeping the log in email threads instead of a table.
- Not recording the format sent, so a reviewer who asked for print gets a second PDF.
- Never following up, which is where most of the value is.
- Not reconciling with the publisher's mailings, so a trade outlet receives three copies and a blogger receives none.
Identifiers for Create a review-copy request and shipment log
Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All book identifiers.
| My status | Identifier | Why this matters | Yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| NetGalley The main platform for giving reviewers, librarians, and booksellers a secured digital review copy before publication. | This decides who can read your book before it is out and how early, and feedback posted through it frequently reappears as reviews on Goodreads and retailers around publication. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask whether the book will be listed, when the listing goes live, how long it stays up, and who approves requests, and a hybrid author should confirm who is paying. If you publish the book yourself, this is a real expense you choose, and it needs an approval plan, a plan for reading the feedback, and enough lead time, typically three to six months before publication, to be worth anything. Record the listing dates and check that the description and review file match the book you intend people to read. | Add your NetGalley listing link | |
| Edelweiss+ The digital catalog where booksellers, librarians, and reviewers see forthcoming books, months before publication. | Buyers deciding what to stock and librarians deciding what to buy often see your book here first, so the description, the author biography, and the comparison titles in that listing do their work long before anyone has read the book. It displays what the publisher's feed and catalog team supply, so it is a downstream view rather than a source, and a mistake in it came from upstream. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask which catalog the book sits in and to see the listing before buyers do, and a hybrid author should confirm the publisher has an account at all; a self-published book appears only if a distributor lists it, and titles published through IngramSpark don't appear automatically. Check the listing against your own record, especially the description, biography, comparison titles, and publication date. | Add your Edelweiss+ listing link |
A template for this
Review-copy shipment slipA half-page slip to tuck inside every physical review copy, so the book's details and your contact information stay with the book after the envelope is gone.
When to use it: Use this when you mail any advance or finished copy to a reviewer, outlet, librarian, or award program. Print one per copy and tuck it inside the book. Do not use this when you are sending a digital copy only. Put the same details in the covering email instead.
What done looks like
- One row per recipient: name, outlet or role, contact, format sent, date sent, tracking number if physical, source of the request.
- A follow-up date and a result column (reviewed, declined, no response, pending).
- Shared with or reconciled against the publisher's or publicist's mailing list.
- Linked to the inventory so physical counts stay accurate.
- Reviewed monthly during the launch window.
Sources and last checked
- Official source
- No single official page for this step.
- Last checked
- Not checked against its source yet.
- How confident we are
- Verified