About the First Look Book Club

[Maria_H]

Do you have questions about the First Look program? Here are the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions.

What is the First Look Book Club?
This is a unique opportunity to enroll in a private discussion with an author, and to talk to other readers about a book that won't be released for a few months. We'll send you an Advance Reading Copy -- for free! -- in time for the book club. In other words, you can be the first to get the scoop on the next great book, long before it ever hits the shelves!

How do I sign up?
Once we have a First Look selection, we'll make an announcement in the B&N Book Clubs, and open the enrollment period. If you are enrolled in one month's First Look Book Club, you're not automatically enrolled in the next one. Because quantities of ARCs are limited, each First Look Book Club will have it’s own enrollment. That's the only way to ensure that everyone will have a chance to participate. Instructions on how to enroll for each club are posted with each announcement.

What exactly is an Advance Reading Copy?
An Advance Reading Copy, or ARC, is an uncorrected paperback edition created by publishers for distribution to booksellers and the media a few months before the actual publication of a new book. The ARC you'll receive will look very much like the final version of the book. It'll have all the text, and usually all the photos, illustrations, and front matter included in the finished book.

Do I have to pay for shipping?
No. The ARC -- and the shipping -- is free to you. The book will be delivered from one of our warehouses, but will not go through our normal order path and therefore will not be listed as an "order" on your Barnes & Noble.com shopping account.

When will I get my free Advance Reading Copy?
Once enrollment starts, we will alert you to when the ARCs will ship. It can take up to two weeks to get your free book.

What happens if you run out of books?
We will be monitoring demand closely, and hope to have enough books for everyone. But quantities are limited, and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Only one book per account, per person, please. If we run out of books, we'll post a message to the board, and close the enrollment period.

How do I find out about future First Look selections? Can I enroll right now?
Sorry, there's no pre-enrollment. Stay tuned to our Announcements board for news about our next First Look book club. Along with the announcement, we'll also post instructions on how to enroll.

If you have other questions about First Look, please post them here by replying to this thread.

[Teddyr66]

Is First Look available for people living in Canada?

[Maria_H]

It is.

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Teddyr66 wrote:
Is First Look available for people living in Canada?

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[sylvia387]

Maria,

What is our responsibility with the ARC once discussion is closed?  Having just finished The Believers, I'm not sure if I'm to send it back....shelve it until mass release..or am I free to pass it on to friends?  Trying to do the right thing by B&N,

Sylvia

[Maria_H]

That's a great question.

Legally, I think ARCs are only suppose to be in the possession of the reviewer it was given to and is considered a loan by the publisher.  

That said, there is certainly no need to send it back -- it is yours to keep!

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sylvia387 wrote:

Maria,

What is our responsibility with the ARC once discussion is closed?  Having just finished The Believers, I'm not sure if I'm to send it back....shelve it until mass release..or am I free to pass it on to friends?  Trying to do the right thing by B&N,

Sylvia

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[DariaFreeman]

Good morning,

  I am new to this, so I have a question about the reading schedule. Are we supposed to have read the entire book by the Jan discussion, or will we be presented with a chapter to read and discuss. I have not received my copy yet, so I just wanted to make sure that I get the passages I need to finish read, by the time we discuss.  Thank you for your help with this.

Daria

[Everyman]

That's a great question. In the earlier First Look clubs, it was done just by chapters, but there was a problem because some people were reading along with the schedule and some had read ahead and inevitably let spoilers about what was coming slip into their posts.

So for the last few, there have been different threads for both kinds of readers.  I assume they will do the same this time.  If so, there will be threads for bunches of chapters (Say one for Chapter 1-10, one for 10-20, etc.) where it is verboten to discuss, mention, allude to, hint at, or otherwise in any way, shape, or manner indicate that you have any knowledge of what is coming past the chapters under discussion.  

But for those who want to read the book as a whole, there will also be threads that are for open discussion where it is assumed either that people have already read the whole book  or don't care about reading spoilers, where you can discuss anything about the book. These are often theme related, but since I haven't started the book I have no idea what sort of theme threads might be posted for this book.

Then there is usually a thread for questions for the author, and in that thread you can ask about anything at all about the book, so people who haven't finished the book should be careful about reading that thread.  

This, anyhow, is how recent First Look clubs have run, and it seems to have worked very well, so I expect something close to this will be done this time.

Hope this is helpful!

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DariaFreeman wrote:

Good morning,

  I am new to this, so I have a question about the reading schedule. Are we supposed to have read the entire book by the Jan discussion, or will we be presented with a chapter to read and discuss. I have not received my copy yet, so I just wanted to make sure that I get the passages I need to finish read, by the time we discuss.  Thank you for your help with this.

Daria

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[KxBurns]

Great explanation of how we do things, Eman

Just wanted to spread the word that the discussion schedule is now posted in the News, Schedules & Updates thread!

-Karen

[sylvia387]

Karen,

Glad to see the discussion schedule is up!  I was holding off reading until I knew our first chapter round.  I am one of the readers who prefers to go by schedule, since I don't trust myself not to slip and let out a spoiler.  This time, though, I will be marking up my copy and will be prepared to backtrack to other threads once I've completed the entire novel.  Happy holidays to you and yours...see you in January.

Sylvia

[DariaFreeman]

  Thank you Eman and everyone. I appreciate the guidance of vetran "First Lookers". Now that the schedule is up, I am ready to delve into my first chapters. I am going to try and read along with the schedule. This shouldn't be too hard, since I often read three books at once. I tend to read books like I would watch TV series' An episode at at time. You asked if there was one book that really made me stay up late for.....I have to say the only one so far was "Tuesdays with Morrie"  I loved that book. I read it straight through one night, before I even knew it.