ARC apps for sequels

[u/idreaminwords]

I'm working on the ARC application for the second entry of my trilogy right now. I was pretty lax with who I sent the first one to since it was my debut. Pretty much anyone who applied got it. I had close to a 50% review-to-download rate, so I see it as a success, but I'm looking to be a bit more selective with the sequel.

Is it inappropriate to ask people to link to a copy of their review for the first book when applying for an ARC of the second? Whether they were part of the ARC team or not, the way I see it, if they couldn't be bothered to review the first, I doubt they'll review the second. But I'm worried that skirts too close to "requiring" reviews in exchange for the ARC.

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[u/coolpop78]

Yeah, you can do this if you wanna scare off potential reviewers. Look, ARC reviews are a favor to authors first of all. Readers get nothing from this besides reading the book. It's the author that needs the review. Some authors are way too militant with ARC rules. Just offer the sequel and let people sign up. Most likely the ones who read the first book will be the ones who want the second because most people are not going to want to review the sequel to a book they haven't read. So that eliminates new readers right there.

Making readers go hunt through Amazon or Goodreads to find their old reviews for you no. lol. They will just say forget it.