We’ve just rolled out the latest Hidden Gems ARC update, and it’s a big one.  The entire ARC reader FAQ has been updated with new screenshots and information, but this page will give you a quick overview of what is new, how it works, and where to find more information about it.

First, before we get into everything we want to make one important point clear.

Although there are a lot of changes and updates to the ARC program, for those that don’t want to be bothered with all of these new features you can rest assured that you can continue to keep using the ARC program as you always have been. Only difference is now you “reserve” your copy and will get that one for sure instead of signing up and maybe getting it.

But for those who want more out of the ARC program, read on!

Reserve the books YOU want

Instead of signing up for all the books that interest you and then having us send you one of them, readers now reserve a copy of the book(s) they want most and that’s the book they’ll get!  And if you change your mind (before the reservation period ends), you can even unreserve your copy!

Get MORE of the books you want

With the introduction of HGB Points (read more about these below), most readers will be able to reserve more than one book a day if there are multiple titles that interest them!  As long as your gem level is higher than Cracked, you’ll earn enough HGB Points to reserve at least one book simply by logging into the site (which you would need to do to reserve a copy anyway).

Reviews can be left on a variety of platforms

The biggest issue our readers have always had with leaving reviews are Amazon’s very strict and often erroneously applied rules. As more and more authors start “going wide” by publishing their books on other platforms, it’s become more important to be able to leave reviews on those other platforms. That’s why we’ve expanded our reader forms to allow reviews on 7 different review sites:

• Amazon
• Goodreads
• Kobo
• Barnes & Noble
• Bookbub
• Apple Books
• Google Play Books

Authors determine where they want reviews, and readers will only be able to reserve books looking for reviews on sites where they can review. But with 7 review sites to choose from, none of which are nearly as restrictive as Amazon, there should be opportunity for most readers to review on a variety of sites which should lead to plenty of options. The more sites you can review on, the more offers you’ll see, so make sure to fill out all your profile info ASAP (if you haven’t already done so)!

Gem levels expanded

We’ve had the concept of gem levels around for a while. Essentially, your gem level determines your overall participation level and we had 4 different levels that would go from lowest (Cracked) where you could no longer sign up for a book to the highest (Sparkling), which meant you were almost always going to be sent a book that you signed up for.  If you fell in between, it could potentially affect whether you got books, or which books you were sent, based on who else signed up for those books and what their levels for.

Now that we’ve introduced the concept of points and are allowing readers to reserve copies of books they really want, we still want to make sure that the readers that participate the most have access to more copies of each book, but we also wanted to make sure that lower levels still have access to some as well (with the exception of Cracked, as before).  To do that, we introduced a few more gem levels.

Remember, it is very easy to maintain a high gem level, as it is not about how MANY books you reserve but rather how much you are participating as an ARC reviewer.  So filling out your reader forms for each book we send, ideally by leaving as many reviews as possible but even when you can’t (or don’t want to) review a book, you still add your reason.  With the introduction of all the new review sites, it’s never been easier, so our expectation is that most readers will very quickly end up with a high gem level.

And the higher your gem level, the faster you’ll earn points and the more points you’ll be able to store!

For those that fell way behind in the past and can’t catch up now due to Amazon restrictions, you can contact us to reset your stats and get you started again with the new review sites. Just send us an email or use the contact form and we’ll help you out!

HGB Points

As mentioned before, this release introduces the concept of HGB Points, which can be earned in a variety of ways such as simply filling out your reader forms or even logging into your dashboard every day!  These points can then be used to reserve copies of the books you want, and by storing them you can save them in case there are days when there are more than one book you want available!

But since you have to visit the site to reserve a book, and you get enough points for each daily visit to reserve at least one book, you can completely ignore the idea of points if you like and continue using the ARC program just as you have in the past.

And More…

Those are the main things that we’ve introduced in this update, but there are plenty of other little things that have been added, and more is coming soon, so I encourage you to read through the FAQ. If you have any questions, find any bugs, or have any suggestions for future features you want to see, please send us an email or use the contact form to let us know.

An ARC is an Advance Review Copy of a book. Generally, a lot of reviews on a book help it get noticed on Amazon and let potential buyers know that others have already read and enjoyed it – thus helping sales as well. Sometimes these early reviews also help to generate excitement and buzz about their upcoming work, especially when the reviews start coming in positively, or if they start getting picked up or posted to different blogs or websites.

The earlier a book has reviews, the sooner this positive effect can begin. To achieve this, an author may choose to send out free, advance copies of their newest book to fans or interested readers in the hope that those readers will then leave honest reviews of the book when it goes live.

In some cases, they may even send out these copies after the book is already for sale.

Hidden Gems sends out books of both types, whether they have already been published or soon will be.

Hidden Gems Books (HG) sends out a variety of new novels every day of the year, from the thousands of authors that use our service. With so much variety, every reader will eventually see something that interests them, but at the same time, they will not be interested in (or have time to read) all the ARC offerings. For that reason, each of our books is opt-in but there are often only a limited number of copies available for distribution.

Here’s how the process generally works:

 

1. Author Contacts HG About Their Book

An author looking for reviews on their novel contacts us and provides us with the details of their book (cover, blurb, genres/categories, etc), how many reviewers they want us to send the book to, where they want it reviewed, and when they want it to go out.

2. Book Details Sent to Readers

A couple days before it is scheduled to be sent to readers, the book becomes available for readers to reserve with the details showing up on the New ARCs Available tab of their dashboard, as well as to their email (with more limited info*) so that they know, at a glance, what new books are available that day. Readers can then click to go to their dashboard to see the full details of the book or reserve their copy.

The new books available depend on the genre preferences of the reader, as well as whether they can review on the sites that the author is looking for reviews on, whether they have enough points to reserve that book (most people can reserve at least one per day) and whether there are still copies available.

We ask that readers ONLY sign up for books that look interesting to them, and that they think they will enjoy and have the time to read and review in a reasonable amount of time. There are always more books to come!

*Whether readers get the email and how much detail it has is dependent on the email settings in the Your Settings tab.

3. Book Files Available to Selected Readers Only

On the scheduled date of the ARC, readers that have reserved a copy will be able to download the book files from links on either their dashboard or email notifications. Note that readers are still responsible to read the book even if they miss the email (or if it got lost to spam/junk/promo folders) so it is highly recommended that everyone bookmark their dashboard and get in the habit of checking it regularly, as it is the most reliable source of the books available and those that have been sent.

4. Readers Must Fill Out Reader Forms for ALL books they’ve received

Any books a reader has reserved and that has been sent to them will be listed on the Books You’re Reading tab of their dashboard, and from there they can notify us of when their reviews have been posted or their reason for deciding not to review a particular book.

Note that only one of those fields (review or reason for not reviewing) needs to be filled out on each reader form for each book received, as that is one of the requirements for remaining in the HG ARC program and continuing to get new books.  Readers that fall too far behind on filling out their reader forms may end up dropping in gem levels and even be restricted from signing up for more books.

However, it is perfectly fine if it takes readers longer to read and review a book than the review date posted – those dates are simply guidelines that the author hopes readers will aim for but it’s always better to get it in later than not at all. The important thing is to fill the form out when done, and only use the reason for not reviewing field when there are no plans to review the book at all.

Periodic reminder emails will be sent when reader forms are incomplete and past their review dates, but these reminders are automated, so should not be taken personally.

Also note that for those that wish to do so, there is a place on the reader form to leave an optional private comment to the author about the book – but it only shows up after the reason or at least 1 review link has been filled out. Books that have already had their reader form filled out can still be viewed on the Completed Books tab, where comments can also be added or edited.

If you love to read books, love to share your opinions about the books you’ve read by leaving reviews, and are willing to fill out our extremely short and quick reader form for each book we send you, then this is the program for you.

Here are the main points for getting free books:

• Only reserve the books that interest you and that you will have time to read in a reasonable amount of time (we provide a review date to aim for, but it’s okay if it takes you longer – just try not to reserve so many books at once that you fall far behind)
• As often as possible, leave honest, fair and useful reviews on at least one of the review sites that the author is looking for reviews on
• Always fill out the reader form for each book we send – whether it is with your review link or the reason you decided not to review it*

As long as you are able to meet the above criteria, we’d love to have you read and review with us. If you have any issues doing any of the points above for any of the books we send, please contact us for help.

*Filling out the reader form is a requirement of the program and is used to judge your continuing participation. In fairness to both other readers and our authors, Hidden Gems reserves the right to remove readers/reviewers from the program (or limit the number of books we send them) that we feel (in our sole judgement) seem to no longer have the time or the interest in continuing.

Congratulations!  You’re now part of one of the oldest and most popular ARC programs around, which means loads of free books in the genres you want are ready for you to read and review.  Here’s how it all works.

You should have already gotten an email explaining how to logon and view your dashboard, which is key to taking advantage of all of the benefits of our program.

The first thing you should do is go to the Your Profile Links tab of your dashboard and add your profile information for as many review sites as you can leave reviews on. The more you fill out, the more books will be available to you. Some books are looking for reviews on only specific sites, which means if you haven’t told us you can review on that site (by filling our your profile info for it) then you won’t be able to reserve those books.

Quick Tip: Almost all authors want Amazon reviews, so if you can review on Amazon* you’ll be able to see almost all the books available. But there are 6 other review sites as well, so you’ll still get offers even if you can only review on some of those.  Fill out the info for all of the sites you can review on, as the more sites you can review on, the more offers you’ll see. You can also always come back to this page and fill out the profile info for a site later, if you haven’t yet created an account on those sites.

Each day, new books become available and those that match any of the genres you’re interested in, as well as are looking for reviews on any of the sites you can review on, will show up on the New ARCs Available tab. You can then reserve the books that interest you, provided there are still copies available and that you have enough HGB Points (don’t worry, unless your gem is cracked, you’ll get enough points each day to reserve at least one new book – and those that participate in our program the most will be able to get even more than one book a day!)

The reservation period for each book lasts a little less than 2 days, and then a link to download the book will be emailed to you, as well as be available on your dashboard on the Books You’re Reading tab (where you can see all the books we’ve sent you, fill out the reader forms, etc).

Remember: Each book is only looking for a limited number of readers in total and by Gem Level, which means the earlier you check the more likely you are to be able to reserve a copy. But that’s also why we ask, in fairness to other readers and the author, that you read all the book details carefully and ONLY click on the reserve button for the books that interest you and that you have time to read and review in a reasonable amount of time. By keeping on top of your reader forms (which is where you leave your reviews, comments or reasons for not reviewing), your Gem Level will increase which will allow you to reserve more books. If you lag behind and your Gem Level falls too low, you may find that your ability to reserve books is more restricted or blocked altogether which is meant to give you time to catch up and allow readers that are caught up more of a chance to reserve their copies.

The book files available are usually in ePub and PDF format, allowing you flexibility on how to open and view them with some tips on doing so found here.

When you’re finished reading the book and left a review on one of the review sites that the book is requesting reviews for, you can fill out the reader form for that book. If the review date for a book comes up and you haven’t yet filled out the form, you may start getting email reminders about them. If you’re still reading the book, you can just ignore those reminders. They are simply meant to make sure you haven’t forgotten. The review date is simply the date to aim for, but it’s perfectly fine to leave your review later. We just ask that if you are starting to fall behind, that try to catch up before reserving too many more books.

Feel free to participate in as many or as few ARC reviews as you have time and interest for, but always keep in mind:

It is VITAL that you not fall too far behind on your reader forms. Your Gem Level is tied closely to how reliably you fill these out, and if your Gem Level falls too low, the books you can reserve will become more restricted or even stop altogether until you can get caught up. If you are having any technical issues, or anything else that is preventing you from participating, please let us know ASAP so that we can help get you back on track.  We want ALL readers to be able to read and review as many books as possible!

That’s about all you need to know about participating and getting a steady stream of free books to review.

*Amazon has a number of rules and restrictions around who can leave reviews for a book that they didn’t purchase on their site. The one that trips most people up is that you have to have spent at least $50 in the last 12 months on Amazon to be able to leave those reviews. Those purchases have to have been made with a credit card, and Prime memberships don’t count. Hidden Gems has nothing to do with that rule, it applies to anyone that uses Amazon and is specific to each local store (so if you live in Canada and shop on Amazon.ca and can review there, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to leave reviews on Amazon.com as well, unless you also spend enough on that account).

For enhanced security/privacy and to allow us to do more with your dashboard, all ARC readers now must login to use the system.

In order to make it easy and not break your flow of reading books, when you first sign up for the Hidden Gems ARC program you will be automatically logged in (after you verify your email) and you should stay logged in unless you explicitly log out.  Just click on the Dashboard link at the top right of our website to get started!

For enhanced security and easier log in/out, users can create a more standard password at any time which we highly recommend.

However, there are still some login issues that users may experience depending on the type of login method they use, so please see the list below to identify your issue and the solution.

I haven’t set a password and want to login again

If you are still using the unique link login that you were assigned originally and you have logged out of your dashboard, then you need to click that link to log back in. The link can be found in the original welcome email we sent you, or if you requested a new one since then, in the email that was sent with the new link.

If you don’t have any old emails with your links, you can go to the login page of the website and add your email to the Username or Email Address box, and then click the “Request Unique Link Login” button.  Once you do that, you will be sent an email with a new unique login you can click to access your dashboard.  Remember that if you logout though, you will need to use that link to login again so do not delete the email. Or even better, click the Lost/Create Password link instead and create a password that you will remember and can use to login in the future instead of the links. Passwords are more secure, so we recommend everyone create one when possible.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Whenever you generate a new unique link (as described above) it invalidates your previous links so make sure to only use the latest link we sent you. And only click the button once, otherwise you will have 2 new ones generated and it may be confusing about which one to use.

I created a password but I can’t remember it

Once you’ve created a password your old unique link URLs can no longer be used, so you must remember the password that you set. It is case sensitive, so you have to enter it exactly as you did when you first set it.

If you cannot remember it, you can reset it by clicking the Lost/Create Password link (see screenshot above) from the login page. You will then be prompted to enter your email address and click the “Get New Password” button.

Make sure to only click this button only ONCE, as each time you do it will send an email to you with a reset password link and each time it generates that link, it invalidates the old one.  So if you click it multiple times, you will get more than one email and link and not know which one to use.

Click the link to reset your password and you will be taken to a screen that lets you add a new password. By default, a random strong password will be generated for you that you can use, however if you wish to create your own, just click into the “New password” field and replace the password that is there. You can also click the “Generate Password” button to create a new strong password.

The strength of your password will be displayed under the “New password” field. If your password is considered weak/very weak (i.e. easy for someone to guess) but you still want to use it, you must click the “Confirm use of weak password” checkbox first before you will be able to save your new password.  It is recommended you use a variety of symbols, letters and numbers to create a strong password, and not reuse a password you use on other websites.

Once you are happy with your password, click the “Save Password” button and make sure to remember what you’ve chosen and that passwords are case sensitive.  You can now login with your new password.

The password reset link doesn’t work

If you follow the steps above to reset your email, but when you click the link in your email you get a message that the link is invalid, it is usually because you have requested the link more than once and you are trying to use one of the links that has since been invalidated by a later request.  Note that the emails with these links can sometimes get delayed, although they should usually arrive within a few minutes.   If there is a delay and you click it twice (or more), often you’ll get the first email before you get the second one and because you have requested the second one, the first link is now invalid.

Please wait at least 30 minutes for the email to come before giving up and trying it again. Usually it will come well before that. If not, check your spam or junk folders, or Gmails promo tab.  They could be getting lost.

The website says that I’m blocked

If you attempt to login with the wrong password too many times, the website will determine that you may be a hacker and thus lock you out of the site temporarily. If you find that you are blocked or locked out, you can either wait for 24 hours until the block is lifted automatically, or send us an email and we can unblock you sooner.

To avoid this, make sure to be careful about entering your password and consider saving it with your browser username and password save capability.

Still having login issues?

If you are experiencing a different issue with login, or the solutions above don’t work, please contact us.

If you follow the steps above to reset your email, but when you click the link in your email you get a message that the link is invalid, it is usually because you have requested the link more than once and you are trying to use one of the links that has since been invalidated by a later request.  Note that the emails with these links can sometimes get delayed, although they should usually arrive within a few minutes.   If there is a delay and you click it twice (or more), often you’ll get the first email before you get the second one and because you have requested the second one, the first link is now invalid.

Please wait at least 30 minutes for the email to come before giving up and trying it again. Usually it will come well before that. If not, check your spam or junk folders, or Gmails promo tab.  They could be getting lost.

The website says that I’m blocked

If you attempt to login with the wrong password too many times, the website will determine that you may be a hacker and thus lock you out of the site temporarily. If you find that you are blocked or locked out, you can either wait for 24 hours until the block is lifted automatically, or send us an email and we can unblock you sooner.

To avoid this, make sure to be careful about entering your password and consider saving it with your browser username and password save capability.

Still having login issues?

If you are experiencing a different issue with login, or the solutions above don’t work, please contact us.

There are two main reasons why we need the profile info for all the sites a reader can leave reviews on.

First, as authors send out free copies of their books in the hopes of getting reviews (because reviews help sell books), and each author desires their reviews only on specific sites, we need to know where readers can review to be able to send the right offers to the right people. This allows us to not clutter your inbox or dashboard with books that you can’t review even if you wanted to, and only show you ones that are relevant.

The second reason is that, for each book we send you, you’re required to fill out a reader form with either your review link or your reason for not reviewing.  As many readers have issues finding their reviews or (depending on the device being used) copy and pasting the links into our form, we made the process as easy as possible by finding them for you in most cases, as soon as you let us know that they’re ready by clicking a button.

Providing us with your publicly available profile information for the sites you can review on allows us to do all of that. The info for each site only has to be added once, and from that point on we know you can review there and will start displaying all of the free ARC books that want reviews on that site. That means the more review sites you can review on and that you add your profile info for, the more book offers you’ll see.

The profile info we need depends on the review site, usually it is either the link to your profile or your reviewer name from that site.  Here is a list of the sites we are currently accepting reviews on, and the public info we’re asking from you.

Note that Hidden Gems does NOT provide any way for anyone, including authors, to tie your review names to your email addresses. Email addresses are never shared with anyone, and the only people that will be able to see your review links will be the author whose book you reviewed.

*With the exception of Google, these are the public reviewer names that you entered when you created your account on these review sites, or when you left your review. For Google, it is the name on your Google account. 

All of this information can be added via the Your Profile Links tab on your dashboard, and more information on how exactly to find your own profile link or name can be found here.

Remember that your profile links and names are not secret, so there is no privacy concern in providing us with that information. Anyone that views your public review of a book on any of the sites above can access this information either simply by looking at your review or clicking on your review name to get to your profile page. Those profile pages don’t show any private information either, which is why the sites allow anyone to view them. Generally they are used to see what other reviews you have left.

We use it to find your reviews when you click the “Find Your Review Automatically” button on your reader form, and in the case of Amazon, we also use it to determine what country specific version of Amazon you use, so that we can direct you to the correct site to leave your reviews in the first place.

Your ARC reader Dashboard is your key to reserving new free ARCs, keeping track of the books you’ve been sent, downloading book files, filling out reader forms, managing your account, and much more. We highly recommend bookmarking your dashboard and visiting it daily so that you never miss a great new book.

In order to keep things organized, your dashboard is divided into tabs (in the view above, the tabs are in blue along the left side of the page but depending on the size of your screen or the device you’re using, your view may look different or the tabs may be accessed via a menu). Below is a list of each tab and a brief overview of what they are used for, with links to go to more details about each where applicable.

Dashboard (Default tab and common dashboard elements)

When you first login to Hidden Gems, you’ll see your default dashboard tab which is mainly an overview of all the important things you need to know.  You’ll see a few of the new ARCs available, some of the books you’re currently reading, important announcements, review reminders, and even a link to our most recent blog or books that may be on sale in one of your genres of interest.  Clicking on books in those small New ARCs and Books You’re Reading applets will take you directly to that book in the full version of those tabs – but remember that those small versions only show a few of the selections that may be available on the full tab.

You can also view your username along the top (which will be your email address until you change it) as well as your current gem status and available HGB points (on the left).

New ARCs Available

The New ARCs Available tab displays a list of all of the ARCs currently open for sign up within your genres of interest.  Remember that the small version of this tab on the default dashboard tab (in the screenshot above titled “New ARCs”) is not the entire list, that applet only shows you a few of the available titles so make sure to click the full tab to see the complete list of books. From the New ARCs Available tab, you can view all of the book details and reserve a copy of the books that you want to read and review.

Books You’re Reading

The Books You’re Reading tab is where you’ll find a list of all of the books we’ve sent you that you have not yet filled out the reader form for (that is, you haven’t submitted either your review link or reason for not reviewing).  From this tab you’ll see some of the details of these books, find the links to leave your review(s) if you haven’t already done so, let us know if your reviews are live for us to find, or provide your reason for not reviewing if you aren’t going to be reviewing at all, as well as leave your optional comment.  You can also get the book files directly from here, if you don’t already have them, provided that they are still available.

Completed Books

The Completed Books tab is where you can find all of the books we’ve sent where you’ve already completed your reader form.  From here, you can view the review(s) you’ve submitted (if you sent any in), view or edit the reason for not reviewing field if you filled that in instead, or even add a review for a book you previously left a reason for (if you eventually were able to review it after all – always better late than never!)  You can also view the comments you left, or add some if you didn’t already do so (although they are optional).

Your Profile Links

The Your Profile Links tab is where you go to add your profile links for all of the review sites that you can leave reviews on.  Until you fill out the profile link for at least one review site, you won’t see any ARCs but as soon as you do, the available books will be displayed in your New ARCs Available tab immediately. The more review sites you can review on, the more selection you’ll have so fill out as many as you can. You only need to fill the info out for each particular review site once, and we have more detailed instructions here if needed. The sites we’re currently accepting are Amazon, Goodreads, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Bookbub, Apple Books and Google Play Books. If you have any questions or issues with any of it, please let us know and we can help get you set up.

Your Stats

The Your Stats tab is where you can find more details about your Gem level and what it gives you, how many books you’ve read, reviews you’ve left, etc.

Your Settings

The Your Settings tab is where you can setup your username, your file preferences (such as having us send the books directly to your kindle), your email preferences, your genre interests, change your password, and more.

Log Out

Click Log Out if you wish to log out of your dashboard, although unless you are using a public computer or sharing it with someone you don’t trust, we recommend you stay logged in.

The New ARCs Available tab is where you can view all of the ARC books currently available for reservation within your genres of interest and that are looking for reviews on at least one of the sites you’ve filled out your profile info for. From this tab, you can view all the details of each book (Cover, Genre, Sub-categories, Description, etc), including where the author is looking for reviews to be posted. You will only see offers to reserve books where you can reserve on at least one of the requested sites. You can see which sites are desired via the small blue icons under the “Reviews Requested On:” text.

If you aren’t sure which site the icon refers to, you can hover over it and the review site name will appear.

If you’re interested in reading a book, just click the “Reserve Your Copy” button next to it (unless there are no copies left, or the reservation period is closed, in which case you’ll see a message about that).

As you can see, this button also displays how many HGB points it costs to reserve your copy. Unless you have fallen way behind in your reading and reviewing and your gem has become cracked, you’ll always get at least enough points to reserve one book a day, but those that participate more and raise their gem level higher will be able to reserve even more than one a day, if they wish.

Above the button, you will also see the amount of time left before reservations are closed, as well as how many copies are remaining. The number of copies remaining will not always be a numerical value, sometimes it will say “Unlimited” if the author is looking for as many readers as they can get, or it may say “Many” if there are lots of copies remaining. Once the number of copies starts to get more restricted, however, the copies remaining will display the number left.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The copies remaining value is populated when you refresh the page, and so it is possible that even though it shows that there are copies available, by the time you click the button all of the remaining copies may be taken in which case you will be shown a message that there are no copies available if you try to reserve one.

If you successfully reserve a copy, you will see a message letting you know when the links to download it will be available. And if the reservation period is still open, you will also see a button you can click to Unreserve your book. If you change your mind about a book before the countdown timer is up, just click that button and your HGB points will be refunded and you will not be sent a copy. Once the reservation is closed, no changes can be made to your reservation.

You can reserve as many books as you are interested in (and have points for), but please try to make sure you will have the time to read and review them all in a reasonable time. The review date on this form is just a date to aim for, it’s okay if it takes longer, but in fairness to the author please try your best to get as close to that date as you can. Don’t sign up for so many books that you fall far behind. If you do, you may find your gem level falls, which may reduce your points and eligibility for some books. Although once you get caught up again, your gem level will raise back up.

Remember that you are responsible for keeping up with the books you reserve, and all of them will be listed on the Books You’re Reading tab, as will the links to download the files, so make sure and check there often in case you miss the emails.

In fairness to the authors, be sure to look at all of the book details and read the entire description (you may need to use the vertical scrollbar next to the description text to see the entire description if it is long) before signing up for a book to make sure it is one you are interested in.

Only sign up for books that you are interested in reading, think you can at least come close to reading it by the review date, and that you think you’ll enjoy. Otherwise just skip it, another book that suits you better is sure to come along soon!

What if there are no books to sign up for?

If you don’t see any new books listed here, that means there are no new books that match your criteria. But new books become available each day, and stay open for sign up for close to 2 days, so if you check back tomorrow or the day after, you’re sure to see something that interests you.

However, it also depends on your genres of interest and profile settings. The more genres you have selected, and the more review sites you can leave reviews on, the more books you’ll see offered.  Each day there are usually 4 or 5 new titles added, so if you aren’t seeing anything you like, consider selecting more genres or filling out more review profiles.

If you want to see all the books available across all genres without changing your genre settings, you can move the View All Genres Slider to Yes.

This slider is found at the top right of your New ARCs Available tab. If you move it to Yes, all of the books available across all genres will be displayed, although they will still be limited to only ones that you can review based on your review profiles. If you see a book you like, you can reserve it as normal. Just make sure it is of interest to you, as it may be in a genre you don’t normally read.

Quick Tip: The View All Genres slider will be reset to No whenever you next come back to this tab.  If you want to see more books regularly, then you should change your genre preferences from Your Settings tab.

Any books that you were sent and haven’t yet filled out the reader form for will show up in the Books You’re Reading tab. This allows you to keep track of all the books you were sent, download the book files, and add your reviews, comments, etc.

By default, all books that you haven’t completed the reader form for will show up in this list, with 10 books showing per page. You can move to the next page via the arrows at the bottom of the list if you have more than 10.

Filtering, Sorting and Search

For those with many books in this list, you will find the ability to filter/sort your list or search for specific books useful.

To shorten the list, you can select “New” from the filter section at the top left of this tab. This will filter the list to only show you books sent recently.

Alternatively, you can select the “Ready for reviews” filter, which will show only the books that have hit or past their review dates.  As a reminder, the review dates are just dates that the author is hoping you aim for, but it is always okay to send your reviews in past those dates.

To search for a specific book, you can type the title of the book in the “Search by Title” box at the top right.

You must type at least 3 letters of the title, and any matching books will be displayed in the dropdown. If you click one, that book alone will be displayed in this tab.  Click the “x” in the search box to clear the search.

To sort your list, change the “Order By Review Date” dropdown to either “Oldest to newest” or “Newest to oldest”.

Review Dates

As a reminder, the review date is simply the date that the author is hoping readers will aim for, but it is fine if you take longer to read and leave a review. Always better late than never. These review dates will be displayed within the book information on this tab if the date has not yet passed.  If the review date has come, then you’ll see one of two messages (depending on how long ago the review date was in the past).

 

Review reminder emails will also be sent after the review date has passed, but these are automated so don’t take them personally. Just get the reviews done as soon as you can.

Book Files

If you haven’t yet downloaded the book files, you can click the “Need the book files again?” link which will then display your download options, generally either PDF or ePub.  If you click the ePub link, then the file will be sent to you based on your ePub delivery settings as specified in Your Settings.

Quick Tip: Always download the book files as soon as you can, even if you aren’t going to read the book immediately. We don’t keep the files on our system forever, and once we’ve removed them they are gone and will no longer be available. If that is the case for one of your books that was sent to you a while ago, you will not see the option to download the book files.

Leaving Reviews or Reasons (i.e. Filling out your “reader form”)

The books on this page will show the review site icons corresponding to the review sites that the author has requested reviews on. If the icon is blue (like the Amazon one in the image below), that means that you are all set up in our system for reviewing books on that site. If you click the blue icon and we have the book link already, a new tab will open up taking you to this book on that site where you can review it if you haven’t already.

If the review icon is gray (like the Kobo icon in the image above), that means that while the author does want reviews on that site, you haven’t yet set up your profile in our system for it yet. If you can review there and wish to do so, just go to Your Profile Links tab and add your profile info. Then when you come back to the Books You’re Reading tab, the icon will be in blue.

(If you aren’t sure which review site an icon refers to, just hover over it and you’ll see a popup with the review site name.)

The buttons on the right of the book on this tab are what we refer to as your “reader form”. Basically this is just the info we are asking you to fill out for each book. Either your review link(s) or your reason for not reviewing – and optionally a comment to the author if you wish.  For more information on how to complete your reader form, please click here.

Quick Tip: Don’t forget to complete your reader form for each book we send, and try not to fall too far behind as it may affect your gem level. Plus, you get additional HGB points for completing your form!

Any books that you have already completed the reader form for (submitted either your review link or your reason for not reviewing) will show up in the Completed Books tab. This allows you to keep track of all the books you’ve already read, view your reviews (or submit new ones) or reasons, and add/edit your optional author comments.

As this list can eventually become quite long, we only display 10 books per page but you can move to the next page via the arrows at the bottom of the list.

Note: You can request a complete list of books we’ve sent you in csv format, via the Your Stats tab.

Filtering, Sorting and Search

For those with many books in this list, you will find the ability to filter/sort your list or search for specific books useful.

To shorten the list, you can select “New” from the filter section at the top left. This will filter the list to only show you books sent recently.

Alternatively, you can select the “Ready for reviews” filter, which will show only the books that have hit or past their review dates.  As a reminder, the review dates are just dates that the author is hoping you aim for, but it is always okay to send your reviews in past those dates.

To search for a specific book, you can type the title of the book in the “Search by Title” box at the top right.

You must type at least 3 letters of the title, and any matching books will be displayed in the dropdown. If you click one, that book alone will be displayed in this tab.  Click the “x” in the search box to clear the search.

To sort your list, change the “Order By Review Date” dropdown to either “Oldest to newest” or “Newest to oldest”.

Viewing Updating Reader Form Info

Any reviews you’ve left for a book will be listed on the left, under the book title. Just click on the link for the review site that you left your review on and you’ll get taken to your review.  Review links cannot be changed once they have been submitted.

If you’ve submitted a reason for not reviewing a book, that will also be displayed on this page.  In the event that you have since left a review that you previously left a reason for, you can click the “Left a review after all?” button to have us find your review and add it.

In either case, you’ll also be able to leave an optional comment to the author (or edit one you have previously left).

Click here for more information on leaving your review or author comments.

As we’ve explained elsewhere, the main reason we need your review site profile information is to be able to tailor which books to show you based on where you can review. That means you need to fill out your profile information for the sites you can review, otherwise you won’t see any books!  The Your Profile Links tab is where you do that.

From this tab you can also request to change existing profiles or even temporarily pause getting offers for a specific review site.

Hidden Gems currently supports all seven of these review sites:

• Amazon
• Goodreads
• Kobo
• Barnes & Noble
• Bookbub
• Apple Books
• Google Play Books

Each individual author determines which of these sites they want reviews on for their books.  That means that if, for example, you can only review on Amazon and Goodreads, you would not be able to see offers or reserve books that only want reviews on Bookbub and Google. That’s why you should add your profile info for ALL of the sites where you can leave reviews.

Each review site works in their own way, so the profile requirements you need to add for each differs.  On Your Profile Links tab, you will see cards for each of the above sites with a button to click to use to add your profile information.

Clicking the button to add your profile info will open up a popup with instructions or steps you can follow to find the information you need, but you can also find that information below.

Profile Information Details

Once we have your profile, you’ll see it in the box for that review site.

Pause Reviewing on a Specific Site

If you want to stop reviewing and getting offers from a specific site, you can click the “Pause Reviewing On This Site” button.  Note that unless you pause all of your review sites where you have filled out your profile, you may still end up getting offers for books that want reviews on those unpaused sites.  Also note that even if paused, you can still leave reviews for books you were previously sent.  Just don’t forget to Unpause it once you want to start getting offers again!

Quick Tip: If you simply wish to stop getting sign up emails, but still want to reserve books using your dashboard, do NOT use the pause button here.  Instead, go to Your Settings tab and select the “No Sign up Email” option.

Editing Review Site Information

Once we have your review info for a particular site, there is rarely a reason to edit it as most of the information is tied to your account on that site.  However, there are occasions where someone needs to create a new account on a site or change their reviewer name. If you do that, the button to find your reviews will no longer work as it will be looking for reviews on your old profile.  If that happens, return to Your Profile Links tab and click the button to Request to Change your profile info for that specific site.

Once that request is approved (approval is required to prevent abuse and fake reviews), you will be able to add your new profile info using the same steps as outlined above.

The Your Stats tab gives you information about your membership (gem) level and some basic statistics about the books you’ve been sent.

On the left side of this tab you’ll see your current Gem level, along with a brief description of what that level means and some of the benefits you get from it (number of HGB points, etc).

On the right side of this tab, you’ll see some basic stats about the books we’ve sent you (as well as a circle graph to visualize these numbers) like total books sent and how many of those you have reviewed vs left a reason for not reviewing on.

If you would like to get a complete list of all the books we’ve sent, you can click the “Email Me List of All Books” button.  This will send you an email with a CSV of all of the titles.  This does not send the book files themselves.

This page will soon be expanded to include more information, such as a breakdown of the different review sites and potentially some leader boards.

From Your Settings tab you can do things like change your genres of interest, set your username, change the email address we use to contact you, change your password, determine how ePub files are delivered and modify your preferences for the emails we send you.

Genre Interests

The ARC books that are available for reservation on the New ARCs Available tab are determined by the genres you indicated you were interested in reading when you first signed up. If you wish to change those selections, you can do that at any time from Your Settings. Just add a checkmark for any of the genres you wish to see offers for, and remove it from any that you don’t. Your changes will be saved immediately, and the next time you visit the New ARCs Available tab you will see the books in those genres.

Note: If you remove any genres for books that you already signed up for or were previously sent, those books will remain on your dashboard, and you are still responsible for completing the reader forms for them.

Account Settings

From this section you can add a username, update your email or change your password.

Set Username

By default your username is your email address, but you are urged to change it to something unique and unidentifiable to you as it will eventually be used publicly in things like leaderboards (so we HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you DO NOT use your real name) or displayed at the top of your dashboard. You can only set your username one time, so choose carefully.

Change Email Address

You can change the email address that we use to send you things like your daily ARC emails and review reminders, and all other correspondence. The email we currently use is shown, but you can change it by typing in the new one and clicking the “Change” button. Note that you will need to validate your new address by clicking the link in the email we send to it, and a verification email will also be sent to your previous address (no action needed for that).

Change Password

You can change your password from this section by entering in your old password and then your new password in the two subsequent boxes. Be sure to click the “Change your password” button to save it.

Email Options

From this section, you can modify the delivery and/or format of the emails we send.

Daily ARC sign up notification email style

Compact: This option will send your daily new ARCs available email in a format that includes only the cover and genres of the 6 most recent ARC books available for reservation.  This will include all of the books that were made available that day, as well as a few from the day before that are still open.

Note that this email does not consider genre preferences or review profiles, it is showing the covers of ALL the books available. That means that if you click on any of the covers and go to your dashboard, you may not actually see those books (if you don’t match the genre or review preferences).

Detailed: This option will send a more detailed daily new ARCs email that ONLY includes the books that match your genre preferences and review sites, and it will include all of the details of the book (title, author, cover, blurb, genres, sub genres, etc). If you there are no books that match your preferences and settings, you will not get an email that day.

No Sign up Email: Only use this option if you regularly visit the New ARCs Available tab on your dashboard on your own, because otherwise you won’t know about any of the new books we send as you will get no ARC sign up email at all.  For most users, this option is not recommended. Remember that books are only open for reservation for a limited time, so without the email notifying you of the new books available, you may miss out on ones that interest you unless you regularly visit the website to check.

Reader Form Reminder Style

Individual: Use this option to get individual reminder emails about books that have past their review dates and you haven’t yet filled out the reader form for. These are simply reminders though, so don’t worry about being “late”. Just get your reviews in whenever you finish. Note that with this option you may get more than one reminder in a day.

Combined: This option is used to send at most one reminder in a day, but it will simply notify you that you have reader forms that need to be filled out. It will not specify which ones.

ePub File Delivery Options

Most of the books we send will give you the option of either PDF or ePub. If you choose the ePub option, then how it is delivered depends on your settings in this section. Click here for more information on these options.

One of the biggest changes to our ARC program is the introduction of HGB Points.

HGB Points are used to reserve books, and you can earn them in a variety of ways.  We introduced these points as a way to allow our most active ARC readers to read even more books. However, like before, all ARC readers (unless your gem level is Cracked) will always get enough points to reserve at least 1 book a day without doing anything different.

So if you want to completely ignore the idea of points, feel free to do so and you can continue to use our program as you always have.

For those that want to have the ability to reserve more than 1 book a day, though, read on to find out how.

Earning HGB Points

There are various ways you can earn points.

• Daily Points – Simply visiting your dashboard every day will earn you points!  That’s right, for each day that you visit your dashboard, you’ll be awarded at least 100 points. And you’ll probably want to visit it daily anyway to check out the new ARC books that are available. This allows everyone to be able to get at least 1 book a day whenever they visit the site.
• Filling out your reader form – Filling out your reader form with your review link or reason for not reviewing will earn points. And if you leave more than 1 review for a book that is looking for reviews on multiple sites, you can earn even more points!
• Gem Level Bonuses -The higher your gem level, the more points you earn. You can see the full list of points on the gem level page, but as an example, if your gem level is Flawless (the highest level), you were earn 200 daily points (instead of 100) and your points awarded for filling out your reader form will be multiplied by 3!

Point MAX Caps and Point Bank

Each gem level has a point cap, which is the max number of points you can store. So if your level is Sparkling, for example, your maximum point cap is set at 350.  That means if you get up to 350 points, you won’t earn any more until you spend some reserving a book.  But the higher your gem level, the higher your point cap.

However, that means that if you drop in gem levels, your point cap will become smaller. If you had more points than your new point cap can hold, those points will be removed. But fear not, they aren’t lost forever. Those points will be stored in your point bank and if you regain your previous gem level they will be restored.

For example, if you had 350 points and were Sparkling and then dropped down to Dimming where the point cap is 270, your available points would become 270 but the 80 points that were lost will be added to your point bank and returned if you get back to the Sparkling level.

Any additions or subtractions of points due to gem levels and your point bank will be noted in your announcements window.

Using Points

Points are used for reserving books (although other uses for them may come in the future). Most of the time books are 100 points, which means that if you have 200 points, you can reserve 2 books that day, and the next day you’ll get at least 100 new points that you can use to reserve another one.

The gem levels used by our ARC service are a way to give our most active reviewers the best chance at reserving a copy of the books they want most, but unless your gem is Cracked, there will always be copies of each book available to all gem levels.  And in cases where the author allows us to give out unlimited copies, then there are no gem level restrictions at all.

Historically we had 4 gem levels that were used to help us determine where to send books from those readers that “signed up” for a copy. Readers would sign up for all the books they wanted to read, and then we would select which book to send them.

What’s Changed?

As one of the many improvements to our program, and to improve transparency, readers no longer “sign up” for books only to find out which, if any, they were selected for. Instead, readers can now reserve a copy of the book(s) they want most and know that they will get that book when it is due to be sent out (unless cancelled by the author or due to some technical issue, both of which rarely happen).

However, as the most common reason readers couldn’t participate was due to trouble leaving reviews on Amazon, we anticipate that the demand for the (often) limited copies of each book will rise now that we are allowing reviews elsewhere.

To handle this, we have created HGB Points that are used to reserve books, and expanded our gem levels  from 4 to 7. As readers move up in levels, they accumulate points faster, can store more points for future use, and may have access to more copies of each book.

Important Point: Despite the new gem levels and HGB points making the new system sound more complex, in reality all users (that are not Cracked) will still get enough points to reserve at least 1 book a day, just as before. So in effect, you can completely ignore the points and gem levels and use the system like you always have with the added benefit of knowing exactly which book you’re going to get.

As always, gem levels are not based on how many books you reserve, but on your participation with the books that you are sent. The more you participate by leaving reviews and filling out your reader form, the better your gem level will be.  If you start to fall behind and your gem level falls, you won’t accumulate points as quickly, or be able to store as many points, and there may be fewer copies of each book available for you to reserve. This is done mainly to allow you time to catch up on the books you were already sent, and to assure authors that their books are going to the most engaged readers.

How are gem levels calculated?

The Hidden Gems ARC program is a program specifically for readers that love to read books and write reviews. Your gem level is designed to reflect how closely you match those criteria, and is calculated on a variety of different factors.

For a number of reasons we do not provide the exact formula we use to make this calculation, but the main factor that goes into it is how reliably you are filling out your reader forms and leaving reviews, since that is the main point of the program.

There are no quotas or requirements on how many books you need to read or how quickly, it is more about making sure that when you do reserve a book, you fill out your reader forms. Ideally with reviews, however even in those odd times where you decide not to review a book, you can still add that reason to your form to complete it.

Either way, filling out the reader forms is your best way to maintain or raise your gem level, and it normally only takes a few seconds to do!

The Gem Levels and their benefits

While we have added 3 new levels, it is important to note that no existing readers went down in any levels. We simply broadened the levels to add two more at the top, and one for new readers to the program to give them time to get used to how things run.

Below is a list of the new levels, what they mean, and what benefits each one gives you. They are ordered from highest to lowest with the exception of Uncut which is just for readers that have read less than 5 books.

Uncut – (Only for New ARC readers)

New ARC readers to our program will initially start off as Uncut gems. Think of this as a trial period, while you get your feet wet learning how the ARC program works, how to leave your reviews, fill out your reader forms, etc. This gem level is the only one that is not based on your participation and instead lasts until you have reserved and been sent 5 books.  At that point, your true gem level will be calculated and you will be assigned one of the levels below. So make sure that you keep on top of your reviews and reader forms so that your gem doesn’t become Cracked!

While you’re Uncut, you will receive enough points to reserve one book a day, but will not be able to store more points.

Uncut Daily Points: 100

Uncut Max Points: 100

 

 

 

Regular Gem Levels (from highest to lowest)

Flawless

This is the highest gem level you can achieve, and means that you rarely (if ever) miss leaving a review or filling out a reader form.

As long as you have the points and there are still copies available, you should be able to reserve any book you’re interested in. Congratulations, your participation is flawless!

Daily Points for this gem level: 200

Max Points for this gem level: 1200

Bonus: Points awarded for filling out reader forms accumulate 3x faster!

 

 

 

Radiant

You’ve almost reached the top tier of all subscribers. Keep filling out your reader forms for every book, and leaving your reviews as often as you can to make sure you stay at this level, or continue to climb.

As long as you have the points and there are still copies available, you should be able to reserve any book you’re interested in.

Daily Points for this gem level: 150

Max Points for this gem level: 840

Bonus: Points awarded for filling out reader forms accumulate 2.5x faster!

 

 

 

Sparkling

You’re doing great, but you likely aren’t filling out all of your reader forms or maybe you’re choosing books that aren’t interesting you enough to finish or review. To improve your level, only reserve the books that interest you most, or if you’ve simply fallen behind, catch up on the previous books we’ve sent before reserving others.  Keep on top of filling out any incomplete reader forms from the Books You’re Reading tab, or update any old forms from your Completed Books tab.

You may find that there are not as many copies available to your gem level, which may prevent you from being able to reserve all of the books you’re interested in until you can improve.

Daily Points for this gem level: 125

Max Points for this gem level: 350

Bonus: Points awarded for filling out reader forms accumulate 1.5x faster!

 

Dimming

Your gem is dimming, and the most likely reason is you have fallen behind on filling out your reader forms and leaving reviews. Go to the Books You’re Reading tab to fill those out. Even if the review date for a book has passed, you can still write a review and submit it. The review date is just a date to aim for, but it’s never too late to review a book we’ve sent. But if you decide not to review a book at all, at least fill out your reason. Only leave reader forms blank if you are planning to review but haven’t yet gotten to it, or it’s not yet published.

There are less copies available of each book to readers of your level.

Daily Points for this gem level: 100

Max Points for this gem level: 270

 

 

 

Tarnished

You’re in the danger zone now and really need to catch up on the books we’ve sent. Maybe you need to be more selective in the ones you reserve, or maybe you’ve requested too many and have fallen behind.

There are less copies available of each book to readers of your level.

Daily Points for this gem level: 100

Max Points for this gem level: 180

 

 

 

 

Cracked

You’ve missed far too many books and in fairness to our authors and other readers, your ability to reserve new ones will be temporarily suspended until you can get caught up on what we’ve already sent.

If you are having any issues doing so, or think there is an error, please contact us as we want to get you back to reading and reviewing ASAP.

Daily Points for this gem level: 0

Max Points for this gem level: 80

 

 

 

 

Quick Tip: If you have been with us for a while and your gem level has been negatively affected by the fact that you were blocked from leaving reviews on Amazon but wish to participate now by leaving reviews on the other sites, please contact us to discuss resetting your stats.

Books are open for reservation for approximately 36-40 hours, but you’ll know how much time is left via the countdown timer on the New ARCs Available tab. Once you reserve a copy, that countdown timer will be replaced by a message telling you when you’ll be able to download the book. Typically it is shortly after 9am the day after the reservation period closes.

On some occasions, the book files are delayed but we’ll make them available as soon as we can. In very rare cases, the author cancels their ARC after people have reserved it. In those cases, we cannot send out the book at all and the ARC will be removed from your list and the HGB points you spent reserving that book will be refunded. In those cases, you will see a message about this in your Announcement window (although this message will expire so you may miss it if you aren’t checking your announcements regularly).

Once the books are available, we will send you an email with the links to download them so it is important that you make sure you are getting our emails. You will also find a link to download the books from the Books You’re Reading tab of your dashboard.

Quick Tip: Due to the issues with email deliverability, it’s a good idea to get in the habit of visiting your dashboard regularly to make sure you are up to date on the books we’ve sent or even the books available for reservation.

Email software programs and services have very strict filtering rules these days, and will often identify newsletters and emails coming from mailing lists as spam or junk, even in cases where the person receiving them has specifically signed up for them, as is the case with us.

As emails are critical to the Hidden Gems program, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you both add our email (contact@hiddengemsbooks.com) to your contact list, and take a few moments to follow these simple instructions to whitelist us with your specific email provider.

If the email you’re not receiving is the daily new ARC sign up email, it could be that you have accidentally told our system not to send you those. On your dashboard, go to Your Settings and make sure you don’t have the “No Sign up Email” option selected. You should also go to the Your Profile Links tab and make sure your profiles aren’t Paused.

But if you are still having issues with emails after doing the above steps, remember that the New ARCs Available tab on your dashboard is where you go to reserve copies of new ARCs, and the email is only a reminder and notification of the new books available.  So even without the email, you can still reserve the books you’re interested in via your dashboard.

There are no quotas on books you have to ask for or are allowed to ask for. You can reserve as many or as few as you want and think you’ll have time to read by their review dates (although getting reviews in past those dates is okay, too, but please try to get them done as soon as possible), as long as you have enough HGB points to do so.  Unless your gem is cracked, you should get enough points each day to reserve at least one book. But the higher your gem level, the more daily points you’ll get and be able to store, and the more books you’ll be able to reserve.  And you earn even more points for each reader form you fill out!

The number of books you read has no bearing on your gem level or status as a reviewer, so just read whenever you have time. If you need to stop signing up for books for a week or a month or a year, and then all of a sudden you reserve one again, it will be like you never stopped.

The main thing that affects your status as a reader with us is the consistency with which you fill out our reader forms and seem to be participating with the books that you HAVE asked for and been sent. Remember that our membership is made up specifically of people that love to read and leave opinions of what they read – although we know that not everyone will choose to review every single book they’re sent.

So just make sure that when you do reserve a book, that you have the time and desire to read it and you’ll try to do so as soon as possible. The review date is more of a date to aim for that the author is hoping most reviewers will be able to finish by, but it’s okay if it takes you longer. The date is always at least a week from when we send the book out to the chosen reviewers – and sometimes even longer – but if you happen to finish reading early and the book is already published, feel free to leave your review and fill out your reader form as soon as you’re done.

For the most part, readers that regularly participate and keep up with their reader forms should be able to reserve any book that interests them, provided it is looking for reviews on a site that they have filled out a profile for. However, there are a number of factors that may limit or prevent books from being reserved.

Here is a list of the reasons you may be restricted or prevented from reserving a book and how to resolve them.

• The author wants reviews on a site you don’t review on

As mentioned above, unless you have filled your profile information for at least one of the review sites that the author wants reviews on, you won’t be able to reserve a book. In fact, you won’t even see that book on your New ARCs Available tab. In most cases, you won’t even know the book exists, although if you have the Compact sign up email setting, then you may have seen the cover in your daily ARC email.

Resolution: Fill out your profile information for ALL the sites you can review on to maximize the number of books available to you

• Your gem level is too low

If your gem level is Cracked then you are prevented from reserving more books until you raise it, but as long as it is above that level, there will always be at least some copies available of every book to each gem level. Some books, however, only want a set number of readers and in those cases, some of those copies are reserved for the higher gem levels. When you go to reserve a book, you may see a message that all the copies have already been reserved for your gem level.

Resolution: Raise your gem level by participating more. You likely have to many incomplete reader forms, or aren’t picking books that interest you and thus leading to more reasons for not reviewing than actual reviews. Make sure to add reviews for the books you are sent as often as possible. You can even leave reviews on multiple sites for the same book (if the book wants reviews on multiple sites that you can review on). Even if you decide not to review, you should still complete your reader form to improve your gem level. Also make sure to only reserve books that interest you so you are more likely to want to review them.

• You don’t have enough HGB points

Unless your gem is Cracked, you will always get enough daily HGB points when you login to reserve at least one book and if you don’t reserve a book that day, your points will carry over (up to your max). Higher gem levels get even more daily points (and have a higher max), allowing them to reserve more than one book a day. You also get points when you fill out your reader form, with higher gem levels earning more points for that as well.

• Resolution: Raise your gem level, make sure to login every day to collect your daily points, and always fill out your reader forms. Adding more than one review for a book on your reader form earns even more points!

• There are no more copies available

Authors determine how many copies of their books they want to give out, and if we hit that number, you won’t be able to reserve the book. There are always copies available to all gem levels, but more copies available to higher ones that are more likely to participate.

Resolution: Make sure to visit your dashboard daily, as early as possible, to ensure you can reserve the books you want. Improving your gem level will also help!

Our ARC books are usually sent in 2 different formats, each with their own benefits and uses, and readers can choose the one that works best for them and their device. Note that to use either of these files, just click the corresponding link in the email we sent you (indicating you were chosen as a reader for the book) or via your dashboard (via the Books You’re Reading tab).

PDF Format

A PDF file can be read by most devices and you can usually open it just by clicking on the link we sent. This normally opens the book up and the user can begin reading immediately. This format is best for graphical and colorful books, like illustrated children’s books.

Samsung users please note: Samsung devices can sometimes cause issues when attempting to view PDF files due to application defaults. You can reset these defaults using this method:

1. Go to Settings > Apps > All
2. Scroll to Google PDF Viewer app and tap it.
3. Scroll down to the “Launch by Default” section and tap the “Clear Defaults” button.
4. You can also try Settings > Apps > Drive and then repeating steps 2 and 3.

ePub Format

Most eReading devices, including Amazon’s kindle, support the ePub format. For kindle devices and apps, the ePub can be sent to your @kindle.com email address (more details below).  Other devices may have different ways to load your ePub, so you may need to consult with the instructions of your particular device if you aren’t sure how.

ePub File Delivery options

There are 3 options when it comes to how we send you the ePub file, and you can view or modify these settings via the Your Settings tab of your dashboard.  Just select the option you prefer and click SAVE.

Direct Download – If this option is selected, when you click the ePub link for a book we’ve sent you, the ePub will immediately be sent to the device you’re using via a browser download. Depending on your device, you would then have to find this file and load it onto your eReader.

Send file via email – If this option is selected, whenever you click the ePub link for a book we’ve sent you, the file will be sent as an attachment via email to the email we have on file for you (the one you signed up with, and that we send our other emails to).  This option works well for people using iOS devices since there is no file system to find the files sent directly via the first option.

Send directly to my kindle – This is a new option available where we can send the ePub directly to your kindle device whenever you click on the ePub link for a book we’ve sent.  In order to do this, there are a couple of set up steps.  First, when you select this option, a new field will appear asking for your @kindle email address.  This is the address Amazon has associated to the kindle device you want the book sent to.  And then you must also go onto Amazon and add “kindle@hiddengemsbooks.com” as one of the email addresses that are approved to send to your device.  More details on those steps below, in the section on sending the file to your device manually.

Manually sending ePub files to your Kindle Device

If you don’t want us to send the file to your device directly (which is much easier, see above for more details), then you will have chosen one of the first two options for getting your ePub file.  Once you have it, you’ll need to send it to your kindle device so that you can read it on there.  We have a quick video on how to do that, or you can follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to  https://www.amazon.com/manageyourkindle and click on “Devices” (you may need to log in to Amazon first)
2. Select your kindle device and note down the @kindle.com address
3. Click Preferences and then Personal Document Settings and verify that your own regular email address is added in the Approved Personal Document Email List (if it’s not, add it)
4. Go to your email program and send an email to the @kindle address you noted down above, and add the .epub file as an attachment
5. Within a few minutes, the book should be available on your kindle!

For future books, you will only have to repeat steps 4 and 5 to get them onto your kindle.

Trouble adding attachments to your email on your device?

As some devices (like iOS based ones) don’t allow you to download a file directly so that you can attach it to an email and send to your @kindle email address, there is an option on your dashboard to have the EPUB or MOBI file emailed to you directly. If that option is selected, then whenever you click those format links in our ARC emails, you’ll get an email with the file attached instead of it downloading to your device directly. You can then forward this email to your @kindle email address to complete the steps above.

Reading files in a Kindle App (any device)

In order to view your ebooks within your Kindle reader app, the steps depend on what sort of device you’re using, but these simple instructions should help.

Having Issues Reading Files on Your Kindle Fire?

Here are some specific steps to try if you’re using a Kindle Fire device:

1. Open the Books app and click the “hamburger” icon in the upper left (the three stacked horizontal lines).
2. Click “Collections”, then the little plus sign on the top right to create a new Collection. Call it something like “ARCs”.
3. Add any old Amazon-bought book into your new Collection (only needs to be one) and then click “Add” at the top right. Note: never remove this “anchor” book from the Collection, or the Collection will disappear.
4. Go back to the Home screen and open the Docs folder. All of the books that you’ve emailed via Send-to-Kindle that have been processed by Amazon should be listed. For each that you’d like to add to the ARC Collection, just click the three vertical dots on the right, then “Add to Collection”. Check the box next to your new ARCs Collection and click “OK”.
5. Now if you go back to the Books app and click either the hamburger icon again and the Collections OR you can click “Sort” and then “Collections”. Either way, you should see your new Collection contains all of the books you added from the Docs app. They should function just like any other book in your Library.

Note: Once you’ve set up your Collection via steps 1-3, you will not need to repeat those steps to add more books. Simply add new books to the Collection you’ve already created.

Most important – these book files are for your personal use only.  Please do not share them with anyone.  Instead, why not just encourage your friends to join Hidden Gems themselves?

YES!  Whenever an ePub version of a book is available (which is most of the time), we can now send the book directly to your kindle device or kindle reading application.  It does require a bit of setup on your end (in terms of adding our kindle email to your Amazon trusted list allowing it to send to your device, and providing us with your @kindle email address) but you can do all of that quickly and easily via the Your Settings tab of your dashboard.

You can find more detailed instructions on setting it up in the ePub section of this FAQ question.

First of all, please make sure that you’ve taken the steps to ensure you’re getting all our emails.

If you’ve done that and can’t find our book links emails in your spam/junk folders, you can still get the files from your dashboard (if the books aren’t too old).

Just navigate to the Books You’re Reading tab of your dashboard and find the book you’re missing the files for.  You should see a link that says “Need the book files again?”  If you click that link, you will then see the options for the files in the formats available (usually PDF and ePub) and if you click on the one you are interested in, you will download or be sent the files immediately (depending on your settings).

Note that book files are only available for a limited time, and once they’re removed the links above won’t show up as the files are removed from our system.  So please make sure to download them as soon as you can, even if you don’t plan to read them immediately.

The term “Reader Form” simply refers to the information we ask readers to fill out for each book that they are sent. The free ARCs we offer are provided by authors in the hopes of getting honest and voluntary reviews. The reviews you leave on the review sites that an author is looking for should be added to our reader forms so that we can keep track of them for the author.  Alternatively, if you decide not to leave a review for a particular book at all, that can be entered instead of the review link.  And then optionally, if you have any personal comments you want the author only to see, you can also add those.

We’ve done our best to make filling out the reader form as easy as possible, in most cases it’s just a matter of clicking a button or two.

The main place to enter your reader form information is on the Books You’re Reading tab, where it can be found to the right of the book information (when viewed on a desktop – for mobile it may look a bit different, depending on your screen size).  Alternatively, you can also view/update/edit some of the reader form information from the Completed Books tab as well. It works mainly the same from both places.

Remember that we require readers to fill out the reader form for each book we send, whether it’s with your review link or reason for not reviewing. Don’t worry about going past the review dates, as they are simply dates to aim for – it’s always better to get a review in later than not at all.  And for each reader form you complete, you will earn HGB points.

Quick Tip: Even when an author is asking for reviews on multiple sites that you can review on, you only need to add a review on one of them.  However, if you leave reviews on more than one you will earn even more HGB points. So feel free to review on as many sites as you want per book. The author will greatly appreciate it!

Writing your Review

Once you’ve finished reading a book, you must go to one of the review sites that the reader was looking for reviews on and submit your review. As a reminder, you will an icon corresponding to each of those sites on the Books You’re Reading tab.

If the icon is blue, it means we have your profile information for that site and by clicking on the icon you will be taken to the book on that review site where you can leave your review (if you haven’t already). If you aren’t logged in already, you may be required to login to that review site before leaving your review. Note that in some cases we don’t yet have the link to the book (sometimes we send the books out before they are published), in which case you will see a message that we don’t have it yet and to check back later.

If the review site icon is gray,  it means we do not have your profile information for that site yet, so we cannot accept reviews for this book from you until you fill that out.

Once you have read a review and reviewed it on one of the review sites that was requested, and your review has been approved and posted on that site, you can use the buttons on the right side of the reader form for that book to add your review(s). If you are unwilling or unable to review a book at all, you can also add your reason for not reviewing to your reader form.

The image above shows an example of what you may see, although only the review sites that you can review on and that the author was asking for reviews on will show up.

Adding a Review Link Automatically

For most of the review sites (all of the ones listed under the “Find Your Reviews Automatically On:” text as seen in the image above), all you need to do is click the button corresponding to the review site where you have left your review. Our system will then look for your review link (based on the profile we have for you for that review site) and add it to our system. Note that this process does not happen immediately, and may take up to a couple of days. During that time, you’ll see a message on your reader form similar to this:

But you don’t need to worry about it anymore unless we can’t find it, in which case you will get an email giving you some potential reasons why we couldn’t find it and how to resolve them. You will also see a message on your reader form similar to this:

Quick Tip – In some rare cases our system may fail to find your review link automatically even when it exists. In those cases, you may see a link to enter it manually instead (via copy and pasting). By clicking the “enter it manually” link you will find instructions on how to find your link. Note that not all of the review sites have direct review links, so this option will only be available for those that do.

Manually Adding a Review Link

For any of the sites whose button is under the “Enter Manual Links for Your Reviews On:” header, you must manually copy and paste your review link. Note that we do plan to add the automatic functionality for these other sites in the near future, at which point the buttons will move under the auto header.  But sometimes there are some issues with finding the sites automatically, in which case we have to accept the links manually until we can work them out.

After clicking the button under one of the sites that cannot find your links automatically, you will see a popup that asks for your review link. You can paste your link into that box, and then click the Submit button. After your review is validated (it may take a few seconds), your form will be complete. If there is an issue with the link, you will see an error message.

There is also a link on that popup giving you instructions on how to find your review on the site and copy and paste it, if needed. You can also find those instructions here.

Finished leaving Reviews?

If the author is looking for reviews on multiple sites that you can review on, after you leave a review you will still have the option to add reviews on any of the other sites. It’s up to you if you review on more than (the author would love it, and you’ll earn more points if you do), but when you’re done just click the “I’m Finished With This Book” button.  This button only shows up after you have successfully added at least one review.

If you are Unable to Review at book at all

It is understandable that there may occasionally be reasons why a reader cannot or chooses not to review a particular book. That’s fine, we aren’t going to force you to finish a book you didn’t like, for example. In those cases, instead of submitting your review you can click the “I’m Unable to Review This Book” button.

From there, please select the choice that most closely matches the reason you are not reviewing this book. Note that some of the reasons in that list are resolvable, and if you select those you will be showing a message on how to resolve the issue first so that you can hopefully still finish reading and/or leave your review.  In those cases, no reason for not reviewing will be added.

Remember to only use this field if you will not be reviewing the book at all, instead of to just let us know that you are delayed. In those cases just leave the reader form blank and fill it in whenever you’re done. And feel free to contact us if you need help getting your issue resolved.

Optional Comments to the Author

After you have either submitted your review or reason for not reviewing, you will be given the option to write an anonymous comment to the author. You can also access this field at any time for books that are on your Completed Books tab.

This is an optional field, and is meant for readers to provide any additional feedback about the book that they didn’t include in their review, or thank the author, etc.  Please DO NOT leave any identifying information in this field as it will be removed (such as your email address, real name, etc).  Please do not leave comments about issues you have with the ARC program or anything that isn’t specific to the book or this author. Instead, send those via email to contact@hiddengemsbooks.com.

Remember that ARC readers are expected to fill out their reader form for each book they have been sent, it only takes a few seconds.

That’s up to you, as all reviews are your own.  However, since we know that as a reader you aren’t necessarily also a writer, we’ve written up some general tips for writing reviews on our blog. Remember, it’s okay if you don’t like a book, but be aware that there is a difference between a bad review and a “bad” review…

Sometimes the review site icons on your Books You’re Reading tab don’t take you to the book on the review site, and instead show a message that there is no link available. Other times, you may get to the book on a review site (like Amazon) and it is in pre-order and you cannot review it.

In the first case, the reason for this is that many of the books authors provide for us to send to our reviewers are not yet published, and they don’t yet exist on the review site.  In the second cases, the book may be on the review site but in pre-order status. Sites like Amazon do not allow reviews on books that are on pre-order, and thus cannot be reviewed until their publication date.

In either case, if you cannot leave a review just leave it for now. If the link is missing, we’ll update it once it’s live and send you a reminder. Generally the review dates we have for a book are when the book is due to be published (if it isn’t already), and thus you can check back then. In some cases, however, a book’s publication date is delayed and the author forgets to let us know. In those cases, we will update the forms with the new date as soon as we have it.

In the meantime, just go ahead and reserve other books to read and review. Just come back to this one later!

Quick Tip: If an eBook on Amazon is on pre-order but the Paperback version of that book is already live, you can leave your review on the Paperback (or hardcover) version and it will get linked to the eBook version. That’s one way to leave early reviews on a book!

In most cases, we can find your review links automatically but there are some sites or some circumstances in which you have to submit them manually.

In those cases, you need to be able to copy and paste the review link for that book onto your reader form. As each review site is different, the steps to find your review and copy the link differ. For further instructions and screenshots, expand the site link below corresponding to where you left your review.

If you have clicked the “Find Your Review Automatically” button but the book has reappeared on your Books You’re Reading tab, that means we couldn’t find your review. Please check your email as we have also sent you some common reasons and steps to fix them.  If you don’t see our email, please check here and follow the steps.

Here is the list of common reasons and steps to take when your review can’t be found.

1. 1. You haven’t yet written and submitted your review on Amazon (but plan to)
      If this is the case, please leave your review ASAP and THEN try clicking the button on your reader form again. Note you should only click the “Find Your Review Automatically” button AFTER you have submitted your review to this specific review site and they have approved and posted it (see #2 for more details).
   2. You have submitted your review but it hasn’t been posted yet
      Sometimes there is a delay (hours or even days) in how long it takes a review site to approve and post a review. Some sites will send an email letting you know when it’s been done, but not all do that. Please ensure your review is posted before clicking the find review button again, as we cannot find it until it is.
   3. You are posting your reviews to a different profile or clicking the wrong button
      We can only find your review if we are looking for the right one on the right site, so please ensure that you have left your review under the profile we have on file for you (the one you added and can view on the Your Profile Links tab of the dashboard) and that you are clicking the find review button on the correct review site that you left the review on. For example, if you left your review on Bookbub, don’t click the button telling us to look for it on Goodreads!
   4. You left your review on the wrong book
      Many books have the same or similar titles, so it’s important to make sure you leave your review against the correct book. Best practice is to use the links we provide on the Books You’re Reading tab of your dashboard (the icons of each review site will be in blue if we have the link, and if you click the icon it will take you to the book on that site). If those links aren’t available (icon is grey), it’s usually because the book is not yet published, so we’ll update it as soon as it is. Please verify the book you left your review against. If you did leave a review against the wrong book, please delete that review and repost it against the correct one, and once your new review is posted you can click the “Find Your Review automatically” button on your dashboard again.
   5. You previously reviewed this book
      We only look at reviews that have been left since we sent out the book, so if you left a review for this book previously, we won’t find it. You can add that link automatically to complete your form (if manual links are available for that site), but in general, please do NOT sign up for any book you have already reviewed.
   6. Other
      There may be some rare circumstances where you have left your review and it is posted on the profile we have on file for you, but you are still getting this email. If that’s the case, please hit reply and let us know so we can investigate. But please ensure that your review IS indeed posted by checking either your profile or by scrolling through the reviews for the book until you find yours. If possible, please also email the link to your review if you know how to copy and paste it. Once you do that, we’ll try and find your review and add it to your form and see if we can identify why it wasn’t found earlier so that we can improve the process going forward.

In order for the “Find Your Review Automatically” button to work, your book review must be approved and live on Amazon. One way to tell if that’s the case is to check your Amazon profile page, as all of your reviews should show up on your profile. However, in some cases a book review does NOT appear on your profile, and that is generally due to one of two reasons:

1. Your review isn’t approved yet.  Amazon sometimes posts reviews immediately, and other times they spend time approving them – sometimes many days!  If your review isn’t approved, it not only won’t show up on your profile page but it doesn’t show up under the book either. In this case, there is no way to add your review link to our form, because your public review link doesn’t yet exist.  You may be able to see it on your end, but that’s a private edit only link that no one else can view.  In these cases, all you can do is wait for Amazon to approve the review. Once they do you can click the button on your reader form to tell us to look for it.
2. Your sensitivity filter is preventing a review from showing up on your profile.  Amazon has a filter which determines whether certain reviews will show up on your profile.  You can change those settings here. In this case, your review is posted but it cannot be seen on your profile (although can still be seen on the book’s product page). Note that we should still be able to find your review even if your filter is active, but it makes it harder for you to tell if it’s live or not.

We can’t and don’t force anyone to leave a review, doing so is voluntary. Besides, we understand that life gets in the way sometimes and that there are plenty of legitimate reasons why you couldn’t or didn’t want to leave a review.

Maybe something came up and you didn’t have the time to read the book that you expected (although please feel free to read it at a later date and leave your review then – better late than never!), or perhaps you just couldn’t get into the book and either didn’t finish it or didn’t like it and you don’t want to leave a negative review. That’s your choice and we know that not everyone will be able to leave reviews 100% of the time.

Whatever the case, when circumstances do prevent you from reviewing a book that you requested, we still ask that you fill out our reader form. In that case, you would click the “I’m Unable to Review This Book” button and select your reason instead of clicking the “Find Your Review Automatically” button. The important thing is that you click one of those two buttons for every book, so that we know that you aren’t just done with the program and that you want to remain as an active participant.

All that being said, our ARC program is designed for enthusiastic readers that enjoy leaving reviews on Amazon for the books they’ve read, so if you are regularly missing reviews then it could be that our ARC program isn’t for you. We aren’t going to remove you from the program for a few misses, but if it starts to get to the point where your reasons and empty forms are outweighing your reviews, then it’s usually an indication that our program isn’t a good fit for you.  Perhaps the books we send out just aren’t to your taste?  That’s okay… it happens.  So when it seems like we just can’t find any good books for you, or that you’re too busy to participate, we may start sending less books your way until you have time to catch up or we start getting more titles that are interesting to you. It’s only fair to both the authors of these books, and the other readers that want to enjoy them.

Your gem status is always visible on the left side of your dashboard, and is an indicator of how well you’ve been keeping up with the books we’ve sent you. If you start to fall too far behind, you may be prevented from signing up for any new books until you catch up.

Removal from the ARC program is up to the sole discretion of Hidden Gems, however if your circumstances change and you find you have the time to participate fully again and wish to be reinstated, please contact us and we will try and work with you to make that happen. We’re always happy to help connect readers with great books! That’s the whole reason for our ARC service!

When Should You NOT leave a review for a book?

Aside from your own personal reasons, here are a couple of times where you should NOT leave a review for a book on Amazon. Either contact us or use the reason for not reviewing button.

• Don’t leave a review for a book you didn’t read – that’s unfair to the author and other readers
  • If you decline to finish a book you don’t like and still decide to leave a review, be fair to the author and note why you didn’t finish it in your review so that others can decide for themselves if your problems with it would bother them. Or, don’t review it at all and instead just use the “I’m Unable to Review This Book” button
• Don’t leave a review for a book you couldn’t open or finish because of technical issues – contact us instead and we can help you out!
• Unsure what to leave in a review, or what goes into a good review? We have an article on what makes a good review, and even one about what makes a bad one.

The most common reason you may not be getting chosen for many (or any) ARC books anymore is because you are too far behind in filling out the reader forms and/or leaving reviews for the books we’ve already sent you. The best way to resolve that is to fill those forms out as soon as possible.

The easiest way to do that is simply go to the Books You’re Reading tab on your dashboard. From there, you’ll see all the books we’ve sent that you haven’t filled the reader form out for. In some cases you’ll even still be able to download the book files if you didn’t already do that.

Once you get caught up, you should find that you are being chosen for books again. But if you have any issues with filling out the forms, please let us know!

Amazon’s description of their Sensitivity Filter is fairly brief, but in a nutshell, it was introduced years ago as a way for Amazon to automatically hide any reviews you write from your profile for products that THEY deem “sensitive”.

Up until very recently, this filter was opt-in where you had to go into your settings and turn it on for yourself, which is the correct behavior for this sort of wildly over-reaching feature – especially since anyone can already hide the reviews that THEY decide to hide on a case by case basis, simply by simply clicking the 3 dots next to the review link on their Amazon public profile and selecting “Hide on my profile”.

Unfortunately, around the beginning of 2020, Amazon decided that it was better for them to decide what reviews should be hidden on everyone’s personal profile and went ahead and turned the feature on for most Amazon customers.

Since Amazon posts no criteria about what they decide constitutes a sensitive product and seem to include a very wide range of products, many reviewers are finding most of their reviews have disappeared from their profile altogether.  The reviews still exist on the product page itself, but they no longer all exist together on the profile page of the person that left them – making finding those reviews much harder.

When we started informing our subscribers of this issue, almost no one was even aware of the filter or that it was the reason most of their reviews had started disappearing, and when they did find out they were upset that Amazon had turned it on for them without asking, and immediately turned it off. 

Since you can still hide reviews YOU want to hide individually, there is very little purpose to having this sensitivity filter turned on so we strongly recommend turning it off. 

To do that, from the Amazon link above click to Edit Your Profile. Go to your profile and then click the Edit your profile button. Then click the Edit privacy settings tab and uncheck the Hide sensitive activity flag.  Don’t forget to save!

To unsubscribe entirely from Hidden Gems, just click the “unsubscribe” link found at the bottom of any ARC sign-up emails we’ve sent you. Note that this removes you from our program completely, it is not meant for people that just wish to stop getting the daily ARC sign up emails. If you unsubscribe, you will no longer have access to your dashboard, book files, etc.

If your intention is to continue using the program via your dashboard and simply wish to stop getting the daily ARC emails, you can change that via Your Settings tab.  Just select the “No Sign up Email” option on the far right.

But if you’re having issues with anything to do with our program, rather than leave we’d love it if you reached out to us and let us know what the problem is so that maybe we can solve it and keep you reading!

If you still have any issues or questions after reading this FAQ, please feel free to contact us and we’d be more than happy to help! Our main goal is to help connect readers with new and exciting books by their favorite (or soon to be favorite) authors. If there is anything preventing that from happening, we’ll do our best to get it resolved ASAP.