Our vetted VIPs receive free ebooks in exchange for honest online reviews. This helps us build buzz and credibility for our publications. Think of it as being a brand rep, but for books!
Whether you’re an influencer, educator, bookseller, or an avid reader with a Goodreads account, we invite you to learn more below and apply to join.
How It Works
Step 1: Enter a review campaign.
We offer two kinds: ARC campaigns and solo campaigns.
ARC Campaigns
To enter an ARC campaign, simply wait for an email invitation in the weeks leading up to our next release. The invite will include a short description of the story and the deadline for posting your review. If it suits your taste and schedule, click the link in that email to download a review copy.
Solo Campaigns
While ARC campaigns run on a scheduled basis, you can request review copies of our published titles at any time. The review deadline for solo campaigns is automatically set to three months after your download date, though you can extend this as needed.
To enter a solo campaign, simply browse our catalog, find a book you want to review, and click “Request Review Copy.”
This will take you to a new page to verify your VIP status. Enter the email we have on file for you, and you’ll receive a download link within 5 minutes.
If a book on our website doesn’t have a “Request Review Copy” link, it’s either not published yet, still in an active ARC campaign, or too newly released. Don’t worry—we’ll notify you once it’s available for solo campaigns.
Step 2: Post a review.
For each campaign you enter, you’ll need to post at least one valid review that meets our minimum length requirements. The review must also include an articulated opinion (not just a star rating or summary).
Valid Review Criteria
| Valid Review Type | Minimum Length Requirement |
| YouTube Video* | 1+ minute |
| Goodreads Review | 5+ sentences |
| Instagram Post | 5+ sentences |
| Instagram Reel | 1+ minutes OR 5+ sentences in the caption |
| TikTok Video | 30+ seconds |
| Blog Post* | 5+ sentences |
| Podcast Episode* | 1+ minute |
Honesty Policy
We value the genuine feedback of our VIPs, positive or negative. All we ask is that VIPs avoid critiquing our authors on the grounds of political views, religion, ethnicity, or any other personal attributes.
While not required, we recommend that our VIPs include a disclaimer in their reviews, such as:
I received a free copy from Lost Island Press in exchange for an honest review.
Voluntary Amazon Reviews
Amazon’s Community Guidelines prohibit us from providing free ebooks in exchange for reviews—even honest ones. Therefore, reviewing ARCs on Amazon is not required of our VIPs. However, when VIPs choose to leave a review voluntarily, it is greatly appreciated.
When we launch a book, our team will invite VIPs on the ARC team via email to copy and paste their reviews to Amazon. VIPs should be mindful of Amazon’s guidelines, as phrases like “in exchange for” may cause the review to be rejected. Instead, we recommend replacing the original disclaimer with the following:
I received a free copy from Lost Island Press, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Step 3: Verify your review.
Every time you download a review copy (whether it’s an ARC or published title), you’ll receive a confirmation email with a review verification link. Please refer back to that email and click the link once your review is live. This ensures that our system logs your review task as “completed” so your VIP status remains 🌿all green🌱.
If this isn’t done, our system will assume that no review was posted, which may affect your VIP status.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I download a review copy but don’t like the book?
Our reminder emails give you the chance to request a deadline extension or opt out. If you’re having trouble getting through a review copy, opting out will ensure that you’re no longer required to leave a review.
Please note that to protect abuse of our system, we allow each VIP up to 3 opt-outs per year.
Do I need to join every ARC campaign?
Nope! You’ll be invited to join each campaign, but you’re not required to read the book and leave a review.
Please note that downloading an ARC automatically opts you into the campaign—so if you don’t plan to join the campaign, don’t download the free ebook.
Can I join multiple campaigns at once?
At most, you can be part of one ARC campaign and one solo campaign at the same time.
Do you accept everyone who applies?
We love welcoming new VIPs, but we do have standards for acceptance. In your application, you’ll need to share links to the platforms you plan to post your reviews on (your YouTube channel, Instagram page, etc.). If your accounts are private, inactive, or aren’t book-related, we likely won’t accept you into our list.
The most common reason we reject potential VIPs is because they link to a Goodreads account with no posted reviews. Please take this into account before applying.