For the past several weeks, True Bearing Press has been building a sister site called Firstfruits Readers. It’s now live at firstfruitsreaders.com, and we’re opening it for early testing.
The idea is an old one. Publishers have long sent advance reader copies, or ARCs, to reviewers and booksellers before a book comes out, so that by release day a few people have read it and can say whether it’s worth someone’s time. Firstfruits Readers brings that practice to Christian books and opens it to anyone who loves to read.
Authors and publishers list an upcoming book, fiction or nonfiction, and decide how many free copies to give. Readers browse, request the books that interest them, and download a copy for a Kindle, phone, or e-reader. Each copy carries the reader’s name and a hidden code, and download links expire, so authors’ books stay where they meant them to go.
Readers don’t owe anyone a review. Nobody pays a fee, earns points, or trades reviews. Bart Denny started the site after trying paid review services as an author and coming away convinced that the reviews they produce often aren’t honest, and that retailers are right to remove them. When a book comes out, readers get a note saying they’re welcome to share whatever they thought, and an honest two-star review is as welcome as a glowing one.
The site is for books written within historic Christian faith as the Nicene Creed summarizes it, the common ground Catholic, Orthodox, mainline, and evangelical Christians share. Every book carries content ratings, so readers can steer clear of what they’d rather not read.
What early testing means
Everything works, but a new site always has rough edges that only show up once real people start using it. During this early stretch, we’d love your help.
- If you’re a reader, create a free account, set your reading preferences, and request a book when one catches your eye.
- If you’re an author or publisher with a Christian book coming out, list it. We review every author and book before it appears on the site.
- If something breaks or confuses you, tell us. Write to hello@firstfruitsreaders.com and describe what happened. A screenshot helps if you have one.
The name comes from Scripture, where the firstfruits were the first of the harvest, set apart and offered to God before the rest was gathered. An advance copy is a much smaller thing, but it’s the first of a book. We hope you’ll come be one of the first readers.
Visit firstfruitsreaders.com to get started.