The Hidden Gems ARC Reviewer Referral Program is designed to help grow our reviewer base, as we cannot attract new authors and great books without readers like you that are willing to read and review them.
Anyone participating can earn up to $3 per NEW qualifying reviewers that join our program using your referral link. Your referral link can be found by signing up for the program via the Referral Bonus tab on your dashboard. Any new ARC reader that signs up using your link will earn you a referral fee once they have left at least 1 review for a book we’ve sent them, and completed the reader form so that we can verify it.
Here’s how it works:
You’ll earn a referral bonus after someone you referred signs up, gets sent a book, and leaves a review for it.
- $3 USD if they leave a review on Amazon (even if they also post on other sites)
- $2 USD if they only review on non-Amazon sites like Goodreads, BookBub, etc
- Only one payment per referral, no matter how many books they review or how many reviews they leave
There is no limit to the number of people you can refer as long as they’re real people leaving honest reviews, but keep in mind that you are only paid if/when they actually leave a review. Many people sign up and never participate.
Important Rules:
- Referrals must use your unique link to sign up (just reply to this email to request your link)
- No fake accounts, AI-generated profiles, or referrals of existing users
- You are only eligible for the referral fee after someone leaves at least one review for a book we’ve sent and logged that review in our system
- Reviews can take a while—sometimes weeks—so please be patient.
- If someone you referred never requests a book or doesn’t review (which happens a lot) you will not earn a referral fee for them
- Payments are made via PayPal, and you can check your balance and request payment (if the balance is $10 or more) via the Referral Bonus tab on your dashboard
- Only referrals made via the website referral tab using the referral link will count. Sharing the HG App with friends and having them sign up via the app will not count towards referral bonuses.
Program Terms & Integrity
We reserve the right to end or pause the referral program at any time. If we do, you’ll still be paid for any qualifying referrals made before the cutoff.
We may also stop accepting referrals or withhold payment from individuals who we believe are:
- Creating or sending fake or AI-generated accounts
- Trying to game the system in any way
- Promoting Hidden Gems in a spammy or misleading manner, especially in ways that harm the reputation of our brand or violate the rules of online communities
Referral Link Sharing tips:
You’re free to post your referral link on social media, in online reading groups, or send it to friends.
Just be respectful of group rules and avoid sounding spammy. Be genuine. Let people know that Hidden Gems is a site you use yourself (we’ve been running the ARC program for more than 10 years), with free books in over 15 genres, and is 100% free for readers. Always has been, always will be.
We’d love to pay out a ton of referral fees if it means more reliable reviewers, but we also need to protect the program’s integrity. Help us spread the word the right way.