What is this?

ARC= Advance Reader Copy

Here's the full story:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_copy

The reason that they cannot be swapped here is because the actual text of the story can change from the ARC to the final printed version. It's really a next to final draft not the final draft of the book.

ARCs usually will have the same ISBN on them as the upcoming hardcover release, so even if it weren't an ARC, the format would not match either...this is one thing I hate about being #1 in line for a not-yet-released book...I very rarely get a book that needs to be RWAPped for poor book condition but I've had a few for people sending ARCs. If I know a book hasn't come out yet and it gets posted into the system to me, I try to be on top of it and send a PM before they actually send it making sure it's not an ARC which has also saved me from a few other RWAPs.

Why would people not want an ARC, aside from the fact that it might be a slightly different version than the final one? I used to get a lot of ARCs from publishers and authors to do reviews, or through sites like Goodreads, Library Thing and from the Amazon Vine program, but I always felt like I "had" to get those books read and reviewed and didn't like the feeling of being pressured to do those in a certain time frame, so after awhile I quit getting them. The other issue is that hen I could never get rid of the ARCs even though many were very popular books. I ended up donating a bunch of them to a local hospice and actually threw out about 4 dozen of them when we moved recently.

Cheryl

If it's a wish listed book, you can go to the Community menu, choose "discussion forums" and scroll down to the Book Bazaar.  There's a thread for wishlisted ARCs.  You can ask a credit for it there.