Jnassise said:
There is a difference between an unedited proof and an arc. An unedited proof is usually sent out several months prior to release and is expected to have a few editing issues as the work hasn't gone to its final proofing stage. An arc is expected to be as close to the final release copy as possible and generally sent about six weeks before release.
Uncorrected proofs usually carry big prominent warnings about how you're not supposed to quote from them in reviews, et cetera, without checking with the publisher first. And for good reason, as
very large changes might still get made. I have a proof copy of one of Konrath's books whose entire ending, the final handful of chapters, are completely different than what was eventually released for sale. (Happily, since the original ending sucked pretty badly.) And at least one publisher used to send out bound proofs set from
edited galleys - so the whole book was double-spaced, with handwritten corrections and annotations and markup throughout. Kind of cool, the first time you came across one. "Oooh, a great inside glimpse at so-and-so's creative process!" After the third or fourth one, though, the novelty completely wore off, and all the markup was just an annoying distraction.
--George, Afterword T/K...
