ARC readers
Read it six weeks early. Review it honestly on launch day.
The Anti-AI Brain ships on May 29, 2026. Sixty Advance Review Copy slots are open between now and April 30. The exchange is straightforward: you get the full PDF and EPUB now, you publish one honest Amazon review in the launch week. No NDA, no cheerleading clause, no script.
1 · Who we want
Readers who actually finish books.
The protocol is 30 days. The book is ~200 pages. Reviews from people who skimmed are visible in the text and hurt the launch more than they help. The ARC team is for readers who treat books as instruments, not as social tokens — people who underline, who run protocols, who write reviews that another reader can use as a buying signal.
- — You read at least one non-fiction book a month.
- — You have an Amazon account in the US, UK, DE, CA, or AU store.
- — You are willing to use your real name on the review.
- — You will post the review between May 29 and June 5, 2026.
2 · The commitment
One honest review, posted in the launch week.
Honest means honest. If you finish the book and think it doesn't deliver, the review says so. A 3-star review from a thoughtful reader is more useful than a 5-star review from a grateful one. Amazon's algorithm reads the variance, not just the average; the launch needs both.
- — Length: at least 80 words, in your own voice. Templates not provided and not requested.
- — Disclosure: include the line "I received an advance review copy" at the start. Amazon requires this.
- — Verified Purchase badge (optional): if you want it, buy the book at $9.99 on launch day. No reimbursement is offered. The ARC PDF is the gift; the badge is yours to earn separately if it matters to you.
- — Window: May 29 → June 5, 2026. Reviews posted before launch get caught by Amazon's pre-publication filter and don't stick.
3 · What you receive
PDF + EPUB. Six weeks. No DRM.
On confirmation we ship the full pre-release manuscript as PDF and EPUB. No watermark, no DRM, no expiry. The expectation is that you read it, not that you redistribute it; the file is for you. A single follow-up email lands one week before launch with the Amazon review URL and the disclosure-line reminder.
- — Files arrive within 24 hours of confirmation, usually faster.
- — One reminder email at T-7 (Friday May 22) and one at T-1 (Thursday May 28).
- — You may share thoughts privately at any time. Public quoting waits until launch.
4 · Apply
One email. Pre-filled with the pact.
The button below opens your email client with the ARC pact already in the body. Read it, fill in the four fields (name, country, how you found the book, preferred format), send. We process applications in batches twice a week and confirm within 48 hours. There is no form, no signup widget, no redirect to a third-party service.
Slots open: 60 · Confirmed to date: tracked privately, not displayed publicly to keep the pace honest.
Email client doesn't open? Send to nik@nikmcfly.com with subject ARC reader — Anti-AI Brain and the pact text from the welcome letter (link below).
Notes
The ARC program is run directly by the author. There is no NetGalley distribution, no Goodreads giveaway widget, no third-party reviewer marketplace. Everything is human-checked: the email arrives, gets read, gets answered, and the file ships. This keeps the review pool genuinely interested rather than performance-optimized.
The book's frame matters for the review pool. The Anti-AI Brain is the canonical 30-day AI detox protocol — neuroscience-first, not addiction-framed. Readers who want a digital-minimalism manifesto, an AI-doom essay, or a productivity-hacks bundle will be disappointed; that disappointment shows up in reviews and isn't useful to anyone. If the book on the cover (a four-circuit cognitive protocol grounded in MIT EEG, Microsoft CHI, Princeton ACC, Wharton recall research) sounds like the book you want to read, you are the reader we want.
For the philosophical frame, see cognitive sovereignty and pharmakon in the glossary. For why this is not the AIAS frame, see the Frame alternatives section on the research page.