I think every semi-serious book blogger out there has at least heard about Netgalley, a website that connects professional readers with publishers and authors. As a reviewer and blogger, you can use NetGalley for FREE to request, read and review new titles, which is a huge privilege on it’s own.
I have been wanting to create a Netgalley account for my blog for a long time (read: years), but somehow I always felt too intimidated and unworthy of calling myself a ‘professional’ blogger. I just love to read and talk about books with fellow book lovers; hopefully helping others find books they might enjoy as well in the process. But I thought the other day: why not give it a go?
Over the years, It’s All About Books has grown into a book blog with almost 800! followers and more than 2.000 monthly views, something I still can’t get my head around and I am immensely grateful for. I guess becoming an official Netgalley member is the next logical step on this book blogging adventure; one I’m really excited about!
I’m going to try and restrain myself from requesting tons of titles right away, but I did get this beauty below as my very first official Netgalley ARC: We Awaken by Calista Lynne! It’s scheduled to be published on July 14th 2016 by Harmony Ink Press, and I can’t wait to read it soon.
Are you a Netgalley member or do you want to be? What are your experiences with Netgalley? Feel free to comment!
One of the reasons I made my blog was because I heard a book I was anticipating was a “read now” option on NetGalley haha. My advice is to only request things you really want (because it always seems like the ones I requested on a whim are the ones I’m approved for and then I don’t always end up enjoying them). Also, get ready for some Arc Envy – though you have good stats and a pretty consistent posting schedule, so you’ll probably get approved for a lot more of the more popular titles than I do haha. But overall, I really enjoy NetGalley and I’ve discovered lots of great books and authors on there who I probably wouldn’t have read otherwise. Have fun!
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Haha that sounds like a great excuse to start blogging though! I’m definitely going to try to stick to just those books I already had on my wishlist… Maybe I’ll add a few ‘read now’ titles to boost my feedback numbers, but only one or two at a time because it will be hard to restrain myself once I start hitting the request button haha. I’m not sure how many books will get approved since I don’t live in the US or UK nor do I have over 1000 followers like some publishers request, but I will be more than happy with the books I will be able to get for free anyway. 😉 I’m glad you’ve had a great experience with Netgalley so far!
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You never know, you might get approved me if there’s not as many people in your region requesting books. I have a lot less than 1k followers and still get approved for a lot of books. However, there are some of the bigger publishers that always deny me. But you’ll still find a bunch of great books!
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I guess I will just start requesting without expectations and see which ones are approved… Some publishers seem to want US or UK only because they may not have the autority to distribute in other countries, but I can at least try right? 😉
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I love NetGalley! I signed up right after starting a blog and admittedly went way over board with requesting titles. I thought as a newbie blogger I wouldn’t get approved for many (if any at all) but now, almost 6 months later, I’m still catching up. OOPS. Lesson learned haha
I’ve heard some good things about We Awaken – can’t wait to see what you think of it!
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Yay! That’s great to hear that you don’t actually need to have a ‘superpopular’ book blog to get approved for books… I went and requested ten titles (most of them titles I’ve had on my wishlist in the first place), and I’m going to try and not request any new ones until I find out if I’m approved or not. Because I already see myself being burried under a mountain of ARCs if not haha. I actually already started reading We Awaken, and so far I like the prose!
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Yeah I’ve placed myself on a NetGalley ban until I catch up with all the titles I already have. Luckily you can still send in a review/feedback after the book has been archived 😛
Glad to hear you are liking it so far!
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I read about that; it’s definitely helpful being able to send reviews even when they’re archived!
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I am a member! I had to give it a slight break since my record of picking books from there was at 33% good, 66% terrible.
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That’s definitely interesting to know; I’ll try to only request those books I’ve already heard great things about or those that sound really good to avoid the ‘terrible’ ones.
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Yes, be smart about it, lol. One of them tricked me though, had a few ratings all really high… not the book for me.
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I can definitely understand that; I tend to have unpopular opinions about hyped books in the first place haha.
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NetGalley is a gold mine for great books, but it’s definitely easy to get carried away!
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I will definitely have to force myself to keep a limit of 10-15 pending books maximum, or else I will soon be buried under a huge pile of ARCs haha.
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That’s me right now! Buried under a ginourmous avalanche of e-ARCS!😕
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Ouch! Well at least it’s a virtual pile so it won’t be that painful… 😉 I have 4 pending now and I’m trying not to request any new ones until I’ve read those.
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Have fun Yvo!
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I’ve joined NetGalley a few months ago and it’s probably the greatest thing I had ever done for myself since I’ve found a lot of great titles before they were released and it’s helping me attain my reading goal of reading 100 books for the year! I hope you find some great reads on NetGalley!
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It’s great to hear you had such a positive experience! I can’t wait to start exploring more of Netgalley during the next weeks.
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Aesome!
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Sorry, awesome!
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Great to hear you’ve joined the netgalley gang! I’ve have been using netgalley for years, I did over request at the start and still not fully caught up properly 3 years later (snowball effect), but getting there. My advice to you is, even though a book says it is to be read by a certain date long in the future, read it as soon as you can, you can schedule a post for when it’s to come out and then you are free to read other books. I found this out the hard way, kept leaving books until they are just out and not managing to read them all. I have learned my lesson though. I am keeping on top of new ones whilst slowing working my way through older ones. I hope you have fun an look forward to seeing you reviews.
P.S. I have met soem great blogger and authors via this so it is well worth it 🙂
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That’s definitely great advice! I’ll try to keep my number of requests below 10-15 at all times and I will definitely use the early schedule as well. I already schedule a week or so ahead most of the time, but with ARCs set far away in the future it will definitely help having the review ready long before the publish date.
And I’ll be looking forward meeting more Netgalley members, fellow bloggers and authors! 😀
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It’ss a great experience and you should not be intimidated. Your blog is more than strong enough. My one recommendation – don’t over request. It’s easy to do and it’s starts creating a level of stress.
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Thanks for the recommendation! I will definitely keep that in mind when I request new titles… I currently have 10 pending and I won’t be adding more until I’m more familiar with Netgalley.
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I started Netgalley a frw months ago and I never got the hang of it. I was never much consistent in my reading schedules and I slightly feel pressured at the idea of deadlines. Hahaha. I do like checking out the graphic novels though.
I hope you enjoy Netgalley! I would love to hear your experiences using it.
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I can definitely understand that; I’m trying not to request too many titles for now because I don’t want to feel the pressure of too many deadlines. And I didn’t know they had graphic novels as well! I’m definitely going to check out that section.
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Silly sausage, no need to feel intimidated at all! 🙂 I heard of NetGalley, checked it out, saw I needed a blog for it, and voilá xD. Requesting stuff from Random House right away might’ve been a tat bit stupid/naive, but *shrugs* :3. Have fun with it!!
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Haha it’s great that some publishers seem to be a lot more ‘open’ and don’t ask for a huge following and all to actually get books… Bookouture just approved three books, yay! 😀 And I’m not even going to check other sites because I know I won’t be able to resist adding more ARCs haha. 😉
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W00t! Have fun with those! ;D
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Thanks! 😀
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Welcome to the Netgalley family 😀
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Thanks! 😀
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I was curious about NetGalley when I started because I read many reviews thanking them and I did not know what it was. When I first check after three months of blogging, I felt it was way too soon. (Even now, I don’t consider myself a professional reader so sometimes I get the case of “what am I doing here??”. ) Plus, I don’t live in the UK or US and English is not my mother tongue so I was sure I would never get approved. A few weeks later, I stumbled upon a tweet from a publisher and I just fell in love with the book cover. I decided to give it a go. After all, the worst that would happen would be to see my request denied. I could live with that! But the publisher approved it and I had my first “NG happy dance”, haha! After that, I went a little crazy and requested a few too many books. I got approved for some of them and felt the pressure! I’d say it is better to request books you really really want to read and to pay attention to your ratio from the start. I did not know about the ratio and was surprised when the archive date passed and I hadn’t read a book I had requested… I’m a bit behind on my reviews now so my poor ratio is suffering, but I’m gonna work on this next week!
Anyway, welcome to NetGalley!! 🙂
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I can definitely relate to that! I don’t feel like a ‘professional’ reader either and mostly just blog because I love talking about books haha. I don’t live in the UK or US either and English isn’t my mother tongue, so you’re not alone! 😉 I have been browsing publishers on Netgalley and there is a huge different between them; some seem really intimidating and ask for what is basically a ‘superblog’ before they grant you books, but I’ve seen others who are a lot easier to approach. Like Bookouture, who has just approved three books I’ve requested (including The Night Stalker, yay!) I’m trying to keep my number of requests low though like you said, because I don’t think I will ever be able to improve my ratio if not haha. I hope you will be able to get some reviews up soon! 🙂
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Yep, some publishers won’t consider you if you don’t have those crazy numbers. I love Bookouture, they are absolutely adorable and I have never been disappointed by the books I received.
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That’s great to hear! I’m looking forward to read the three Bookouture books that have been approved. 😀
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I love NetGalley but spend way too much time on it and keep ending up requesting too many titles. I would suggest limiting your requests and checking release dates too. I tend to end up with lots of books due at the same time.
Book buzz is a good request as it has samples of upcoming books and if you’re looking to improve your ratio sneak peeks are quick to finish.
Have fun.
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I’m definitely going to try and limit my requests! I have 4 approved and 8 pending requests, although I’m pretty sure most of the last 8 won’t get approved… But still, I’m not adding any new ones unless I REALLY want to read it, at least until I have a couple reviews up. I’m going to check out book buzz!
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I think we’ve all been a little too click-happy in the beginning. I try not to do more than 3, 4 books now because the dates are always so close to each other. I’m now at 77 % and I’m trying to keep it that way ;-), not easy though, I’ve seen at least 3, 4 books that I also would like to read. I’ve heard of members that have over 80 books and still get approved but I don’t want that. I couldn’t live with the pressure 😉
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That’s a great ratio! I’m definitely not requesting any new titles until I have read the 5 titles that have been approved so far… It’s really tempting to add more, but I have other books I want to read as well and I definitely don’t want to feel the pressure of too many deadlines. 😉
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You’ve done really well to start in a restrained fashion – I’ve reached the point where I need to ease off so that I can read my own books, it’s a hard balancing act as there are so many temptations. Over time I’ve accepted that there are only just so many books I can read!
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I can totallly agree with that! The idea of getting free unpublished books is great, but I have a lot of other books I want to read as well… I’m definitely going to try and request only those books that I REALLY want to read for now.
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I love Netgalley. I’ve found some great reads on there. Bookouture are one of my new favourite publishers due to Netgalley. Check their books out if you haven’t already 🙂 they were one of the first publishers to approve me. I do have to be careful though, I often get a bit too ‘click-happy’ and really need to read the ARCs I’ve got and improve my ratio! I’ve been lucky enough to get approved for two books I really, really wanted though so never feel that you wouldn’t be good enough to get them!
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I actually joined because I really wanted to read one of Bookouture books (The Night Stalker) and they almost immediately approved me for two other books as well! I’m definitely going to keep this publisher on my favorites list. I have a few books approved I’m really excited about, so I’m already more than happy with my Netgalley experience. 😀
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The Girl in the Ice was the first book I was approved for and I’ve loved both that and The Night Stalker! Hope you enjoy and keep enjoying the experience! 🙂
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I read The Girl In The Ice without Netgalley and loved it, so that’s why I wanted the sequel. 😀 And likewise!
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I started using NetGalley in January after also feeling intimidated like you. I’ve actually only read 10 arcs so far, though; as others have said, I’m pretty careful to only request things that sound really amazing or that I was already looking out for. I also have the disadvantage of not being in North America or the UK, so I miss out on a few that way, but it’s not like I’m wanting for reading material!
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That definitely sounds like something I will be doing as well; I have so many other books I want to read as well and I don’t want to get buried under a huge pile of ARCs, so I will be requesting only a few at a time for now. Since I live in Argentina I will be missing out on a few popular ones as well, but I can always get those later on. 😉
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I signed up for NetGalley three years ago (ish). I didn’t quite understand the concept, and I went crazy. Bad crazy. I was approved for basically everything. It will take me years to get my ratio where it should be. Don’t do that! 🙂 I will say, though, that I was really disappointed that some stellar books I really wanted were only available to UK and Australia readers.
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That’s definitely great advice! I have 5 books approved for now (and a few pending), but I’m definitely not going to add any new requests until I have at least a review or two published. And I feel your pain about books being limited to certain countries; Argentina definitely isn’t on one of those lists. 😉
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I just joined NetGalley last week and went absolutely crazy with the requests. I thought many would get denied so I requested 15 but I now have 14 books and there is some pressure that comes with it. Some sort of a deadline. I looked at my NG shelf today and I had these deadlines…1 day left, 3 days left etc. Takes the fun out of reading but I will practice some restraint from now on. Enjoy your new book and cheers to us NG newbies 🙂
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Wow that’s a lot of books approved in a week! I have 5 for now and a few pending, but I’m definitely not adding any new ones. Make sure to download the books before the deadline! From what I understood, you can still post your review after a book is archived, but it won’t be available for download any longer… And yay for NG newbies! 😀
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Agree with all the above commenters- don’t let it control you! 😀 I’m being very sensible about requesting books there because I know I have a review list and everything on NetGalley just looks ‘fabulouser’! 🙂
Other than that- have fun! 🙂 You’ll probably think to yourself- Darn, I should have signed up a long time go 🙂
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I’m definitely going to try and not request too many books, because I have an enormous TBR pile as it is haha. I’m already happy with the books that were approved, so signing up was definitely worth it. And yes, I should have signed up a long time ago. 😉
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Mighty, I hope you enjoy every minute of it! 🙂 happy reading 🙂
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Thanks and happy reading! 😀
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I wish I had gotten mine through Netgalley, because I wouldn’t feel as bad for rating it not so great. The author actually emailed me herself, so now I feel so bad that I am not liking it.
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Ouch! I never like rating a book low, but it feels even worse if the author writes personally… It happened to me last year with a book I had to give a 1.5 star rating because it was pretty bad; then again, I would feel guilty about lying about how I really felt about it as well. 😉 In the case of We Awaken, well, I don’t think the rating will be above 2 stars, unless a miracle happens in the last part.
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I ended up rating it two stars and posted my review today.
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I’m still between 1.5 and 2 stars… Definitely not a good read unfortunately. 😦
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I’ve been blogging for almost 3 months and also just registered for Netgalley. Still need to check out the ins and outs. I’m currently reading an old book that is up for re-publishing. Also only plan to request what I can manage along with my current TBR list. Luckily I’m going to live to be 117. No rush…. Enjoy your Netgalley book!
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I think requesting only a few at the time is definitely the best way to go… Especially since I still have to get used to the Netgalley website and I have tons of other books I want to read as well. At the rate it’s going, I will need to find an elixer of life to read all the books I want. 😉 Thanks and happy reading!
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I’m not planning on joining Netgalley because I feel like I’d fall behind too quickly… Maybe in a few months I’ll reconsider, but for right now it just feels like too much.
But that book you got sounds awesome! I hope you like it!
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I can definitely understand that; I had a similar feeling during a long time. I already feel I have requested too many titles (5 so far), but since I already wanted to read most of them anyway I don’t mind much. 😉 I’ve actually already almost finished We Awaken, and unfortunately it doesn’t really live up to the gorgeous cover…
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Oh no. That’s too bad. I hope you get another Netgalley request in soon and that you end up liking it better.
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I was accepted for All The Missing Girls yesterday and that book is brilliant so far! So I’m already happy I finally signed up. 😉
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I maintain my own book blog “Fictionophile” and have been a member of NetGalley since 2013. So far have been approved for 217 titles and have sent feedback for 141 titles. It has been a very positive experience for me so far. I have written a blog post in the hopes of helping new NetGalley members: https://fictionophile.wordpress.com/2016/04/05/fictionophiles-tips-for-new-netgalley-users/ My most important tip to new NetGalley users = Don’t bite off more than you can chew! When you get approved for a title know that you are then obligated to review that title in a timely manner.
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Wow those are impressive numbers! I’m glad you have been enjoying your experience with Netgalley during all those years. I’m definitely going to read your post; thanks for leaving the link! I’m also going to take everyone’s advice and not request too many titles… I have 5 books approved so far, and I’m going to wait until I have reviewed most of them to add any new ones. 🙂
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I tagged you to do The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag https://ajoobacatsblog.com/2016/07/04/mid-year-book-freak-out-tag/
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Thanks for the tag! I was already planning on doing a similar post, so I will definitely be joining this one soon. 🙂
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I love NetGalley – I’ve read some good, some bad, but it’s saved me $$$ on buying books and I enjoy featuring them on my blog.
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Good to hear you’ve had a positive experience so far! I’m really enjoying it so far as well… I have 8 approved books now of which I’ve finished 6, and I liked most of them so it’s not a bad start. 🙂
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Not feeling good enough for NetGalley 🙂 wow, you must be kidding me! I was on NetGalley years before even starting a blog! Half a year even before I figured out I was supposed to write reviews? (Lol) in fact, it was mostly NetGalley that’s “to blame” for me getting a blog at all! So congratulations on getting on it 🙂
But I think I understand what you mean. I am still struggling with growing the balls to start asking publishers for print copies. Especially because I live in the depths of Europe and just really don’t want to hear a “no”.
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I guess I was feeling a whole lot less confident when I signed up for Netgalley last year haha. I’ve become truly addicted to NG since and love being able to get so many ARC copies I never thought I was going to get approved for. I never tried or got a physical ARC though, but that’s mostly because I don’t think publishers would set them in the first place… Somehow settling down in a Spanish speaking country on the other side of the world and solely reviewing in English probably wouldn’t sound like a good deal for them in the first place. (and Argentinian publishers probably won’t send because my blog is English xD )
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Oh, it’s an old post? It was sort of pinned on your blog, so I thought it was new? So confused.
I have the same problem, I live in Lithuania, nobody even knows this country. There’s almost zero publishing industry here, because the country is too small. Anyway, if you blog in English, you blog to the entire world 🙂 somehow I never worried about NetGalley, cause if you ask for enough books, SOMEONE is going to answer 😀 I still haven’t asked for any physical books. My reasoning is the same as yours 😀 and I’m too afraid to hear a no.
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I didn’t realized it was pinned somewhere! Yes I wrote the post last year… I guess one of the reasons I love Netgalley is that it matters a lot less which country you live in. You might be more in luck getting a physical copy from European publishers though! 🙂
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Oh yeah, it shows up as the first post on your blog if I go on it through mobile 😀 that’s so weird! European publishers… I doubt that. Only UK, I guess? There’s nothing else that publishes in English.
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I’ve heard quite a few UK publishers are looking for European bloggers for their ARCs, so it’s still worth the try!
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Yeah. You’re right 😊 I just need to get over the initial feeling of “nonono maybe tomorrow” 😀
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