NetGalley for Newbies

It’s 2024 and we’re not gatekeeping anything! I rekindled my love for reading back in 2017. That year I finished 16 books towards my goal of 24. In 2019, I started a Bookstagram account a year and a day after the birth of my first child to start documenting my reading journey. It was around the same time that a friend shared several resources for requesting advance copies of books. The one that has stuck with me is NetGalley and I’ve had several people ask how I use it to read books before they’re published. As a reader and reviewer who likes to recommend books to other readers and give feedback to publishers ahead of their release, I’ve been able to get my hands on 40 books in the past four years.

NetGalley has a great Starter Kit on their blog with tons of help articles, FAQs and tips. I highly suggest perusing their articles to get a sense of how the service works.

☝ Set up your profile and be sure to include links to places you post reviews. If you have a certain reader niche, you might want to lean into that in your bio. Are you obsessed with pairing horror stories and movies? Mention that!

✍ Take advantage of “Read Now” titles to build up your Feedback Ratio when you’re just starting out. Ideally, you’ll keep your ratio at 80% or above. Two genres that are easy to read, review, and repeat for me are children’s books and cookbooks!

📅 Stay on top of your reviews and keep organized by adding publishing dates and review deadlines to your calendar. I also note the archive date. You’ll want to immediately download the eARCs so you don’t lose access to the book after the publication date.

📑Follow publishers on social media and keep an eye out for when they’re offering applications for influencer programs. I’m a member of several that send physical copies of books but the one that is specifically on NetGalley is Harlequin. I’m automatically approved to receive any eARCs I request from their available catalog. This is a great way to also find out about limited Read Now titles. Occasionally, an author will offer eARCs to anyone who requests them for 24 hours or to the first 100 people.

🚩 Don’t request too many books at once. If you’re approved for all of them, you’re obligated to read and review— or risk a positive feedback ratio. Only request books you’re certain you’ll make time to read.

➡ Send eARCs directly to your Kindle. I prefer to read on my Kindle Paperwhite vs on the NetGalley Shelf app. My one exception to this is picture books.

📃 Create lists to keep up with books. I have a general list that I add books that I might want to purchase or check out from the library later, even if they’re not books I request advance copies of through NetGalley. I also have a list of holiday books, parenting books, and cookbooks. There are plenty of ways you could organize your lists, this is just how I use mine.

Those are just a few of my simple tips for keeping on top of my NetGalley TBR shelf. If you have any specific questions let me know and I’ll try my best to answer them or at least point you in the right direction.

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What NetGalley tips would you share?

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