If you're very involved in the blogging community and have a love of books, chances are you have heard of NetGalley or are a member there. Back in the day when I was still reviewing books on this blog, I used to love browsing their site and requesting advance reading copies of books there. I mean, who doesn't like getting free copies of books that aren't even released yet?
Back in March-ish of last year I was getting ready to release WHAT I DIDN'T SAY. I was brainstorming ideas of how to get the word out there about the book. I'd done blog tours before and those are great, but they take a LOT of work and LOT of time. And for someone like me, a writer and a mother of very young children, time is something that is hard to come by. So I needed a solution that could reach a mass market, but not suck up every second of the day tracking reviewers down.
So I turned to NetGalley. I sent them an email requesting info on how to get listed. They DO in fact accept titles from self-published authors. In fact, they are VERY helpful in getting you set up. I have been very impressed with how professional and personal they are.
The cost of listing a title: $399.
Some of you indie authors might be going *gasp* that's so much!
But keep with me here for a minute. It is well worth the cost.
I have recently listed my second title with them, THE BANE. The listing went live on Feberuary 13th. I got the first request to view and review the title within 15 SECONDS of it going up. For the first 8 hours or so I was getting a new request literally almost every 60 seconds.
It has been up on NetGalley for one week now and I have gotten hundreds of requests. And that is after just one week.
When I listed WHAT I DIDN'T SAY I got somewhere around 1,200 review requests and over 400 of them submitted reviews through NetGalley. And a LOT of people don't submit their reviews through NetGalley, the reviewer simply posts them on their blog/Amazon/Goodreads/etc. (When I say reviewers submit through NetGalley, that means they send their review through a form on NetGalley, and NetGalley sends it to the author/publisher.)
So when you look at it that way, I was paying less than $1 for every review, and that didn't count the exposure it was given to those other 800 people who requested it, plus their blog followers (thanks to meme's like "In My Mailbox and whatnot).
For me, the $399 was VERY worth it.
Now, that is the author listing side of things.
Here is what you might want to know if you are a reader and are using NetGalley.
What the authors/publishers see when you request to view a title is your profile. There is an "about me" section there that you get to fill out. I know it is tempting to start off with "My name is ____ and I'm from ____ and I love to read." And that is fantastic, fine, and dandy.
But to be totally, 100% honest, what the author/publisher is looking for is your stats.
How many blog followers do you have?
How many Facebook likes do you have?
How many Twitter followers do you have?
Stuff like that. And it is VERY helpful if you list that at the very beginning of your "About Me" section.
And then please do tell us who you are, where you live, how old you are, what kind of stuff you like to read.
But when you're getting flooded with hundreds of requests, being able to quickly see if the person requesting is going to help get the word out, is beyond helpful.
Also, every time you submit a review through NetGalley, your ranking score goes up. Yes, NetGalley gives us a ranking score that basically says how much of a reach you have and how consistent you are with actually reviewing the titles you request. It also factors in how many titles you are approved and declined for. Yes, I actually get to see how many times you have been approved and how many times you have been rejected.
Now onto this lovely subject: Having an author/publisher reject your request.
This might not bother some of you. But some of you might get upset when your request gets rejected. But the best thing to keep in mind is that it isn't personal.
It's about numbers. And frankly it's about more sales when the book does come out.
NetGalley is about marketing for authors/publishers, in addition to connecting with readers, and we have to keep in mind the game of trying to reach as many readers as possible. So if you've been getting rejected, work on building your following. Make it your goal to get a few hundred followers, and then try again.
I hope this has been helpful, getting a more inside scoop as to how NetGalley works. If you have any questions please feel free to ask them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them quickly!
And don't forget, you can request THE BANE via NetGalley HERE!
