First off, however, here are my totals - I did pretty good, considering the fact that I didn't have much time due to my uni exams. I managed to read and review 3 books and I started my 4th one the other day. The titles I did finish are:
Q & A with Lindsey Rudnickas from Netgalley
1. Should we include our blog statistics (number of followers, unique visits) in our public bio?
YES! Definitely! The more information you can include about your “reach” the better – how many people visit your blog, how many subscribers/followers you have, how many people follow you on Twitter/Facebook, anywhere else that you post your reviews and/or promote books, etc. Publishers want to know how you get the word out about the books you read/review.
The information in your bio is what publishers see when deciding to approve your galley requests. It’s very important to check the Publisher Approval Preferences page for guidance. Publishers are telling you exactly what they’re looking for in your Bio in order to approve you, so be sure to follow their advice! And don't forget to indicate if you are a member of any Associations, like the ALA or ABA (under Account Information).
2. Does the number and quality of our previous reviews influence publishers' decision to approve future requests? Do they read our previous reviews before approving our requests?
That depends on the publisher. Some check your previous reviews before approving or declining you, but it depends. I would say the general rule of thumb is that if you consistently send reviews back to the publisher, then they’ll be more likely to approve you again and again, since they know you’re promoting their books in return for the galley.
3. Do publishers use our reviews after we submit them? Great question, and again, it depends! Some publishers definitely use quotes/blurbs from blog reviews in their marketing materials.
4. Why are some books only visible for some people on NetGalley?
Publishers have lots of flexibility in how they can use NetGalley. Some choose to make all their titles available for requests in the catalog, and others keep all their titles private and only invite select people to access them. Most publishers do a combination—allow requests for many of their titles but may keep just a few titles private. Plus, they could keep a title private at first but then make it available for requests later (closer to the pub date, let’s say). It all depends on their specific marketing campaign for that particular title.
5. What happens if we don't make the deadline? If the galley expires or the publisher archives the given title before we manage to read it or post our review, I mean.
Glad you brought this up, as we’re hearing about this more and more. We strongly urge publishers to put a disclaimer in the title description that clearly states when they plan to archive the title, so you know when the dead-stop expiration date is. Remember that until a publisher archives a title, you can keep re-downloading if you run out of time on the individual download (55 days). But once the publisher archives the title on their end, you can now longer re-download. Most publishers archive titles around the pub or on-sale date, but it is entirely up to each publisher when they choose to archive each title. If you haven’t finished reading the book before it is archived and therefore don’t plan to review it, always best to notify the publisher—so they know why you aren’t reviewing it. For the sake of your own organization, you may wish to press the Archive button on your MANAGE MY REVIEWS page, so that you don’t see the title in the list of your other active galleys. In general, I think it’s always a good idea to request titles that you know you have time to read/review, and then once you’re approved, try to download and start reading right away.
6. Should we let publishers know when we post our reviews by emailing or tweeting them?
Yes, definitely—do both! You can email them directly if you are already in contact with them, but you can also use the tool in NetGalley to send your review notifications. It’s great if you do send via NetGalley since publishers will have a record of how many titles of theirs you have reviewed. Remember, NetGalley members are under no obligation to finish reading a title or write a review—but it is strongly encouraged, and publishers will be more inclined to give you access to future titles if you review.
If you do choose to write a review, you can use NetGalley to send the review to the publisher. Your review is shared with the publisher as a courtesy — but the content and publishing rights for that review belong solely to you. NetGalley does not post or publish your review — instead, we are providing an “electronic tear-sheet.” Most publishers will appreciate if you also include a link or other information with the review that says where the review will be published. You can also use NetGalley to let the publisher know that you are declining to review.
Login to your account, go to MY REVIEWS, and press the pencil icon (“write”) to send your review to the publisher. Make sure to select the REVIEW COMPLETED button, include the link to your review, the date it was published, and anything else relevant. Then hit SAVE!
7. Do publishers check how many pending requests we have before approving our requests?
Great question. Publishers can only see the pending requests that you have for THEIR titles—not all pending requests that you have across all publishers. Depending on their internal process for approving requests, it could be a different person who looks at the pending requests for each title (for instance, if the publicist assigned to a title only logs in to approve requests for that particular title). Or, it could be that one person is approving all blogger requests, so they may very well see all your pending requests for their titles.
8. Who do publishers choose to auto-approve and why?
Individual publishers can auto-approve individual NetGalley members for all their titles in the catalog. This means that when you press the Request button for that publisher’s titles, you’ll receive the galley immediately on your home page. If you are auto-approved by a publisher, you’ll receive an email saying: “You have been auto-approved for any of Publisher’s titles in the NetGalley catalog. Next time you click the REQUEST button for one of their titles, you’ll be automatically approved. Congrats!”
Generally, publishers are likely to auto-approve you if you are consistently approved for their titles and send them reviews. Think of it this way: it’s a time-saver for the publishers—if they realize, hey, I always approve this person, so I might as well auto-approve them so that I don’t have to keep manually approving each of their requests. But you should also check the Publisher Approval Preferences page for specific criteria that each publisher has for who they auto-approve!
9. Why do some bloggers get rejected from certain titles on Netgalley? What are publishers looking for when they're trying to decide whether to approve or reject our request?
Check the Publisher Approval Preferences page for guidance. Publishers are telling you exactly what they’re looking for in your Bio in order to approve you, so be sure to follow their advice!
Lindsey, thank you so much for joining us and for all the useful advice! I hope it answered some of your questions guys. :)
If you took part in NetGalley month, make sure to use the linky below and submit all your reviews you posted during NGmonth so that we can all check them out! Just click on "Click here to enter", fill in the first required field with your review's title and the second one with the link to your review. As simple as that. :) Feel free to submit as many reviews as you like!
Thank you for joining NetGalley month in December and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! xxx
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