Book Blogging 411: Netgalley Rejection???
Jun •
21 •
2011
“Why do I get rejected from certain titles on Netgalley?”
As a blogger, I see a lot of bloggers asking as to why they get rejected from certain titles. I can safely say that I have only been rejected twice. Pretty much everything I request, I get. You can say I’ve been lucky but after this post I’m not so sure. I’m might stir up a frenzy. I am not an expert on it. But I have been on Netgalley for over a year and have learn a few things along the way. I don’t mean to offend, but this is just what I know. Here’s what I’ve learn and what you can do to help you get those titles that you want.
1. Review on TIME!
If you go to Netgalley, they will tell you that you are under no obligation to review the book, etc. That is not true. Under Netgalley yes, but under the publisher you are. Because technically the publisher approves your request, not Netgalley.
“After you hit the REQUEST button in the NetGalley catalog, your request will be sent to the publisher, and you will receive an email notification if your request is approved or denied. If approved, the galley will be in your NetGalley account.” (via Netgalley Before you request page)
I’ve noticed that if you request a book, but do not review it on time, or post a review, it is most liklely you will not get approved for the next book that the publisher will put out. Because you just showed them that you can not review a book on time. If you request a book from Netgalley, review it! Don’t let it sit there. The publisher knows who they sent the e-book to and who reviewed it.
2. Update your public bio monthly
Most bloggers don’t do this. Under your public bio it is best that you update it monthly. The publisher wants update stats on your blog, blog followers, reviews, etc. Also include your blog url, your follower count, and email. DO NOT LIE! They will visit and see your blog. Just be honest. If you are not sure what to put, you could put something like this.
This is my public bio:
I am an avid reader who likes to read and review Young Adult Literature. I will post all links for the review on Good Reads, Library Thing, Face book, Twitter, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and of course on my blog. I will post a link to the post in the review as soon as it goes up.
Blog url: http://www.bookswithbite.net
Email Address: bwithbite@gmail.com
As of 6/16/2011 Currently have over 1000 followers
In the your public bio, under Company, put your blog name there. This is the first thing the publisher sees when you request a book on Netgalley.
“*HINT* In your Profile, the “Company” should not be the same as your first and last name, or else publishers might not be able to see your Public Bio when you request titles. Please at least put an underscore (example: first_last) to avoid the issue. Thanks!” (Via Netgalley Before you request page)
Simple and to the point.
3. Posting links when review is up and done.
When you are done writing your review, it is important to post links to your review. Umder Manage My Reviews, click on the the little pencil that say write above it. This is where you post your review. Write you review. When you are done with your review also add this at the bottom:
Post Date: When the review will go up on the blog (Ex, 7/1/2011)
Blog url: Your blog URL (Ex. www.bookswithbite.net)
Review link: Link to your review when it goes up
(Ex. http://www.bookswithbite.net/2011/06/review-dark-heart-forever.html)
.
I know this seems like a lot, but the publishers wants this. After that, you click Review Complete and it is sent off to the publisher.
“Most publishers will appreciate if you also include a link or other information with the review that says where the review will be published.”(Via Netgalley Before you request page)
4. Requesting a book that is not of your genre
I know bloggers all have different preferences. Some do just YA, Paranormal, etc. But lets say you just do YA on your blog and you request some new cowboy romance novel, you are most likely will not get it. Why? Because your blog is just YA. If you do a mixture of it, make sure you add that to your public bio. Make sure it is also a mixture on your blog. Let the pubs know what you read and what you do not read.
“Blog content must be relevant to book requested (e.g., a YA blog requesting a romance novel or a paranormal site requesting a historical romance are less likely to be accepted)” (Via Netgalley Approval Preferences)
5. Frequently Blog
I know we are all busy. We have jobs, husbands, children, families, etc. But in order to get titles on Netgalley you must be a frequent blogger. You can’t blog for a month, disappear for two, then request. They look at your blog, they see what you’ve posted.
“Have a book review blog that has been updated fairly recently.” (Via Netgalley Approval Preferences)
6. You must have followers
I feel so sad about this one cause this is why I got rejected on those first two I requested. But it is there, in clear plain words. Some publishers only approve for 1000+ followers.
For Ex. Penguin
“Please note that at this time we are only approving review requests from blogs with 1,000+ followers. Please be certain to state in your profile the number of followers you have. Additionally, review requests are approved at the discretion of the publicist.” (Via Netgalley Aprroval Preference)
I hope this helps to those who are confused as to why they don’t get the titles they want!
If you have any other questions, you can go here for more Approval Preferences.
If you have a question on Book Blogging you can email me at bwithbite (at) gmail (dot) com
Happy Reading!
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Lots of good advice for people.
I’d also like to that though I don’t have very many followers, but I still get the majority of the Netgalley titles I request so you can be successful without crazy stats.
This is definitely good advice, although I freely admit that I have to be better about the whole “review on time” thing. I have books from Jan/Feb…oops…I’m hanging my head in shame.
Thanks for this post about NetGalley. I found it very helpful since I am new to NetGalley (just signed up last week). So far, I’ve requested 5 books, been approved for 3 of them (yeah!!! excited!!) and have 2 just kind of waiting there still – no rejection yet. Your insight and advice is great. Thanks!
Laurie
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I don’t request books on netgalley often, in fact once I was off the site for so long I forgot my password. When I finally got back in and made a request, I was rejected. Haven’t been back since. So I guess you also have to be pretty active on the site.
Great post!
I get most of what I ask for. Netgalley is awesome.
Thanks for sharing today – this is wonderful information.
*rolls my eyes at Penguin*
I’m not on netgalley (stupid dadgum cataracts kills reading for long periods on the computer screen), but I wonder if that 1,000 is true for regular-old ARCs.
Oh well, me and my plebian blog can just buy books, ha!
Thanks for the info, Savannah! It was nice of you to take the time to provide this for everybody!
Penguin’s 1000+ is dumb, but perhaps they are also looking at it as you have consistently blogged. However, people w/smaller numbers blog everyday! Even though that isn’t a problem for me, I wish they would look at other factors for some bloggers.
Good post!
Thanks for this info! I haven’t been rejected yet (knock on wood), but I’m really glad you mentioned that I should include a link to the post at the bottom of the review. I’m sure it’s common sense, but I didn’t think about that!
Great tips! 🙂
I don’t do half of this stuff and don’t have a problem. I’ve also been no NetGalley for just about a year and I’ve been outright denied a book only once and it had nothing to do with my stats and everything to do with the release date of the book (it was kind of weird, actually). I definitely don’t put all of that stuff in the review. I just copy and paste the review and carry on my way. Hasn’t hampered anything. At the same time I also have a rapport with a lot of the publishers I request from and those that are in odd ball genres that aren’t the norm on my blog? I’ve yet to be denied. Maybe I’ve just jinxed myself but things have been pretty consistent for me since I registered.
I’m definitely the worst at reviewing. I have a pretty big queue of books to review but at the same time, I also output reviews at roughly the same rate I take books in, so it works out.
Brilliant advice, Savy! Netgalley has been so hit or miss for me, despite updating my PF regularly. I’ve honestly just been avoiding it after so many denials haha
This is so helpful! I’ve had fairly good luck with Netgalley but am occasionally rejected. I have a bad habit of not putting my reviews up there. I need to be better about it.
Awesome post! totally agree with everything you said!
Great advice. I’ve been denied a few times, not sure why, I get the majority I ask for tho. I have soo many books I need to review its insane! Question – can you decide later on to deny a request even though you’ve accepted it?
Thanks for the advice, Savvy! I love when you do advice posts like this. So far it looks like I’m doing everything you suggest, though my turn around time is sometimes a few months because I have my reviews scheduled out far in advance.
I’ve been rejected for a few books, but I can’t figure out why since those publishers do approve other books for me. Oh well, it’s not like I don’t already have more than enough books!
Thanks for the great advice.
I never thought about updating my bio once I had already written it.
Of the five requests I’ve made, I have been rejected twice (once because they were limiting the number of copies sent out and the other because by bio wasn’t good enough). I have been approved twice and posted reviews pretty quickly. One is still pending. Hopefully it will be approved.
Great advice! I’ve only been using NG for a few weeks, but am totally loving it.
Question: When you write a review for a book that isn’t released for months, do you post it early so you can provide the direct link to the publisher through NG? Or just paste the review for them and say it WILL be posted, but isn’t yet?
What an awesome post! Great reminders for all of us. Thank you Savy!
You’ve given some great advice for new and old users of net galley. I’ve been a member for quite awhile and I’ve only had one rejection and that was because the publisher felt it was too close to the release date and they wanted reviews that came out a month to two months before the book released. I just failed to notice that when I sent the request.
As far as penguin goes, they have their reasons for what they ask. I have reviewed for them for a long time and I don’t have 1000 followers, but I do blog every day, and I post reviews Monday – Friday, and sometimes on the weekends. However, I don’t request their books through net galley. That may be the difference. My blog is also a very eclectic mix of books. I don’t stick to one particular genre because that’s not how I read. I think you are absolutely right about putting things like that in your net galley profile. Publishers need to be aware of what you review, but I think the most important thing is a timely review. I try to post as close to the release date of the book as possible, unless otherwise specified by the publisher.
Great post!
Thanks for the helpful post. I’ve been on Netgalley for a couple of months and made very few requests. I got it into my head that I had to be blogging for at least 6 months before anyone would take me seriously. Glad to know that isn’t necessarily true. I’ll work on your other tidbits of advice. They were extremely helpful.
Thank you, this helped so much! <3 <3 <3
This really helps. Thank you!
Thank you for this advice. I am farly new to blogging in general and would like to get started on NetGalley in the next couple months since I have no school during the summer. Wish me luck!
I just got approved for a title from Penguin yesterday, it took about 2 weeks to get the approval, but I have nowhere near 1000 followers yet 🙂 I think it must depend on the publicist who reads the bio.
Thank you for this advice! I joined NetGalley three days ago and was approved for a title today *does happy dance*. In the approval email I got, they said if they hadn’t worked with me before to tell them a little about myself/what I review/etc. Do I respond directly to that email, tell them about myself, and say thanks or do I just tell them this when I submit the review? Also, in general, do you usually email a thank you back if you are approved?