One year as a NetGalley Reviewer!

It has been about one year since I have joined NetGalley as a book reviewer!

If you don’t yet know NetGalley, it is an ARC (advanced readers’ copies) distibution platform where publishers and indie authors alike post soon-to-be published books to be read in exchange for an honest review.

I first joined NetGalley as a publisher – for my indie published novels. I have placed all three of my novels up on NetGalley to garner early reviews, and will have a fourth to add in the coming months.

But I soon discovered it would make sense to join as a reader, too, for two main reasons. Mostly, I wanted to understand how it worked as a reader, and to get a better grasp of the industry and how it operated. My secondary motivation was easy – I love books. As an author myself, I understand how much advance reviews mean, and I love to get in early on new books and to help promote books I love in the genres I love and add to the launch buzz for that author. After all, I know how hard it is.

I think I’ve been doing a fairly good job of it, too. In this past year, I have read 46 books on NetGalley, and I’ve reviewed them all. Yes, I believe strongly this is part of the bargain when you’re downloading ARCs for free… and, for those who know NetGalley, I have an enviable reading-to-review rating.

Of all those books, there were only 2 I didn’t care for much, but the others were either good or great discoveries for me, and allowed me to discover plenty of exciting new authors – many of whom have become social media connections for me.

And as an indie author, I’m always happy to find myself back on NetGalley from the publishers’ side when I have a new release, with super friendly and responsive staff members to help out with all your questions. And for fellow indies, they really are very indie-friendly.

And a tip from my experience as a publisher, I also like bundling my NetGalley publication with a promotion. The visual I have here above was created by NetGalley when I promoted my latest novel, In The Shadow of The Apennines, alongside other women’s fiction novels. Your novel will get lots of interest/requests when it is first up, but it’s nice to time these promotions for later dates to keep up the interest. It’s a good way to get fresh eyes (and new requests to read) to your novel.

I’ve enjoyed this first year as a NetGalley reviewer, reading new and exciting books and supporting fellow authors in their publishing journey. Looking forward to continuing this reading adventure!