- Book reviews are lifeblood for an author's success.
Next to coffee, it's probably the most important thing
for your survival as an author.
Well, no maybe chocolate (laughs)
Anyway, you need book reviews as an author,
and, while you can't pay someone
to give you a positive review,
there are some great legitimate review services out there
where they will read your book and post reviews
on Amazon, Goodreads, and often some of their own websites.
And one of those services is NetGalley.
If you're wondering about this service
and whether it will help you get more reviews for your book,
this video is for you.
(upbeat music)
Hey there, I'm Julie the Book Broad.
I'm an Amazon overall number one bestselling author
and the founder of a fabulous company called Book Launchers.
Our superpower is caring, (chiming) here's my heart.
Our superpower is caring more about you and your book
than anybody else, as we help you write,
publish and sell a nonfiction book
that will boost your brand and make you money.
As part of our platinum plus-level service,
we pay for our clients to get NetGalley reviews.
Never heard of NetGalley?
Well, NetGalley is an online service
that basically connects book publishers with reviewers.
They are often people from media, librarians,
book sellers and other people in the book space,
or just really avid book lovers.
Basically, as an author and a publisher,
you can pay to list your book with NetGalley,
and then they will put it out there
to their database of readers.
Those readers can then request your book for review.
The best time to do this is six to eight weeks
before your book launches.
Reviewers are most interested in reading
and reviewing a book before it's launched.
But, if your book is already out in the wild,
don't let that stop you.
NetGalley will still accept your title,
but it is a fee-based service, so it's really up to you
to decide if it makes sense for you post-launch or not.
This service revolves around delivering
digital ARCs to readers.
ARCs is the fancy term for Advanced Reading Copies.
So the fact that Net Galley calls it ARCs,
Advanced Reading Copies, tells you
that this service is set up for pre-launch.
Now, the readers that sign on with NetGalley
aren't usually an average reader,
and this is an important point to know.
They are typically, as noted, reviewers, media, journalists,
bloggers, booksellers, and people in the education space.
All of these reviewers work with authors and publishers
in Australia, Canada, France, Germany,
Japan, the UK, and of course the U.S.A.
Why I'm putting an emphasis on who these folks are
that are reading your books
is because they are not easy to please.
More on that in a second.
NetGalley works to get reviews.
Like I said, we pay to use their service
so that our clients will get more reviews.
But their reviews aren't fluffy.
They aren't like, you need this awesome book
on your Kindle-type review.
Or, this is a great read.
For lack of a better word,
these folks are generally what I would call critics.
NetGalley's website is at netgalley.com.
To set up your book on NetGalley, you have some options.
You can pay a per-title listing fee of $849,
and that allows them to market your book to their list,
or $450 for their standard six-month listing.
Now this one makes sense
if you are launching one or two books in a year.
They also have a subscription package that will be great
if you have 10 or more titles per year.
Now, as noted, that $849 fee also includes their marketing,
so they will have a listing in their direct newsletter
that goes to readers interested in your genre.
That can absolutely be useful,
but that's a big chunk of change for most authors.
(bells chiming) So I have a couple
lower cost options for you.
Now the cool part about this is that a reviewer
posts reviews to their NetGalley profile, Amazon,
Goodreads, and sometimes blogs or media.
So it gives you more exposure than a typical Amazon review.
The reviewer's doing it for free,
and they're getting your book for free,
but they are motivated book reviewers.
It's part of their jobs or careers in most situations.
And you don't have to worry that a bunch of people
are getting your book for free.
When you work directly through NetGalley,
you access a book reviewer's profile
and approve their access to your book, or not.
So, if you feel that they always write unfair reviews
because you can see the reviews they've written before,
or you just think they aren't a good fit for your book,
you can reject it and not have them get a copy of your book.
Now the reviewers aren't vetted as reviewers.
They're just expected, as part of their participation,
to review books as a reviewer.
That's why it's useful that you can withhold books
from reviewers that are unfair
or not qualified to be reviewing your book.
All that said, there are more affordable ways
to access NetGalley review service,
but they take that ability
to reject or accept reviewers away.
But it saves you money.
So there's always tradeoffs, right?
One of the great ways to get a lower cost NetGalley review
is through the IBPA member services, or through a reseller
of NetGalley reviews, like Xpresso services.
We're IBPA members and really like their membership.
So if you want to get to the NetGalley review,
the $139 fee for IBPA probably makes sense
just to access the lower cost NetGalley reviews,
which is a three-month listing for $199.
Overall, NetGalley reviews are (chiming) a great way
to connect your book to reviewers
and even audiences that wouldn't know
about your self-published book any other way.
But you do need to know
that NetGalley reviewers can be rather harsh.
It is rare to see a five-star review
from most NetGalley reviewers,
even if what they say is incredibly positive about the book.
Again, these are reviewers
who are saving their five stars for the unicorn books
because they look at books all day long.
Speaking of unicorns, a fun fact for you.
When I was in grade three, I wrote an entire book
about a unicorn in the forest.
(laughs) You could say it was the first book I ever wrote,
unpublished and will always stay that way.
But, I've literally been writing since I was a little kid.
And it all started with a unicorn.
Anyway, back to the NetGalley reviewers.
They don't give five-star reviews easily.
So I just want you to know that going in.
You are likely to get a handful of reviews,
and sometimes those reviewers
are in a position of power and influence
where they can get your book into other places.
One of the reviews for one of our clients
that was a five-star review, hooray, was from a librarian
who said that she was then going to put it forward
to be listed in their libraries.
So, that's the power of NetGalley reviews.
Now, when you get a great review,
use it to promote your book.
Post it on your author page, your website and social media
because this is a great thing to have.
Now I do have one (chiming) final warning.
If you don't pay for marketing with NetGalley
or some other service to generate interest
in your book listing with NetGalley,
then you do need to do some sharing.
They have a widget and some other share links.
You'll need to use them to get it out there
so people will find out about your book.
You can't automatically assume that people
will see your listing there, if you're doing nothing
to promote that you're on NetGalley.
You should also encourage people
to give your cover a thumbs up on NetGalley
because that helps it get featured,
as also completing a form for in house love (laughs).
They need to be registered NetGalley to do that
but, if people do that,
then your book will get more exposure.
So, is NetGalley worth it?
Well, if you haven't invested heavily
in professional production,
I would not spend money on NetGalley.
Remember, these are not
gentle cheerleader kind of reviewers.
If your book is riddled with problems,
they're going to be very pointed about that,
and you can't control where they post their review.
But if you have a great book
and it's been professionally edited,
and you're looking to gain as much exposure
and as many reviewers as you can, then yes.
And, if you have a budget for book marketing,
I think NetGalley could be a great way to go,
especially through IBPA or other resellers out there
that offer access to that service
in a more bite-sized, affordable way.
Now I'm curious.
Have you used NetGalley or do you plan to use them
in the future for your books?
Share that in the comments below
and, when you comment the day a video is released,
you'll be entered to win some sweet #noboringbooks swag
like this fabulous mug.
Coffee tastes better in it (laughs).
True store.
Now, since we're enjoying coffee together
and having such a lovely conversation,
let's stick together for a little bit longer, shall we?
Do you know how to ask for book reviews?
This video right here will help you plan that list,
and this video right here
is the latest and greatest from the channel.
Both are really special if you ask me.
So go ahead and choose,
and I'll be waiting for you over there.
Cheers.
(upbeat music)