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NetGalley – The Future of the ARC?

May 7, 2010 /







I promised a post on NetGalley did I not? Well, here it is!

For those of you who have heard of this lovely website, please feel free to leave your comments. For those of you who have not, let me break it down for you a bit!
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What is NetGalley?
NetGalley is a website that offers its readers “galleys” or essentially e-books of up and coming book releases! After a quick and easy sign up process, you can start requesting galleys that interest you, and the publishers will then consider your profile, approve you and allow you to view the galley.
Don’t I need an e-reader?
This is a common misconception I’ve seen people have. Actually you don’t! I do not own one. Just me, but I have a hard time paying for something that is such a uni-tasker. It’s in my nature I suppose. Anyway you don’t need one!
 Adobe Digital Reader is a free program NetGalley recommends, that you can download. It allows you to read E-Pubs and PDF books right on your computer screen. It even allows you to view it full screen, double pages side-by-side, and allows you to set up bookmarks where you leave off so you can pick it up in that spot the next time.
Why choose NetGalley?
I’ll tell you why I love NetGalley. First off, I’m a bit of a tree hugger. Yes sirs and madams, I know. A reader who is afraid of wasting paper! Insane right? Still, NetGalley is fabulous in the fact that it allows people like me to read a copy of a book without wasting the paper to print a full ARC! Yes, I love ARCs too and I know they go on tours. I love that! However, since the publishing company pays less to make a PDF, they can provide it to more people anyway. Plus, galleys are able to come out before paper ARCs are even printed.
With that, International readers also come into play. How many times my International friends, have you been denied access to an ARC or ARC Tour because it was too expensive for it to be shipped to you, or would take too long? NetGalley is your answer! Since downloading PDFs is free, you can have access to the same books, no matter where they are published.
Why support?
The more people who join NetGalley, the more publishers that will jump on board with it. I received an email from Kersten Hamilton asking about my opinions on NetGalley because her publisher, Clarion (Houghton Mifflin) just became one of the first big three companies to join on. They are feeling it out, wondering how readers will react to reading galleys. If we support, more publishers will come!
I just got access to the second book in the Iron Fey series.
Wouldn’t you love to see more amazing books like that more widely available to book bloggers like us?
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So there you have it my friends. That is my take on the subject. Now here are my questions to you.
What do you think about NetGalley? Are you already a member? If not, have I peaked your interest?
Thanks for reading!

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12 Comments

  • Jami

    May 7, 2010 at 1:12 PM

    This is a fabulous post! I personally love NetGalley. It's a win-win for both sides (reviewers and publishers). As a reviewer I have some great upcoming titles so easily accessible to me, and more people can get these ARCs since it doesn't cost the publisher as much! I also love what you say about our international reviewers. This is great for them. If you can't tell, I love NetGalley. 🙂

  • Mollie

    May 7, 2010 at 6:48 PM

    I love NetGalley as well. I orginally found out about in not via other bloggers but through one of the librarian listserv's that I follow because the final book in Susan Beth Phiffer's Moon trilogy was available on NG. I'm kind of surprised I don't hear more about it on blogs. Sometimes I will notice in a blogger's disclosure statement that the received the book from the publish via NG. This is one of the first posts I've seen on Net Galley itself! Yay for spreading the word!

    I don't have an e-reader, however, and I HATE, HATE reading on my computer. When I get some disposable income first thing on my list is an e-reader so I can load it up w/ all of my NG requests!

  • Alexia561

    May 8, 2010 at 12:50 AM

    Will have to check it out. Thanks for the info, because I thought you had to have an ereader to get the ARCs. Like you, I don't want to spend that much money on an ereader, but wouldn't mind reading on my laptop. Great post!

  • Heather

    May 8, 2010 at 2:59 AM

    I just signed up for and I think the site is amazing!! I just hope I receive a Nook for mother's day *fingers crossed*

    awesome post!!

    -Heather

  • Marie

    May 9, 2010 at 7:08 AM

    I'm new to NetGalley so I'm still getting the hang of how it all works. I think it's a great way for publishes/authors to contact bloggers but at the same time… I don't have an e-reader so I end up reading it on my PC, which is a bit of a hassle for me! But I do think it's a wonderful site.

  • Gina @ My Precious

    December 3, 2010 at 5:40 PM

    I have a kindle ebook reader. I found out about NetGalley on book blogs. Its been a fantastic experience for me. I just wish they had more publishers. I was happy to see more YA publishers get added to the list recently.

    Also, do you know how long you have to view a galley before it expires. I know once you've viewed it most expire in 60 days. But I wasn't sure if that timer was tipped off when you view it or when they accepted you to look at it.