Self-Publishing Netgalley???

[Jake E]

Anyone had any experience with Netgalley?
I'm looking for the inside scoop.
...
or the outside scoop if you've heard any rumours.

 

[Sedayne]

I know nothing about this, and I don't think I can tell you anything you don't already know, but I've had a peek at their website, and this is my impression, for what it's worth.

At a quick glance at the first page of their publisher list, it appears they deal with some well-known, successful publishers - Bolinda, Bloomsbury, Collins, etc. So probably not a scam.

Free to readers, but not to authors - you have to enquire about fees. And that's the crux - is it going to cost more than it yields?

As a reader, I didn't immediately see much that would interest me. I put a few of my favourite authors in the search bar and every one showed a long list of 'previously on Netgalley' titles but nothing current. Am I supposed to believe that it used to have all my favourite books but doesn't anymore? Same for classics, which are free on many other platforms.

Maybe that means that it's better for independent or self-published authors if the readership is going for less well-known titles and hoping to discover something fresh.

If you do enquire about author fees, it will be interesting to know the pricing structure.

 

[Claire G]

No experience but I've heard it mentioned in author interviews as a place for ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) to be distributed to drum up reviews pre-publication. I think it's used by both traditionally published authors (e.g. Gillian McCallister has mentioned it on her Honest Authors podcast) and by self-published authors.

 

[Sedayne]

Advanced Reader Copies

Ah - perhaps that explains why it used to have so many things and doesn't anymore.
The clue is in the name - galleys - doh!

 

[Jake E]

Yeah, I'm somewhat reticent to inquire as I imagine it's quite expensive

 

[JohnBertel]

No experience, but have come across a couple of videos on YT. I don’t remember which channels.

Readers/reviewers are vetted. Librarians, bloggers etc. Reviewers are ruthless!
It’s used a lot by big trad publishing.
It’s expensive. But there are some options where a company buys access and resells it pr book. I suggest you reserch there were a lot of details I didn’t paybattention to … whether you can approve reviewers, allow non-vetted readers to review etc

Oh I just remember … the reviewers, I heard, are not very good at sharing their reviews to amazon, so …

 

[E G Logan]

a long list of 'previously on Netgalley' titles but nothing current.

I looked at it some time back from the point of view of a reader: my impression is the ARCs or galley proofs are only there for a limited time ahead of publication, and that's the deal.

I'm not sure that'd be very helpful for self-publishing, since the charges are presumably set for traditional corporate publishers, by far the majority of users, i.e. on the high side.

 

[CarolMS]

Several webinars I've taken about publishing, especially self-publishing but also traditional, have included it as an option to use to get ARCs out to readers and generate pre-sale reviews prior to a book launch. I've seen quite a few reviewer's comments referencing it as such on Amazon and also, I think, on Goodreads and maybe a few other sites. I also recall reading an interesting pro/con discussion about it on Reddit. You might want to Google a question about it to get a sense of what people who've used it think about it.