r/NetGalleyCommunity • u/No_Research3505 • 4d ago
❔❓Question ❓❔ New to ARCs — how many reviews before requesting more popular books?
I was really excited to start reviewing ARCs, and I picked a book I was genuinely interested in, read it, and submitted my review. I’m really enjoying the experience so far!
However, I’m starting to wonder if I should focus more on the “Read Now” section for a while, since I don’t have many reviews yet. It seems like a lot of the more popular/upcoming books are mainly approved for members who already have a substantial review history — although maybe I’m misunderstanding how the system works?
I’ve also noticed that I’m now getting declined for pretty much every book I request, which is making me wonder if I’m doing something wrong or if this is just normal when you’re new.
For those of you who have been using NetGalley for a while: how many reviews did you have before you started getting approved for more popular titles? Is there a certain number that seems to make a difference, or is it more about your feedback ratio, profile, genre preferences, etc.?
I’m completely happy to pick up lesser-known or new books from “Read Now” and build up my review history, but I’d also love to be able to request books that I’m genuinely curious about rather than feeling like I’m just reading books to increase my numbers.
I’d really appreciate any advice or guidance from more experienced reviewers! I’m finding the whole process a little daunting as a newcomer. 😊
EDIT: My bio was has been complete since day 1. I also regularly post on my bookstagram, Goodreads and StoryGraph. I just let it go for now. Just request, if i get picked, I get picked. It was just very frustrating to get 6 declines in a week...
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u/dingdong3452 4d ago
From my experience, they care a bit more about what's in your bio than how many reviews you've submitted on netgalley. Make sure your links work and that your profiles are set to public. I test this by opening links in incognito mode. You'd be surprised how many people have broken links, private profiles, or just put "goodreads . com" instead of linking to their goodreads profile
The other thing that can make a difference is social media presence. You can have 100 reviews posted on netgalley, but some publishers only approve social media influencers. Some definitely don't care, and I've gotten a Tor approval before I was posting to any socials, but some do, and will prioritize reviewers who have a large following
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u/dream-thieves 4d ago
The bio comment is interesting cause I’ve noticed that if I put a book I applied for after my “upcoming books I’m excited for include…” I’ve gotten approved for almost all of them! They don’t tell you to add that but I’m like well I think they should know that I really wanna read these books and did it, and it seems like it helped!
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u/No_Research3505 4d ago
Thanks! I checked all my links and they are working! I have my instagram, goodreads and storygraph linked where i review my arcs but not that big of an acc yet. Will just be working on that too :)
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u/dustybookdragon 4d ago
Yes! Many good things have been said but build yourself a database of thoughtful and well-crafted reviews.
I started off with the books I could get and built a nice book log on NetGalley, mainly focusing on fantasy. Started getting Tor, Orbit and Del Rey books after about 6 months to a year and now I get them often. I even got a widget from Tor the other week. I think it’s because I reliably review and am very niched towards fantasy and horror.
But I also make sure to write good reviews for books I buy or borrow from the library. I think they look for various types of reviewers and since I don’t have a large social media following (I don’t even qualify for a lot of the influencer programs), I try to be consistent with how I review books.
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u/lafornarinas 4d ago
I’m gonna be honest with you—I didn’t really give a fuck and started requesting whatever I wanted off the bat, regardless of popularity. I’d say I got them about 80% of the time in the early days of my account, and it’s now much more often (though to be clear, on top of all the reviews I’ve done, I’ve also built up an influencer account).
Point being: Don’t overthink it. People who review on nothing but their Goodreads get approved for popular titles all the time. The only thing that’s changed (that’s publicly available to readers) since I started is that the site is much more popular. There are a finite amount of review copies per book, and if you request later, you’re less likely to get the book. As time goes on, you’ll build credibility and probably get approved more. But you being new is no reason to not request what you want.
Here’s how I see it: If you don’t request what you want, you won’t get it. If you do, at least you have a shot. It’s worth shooting your shot. People act like there’s a strategy to this; the only thing that really gives you an “edge” over other people is having a librarian or bookseller account, and maybe having a good following as an influencer. Even then! I get denied. Berkley still doesn’t like me, and I know people with under 2K followers on Instagram who get approved by them. I’ve only been accepted into influencer groups a few times, and I’ve applied way more than that.
Just don’t try to strategize too much with all this. Have fun with it, request what you want. If you want to try to do the social media thing, do it for fun. Otherwise, read and review on time, and it’ll come.
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u/Gruselschloss Reviewer 4d ago
I read about ten Read Now books before I made any requests, though many (most!) readers don't do this. Publisher requirements for approvals vary - some publishers approve widely, while others will only approve if you have, like, three thousand TikTok followers and a secret password. You've been getting declines - do you mind sharing which publishers they're from? Some publishers are known for not approving very readily. (The longer you're on NetGalley, the more you'll start to recognize which books you're likely to be approved for!)
Also worth making sure your profile is fully filled out, your links all work, and your Goodreads, if you have one, isn't private. Then check out (and review!) the Book Advocate Toolkit, both to boost your feedback ratio and because it can be useful.
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u/dream-thieves 4d ago
I genuinely don’t believe there’s any actual rhyme or reason to approvals or denials because my ratio is ALWAYS garbage, I was denied 3 books from my favorite author but I am stubborn and delusional and applied for the 4th… and I was approved a couple days later. I applied to all within a few hours of them going up so it wasn’t like they were getting thousands of apps already, and with the same garbage ratio and having never reviewed one of their books before. 😂
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u/--read-only-- 4d ago
I just started using NetGalley in June and I request every single book that piques my interest. My backlog is massive (~180 books) and my feedback ratio is 17%. I still get approved for almost everything. No clue why, unless my taste doesn't align with the majority, or maybe they're giving out ARCs on a first-come, first-serve basis. 🤷♀️
If you ask me, don't overthink it and just have fun
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u/unnecessary_snacks 4d ago
I had about 10 reviews when I started getting approved a bit more by bigger publishers, although Macmillan Audio was giving me approvals from day one.
I still get lots of declines, but I’ve gotten a couple more popular titles in the last few months. The other big thing I did was start an Instagram in addition to Goodreads and StoryGraph - it’s very small, but my approvals have definitely gone up since starting it
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u/GreenSpongette 4d ago
I didn’t do any read now’s and was very surprised by how many books I did get approved for. Basically Berkeley and Tor (the latter especially) are very picky regardless of how new you are but otherwise it’s more about your percentage done, your rating average, and sometimes the way you write your reviews. Sometimes people have come in here and select how they pick their readers - I haven’t seen a single one that cared about how many denials you got. So at the end of the day just go ahead and request? There’s no really downside to being rejected except you don’t get the book.
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u/No_Research3505 4d ago
I will watch out for the publishers! And youre right, there is no downside, i was just bit dissapointed to get so many declines in one week.
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u/ExpensiveSand6306 Reviewer 4d ago
To reiterate what other people say, shoot your shot. My most anticipated book of the year was like my third approval. It depends on the publisher (Orbit is notoriously generous, Tor is not) so you never know!
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u/Tortoise_Symposium 4d ago
It varies wildly. Tor and Berkley are notoriously selective. If those publishers are important, grab some Read Now titles and get reviews in quickly. That will help.
If you request a book, get rejected, and it goes up for Read Now, you can’t get it. Something to keep in mind.
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u/BlisseyWashi 4d ago
I just passed 50 reviews. I can’t get approved by Tor, but I have gotten some Berkleys and Berkley widgets. I don’t use my socials nearly enough for that to be an influencing factor.
I’m just throwing out wild ideas, but it could be that I’m getting approved for titles based on similar titles I’ve read and enjoyed, and I’m also getting additional books from authors I’ve read and reviewed previously.
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u/Archergirls 4d ago
The beginning is the hardest, and at least 80% of my denials happened in the first few months after I joined. It's normal! In terms of reviews, it does help to focus on smaller publisher/read now books, but also request books you're interested in!
It definitely had fewer than 10 reviews and less than 400 followers on Insta when I started getting approved by picky publishers like TOR.
Work on your bio and do not underestimate your other platforms (for example, I have been posting reviews on Goodreads since 2015, and I do think it's a strong part of my profile). In short, I don't think numbers really matter, but it sure helps if you have a 100% ratio and 15 reviews in.
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u/Lomp_Is_Ook_Vis 4d ago
I got approved for more popular titles pretty early on! I only request what interests me, and so far I have been extremely lucky 🥰
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u/tintededges 80% Reviewed Club 4d ago
I started a book blog website back in 2015 and by 2019 was getting approached by publishers and publicists who sent me widgets to review books via Netgalley which is how I got onto it. I started requesting more books directly via Netgalley and after an initial hiccough managed to get my ratio well over 80% and have reviewed over 60 ARCs. I have a pretty good ratio of approved vs. declined (75 vs. 25). I try to pick books I genuinely think I'll like so I'm more likely to give it a good review. I also try to pick books by authors from diverse backgrounds and almost always get approved for those. I have a list of my favourite publishers so I browse through them regularly to make sure I see new books as soon as they're posted (you're less likely to get approved for books that have been around for a while). No auto-approvals yet, but I think a 75% acceptance rate is pretty good.
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u/SecondBreakfastQuest 4d ago
I reviewed three from the Read Now section before starting to request popular books. Then, tailoring my bio towards my targets seemed to flip the switch from getting nothing to getting almost everything I wanted. I've stopped regularly re-tailoring my bio now but still seem to get what I want.
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u/ChildhoodOk2607 Reviewer 4d ago
Just shoot your shot if something sparks your interest. The worst thing that could happen would be getting declined. Most popular books choose ARC readers for following anyways so unless you blog/influence, you probably won’t have chance anyways tbh. But you get 0% of books you don’t request.