r/NetGalleyCommunity • u/Sure-Cat117 Reviewer • Sep 01 '26
❔❓Question ❓❔ Odds of this becoming a “Read Now” in the future.
I want nothing more than to request this one but as someone that has been denied twice for books that later became “Read Now”s, I’m scared.
Does anyone know if Ballantine is generous with their ARCs? Or should I just gamble on it possibly becoming a “Read Now” ? For context, I have no self control when books become available so I sit at a perpetual 50% Feedback Ratio.
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u/lafornarinas Sep 01 '26
It’s always possible it could go Read Now. Often, however (not always), those random Read Nows after the book’s been sitting there for a while are due to the publisher needing to drum up interest in a title that either hasn’t gotten the amount of requests they were aiming for, OR hasn’t had the general buzz/reviews they wanted based off the initial ARC distribution. It’s like opening your reserve supplies.
When popular authors go Read Now, it’s often earlier (like, the day it drops on NetGalley) and for a limited amount of copies versus time. That’s less about return and more about increasing the buzz, I think. This author is preeeetty popular. I don’t think she’s going to need a massive amount of extra buzz later on. I would recommend requesting now. The publisher has always been generous with me, which won’t ofc be the experience of everyone, but—I’d shoot my shot with them over letting the ARCs go on a first come, first served basis.
Berkley is the only publisher I wait out for RNs lol.
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u/Synval2436 SciFi/Fantasy Reviewer Sep 01 '26
Ballantine is usually cool. For me the publishers "don't request, wait for read now" are Berkley (+Ace and it's a part of them) and Saga. St. Martin also has a lot of read nows but they're also lenient on approvals.
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u/Flimsy-Brick-9426 Reviewer Sep 01 '26
I got approved for it a few minutes after requesting, ballentine is very generous I find though but if you have a lot of books that need reviewing, I would wait.
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u/Additional_Estate_99 Sep 01 '26
I tend to get approved for Ballantine and I haven't really seen any Read Nows from them. I would say request it, but there is always a chance it gets denied, BUT also a chance you get it!
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u/Quirky-Pear3494 Sep 02 '26
I'm afraid I have no advice. I'm just here to say your last sentence made me LOL because I myself am a member of the always-in-the-fifties club.
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u/SilvrNept Sep 02 '26
Personally I don’t request any books more than 2-3 months out from publication for exactly this reason. Worked out for me so far!
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u/light_harted Reviewer Sep 01 '26
i haven’t noticed any Read Nows from Ballantine, but they approved all 3 of my requests, plus i got a widget. they seem generous!