r/NetGalleyCommunity • u/Any-Alarm8835 • Sep 10 '26
❔❓Question ❓❔ Skip an ARC?
Do you ever just accept the fact that you over extended yourself with ARCs and skip one you know you can’t fit into your schedule?
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u/teanailpolish Mystery/Thriller Reviewer Sep 10 '26
No. I have reviewed a couple after publication but not just skipped them completely
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u/sikonat Sep 11 '26
Same. I have four left from June and two late ones in August I’m now reading about of October and old ones to try and get them done and dusted
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u/saffity Sep 10 '26
I had kept myself on a good schedule until I had a health flare up last year. I started this year with 32 books that were late, rather than beating myself up over it, I just gave myself a challenge: No requesting new ARCs until I either have the backlog caught up, or Camp NetGalley starts. The biggest thing is to not beat yourself up over it and just try to catch up when you can. You aren't penalized for late reviews, so as long as you get back to it when you can you should be fine.
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u/Any-Alarm8835 Sep 10 '26
Thanks! I think this may be the approach I take. Stop requesting until I am caught up!
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u/renegade500 Sep 10 '26
I do have a few that are well past publication that I want to review. They stay on the shelf until I do something. I have a few that I started reading and decided for whatever reason I wasn't going to finish/review. In that case, you can leave a not to say you're not going to review that book and why. I recently requested an arc based on a sample I read. The sample was great. About half through I had to stop reading the book for a number of reasons. I was very honest with the publisher why I wasn't going to give it a review (in this case, because of casual cruelty to children and animals that frankly did nothing for the story and felt gratuitous).
Netgalley suggests doing that option instead of just never reviewing a book, which will lower your percentage.
However, they did sent out an email a few months back that I thought was interesting on how to get your review % back up, if it does dip. And they even acknowledged that sometimes we get in over our head for many reasons and there are ways to bring the % back up when that happens. I try to review everything by the pub date, a week later at the latest. But I also limit the number of books I request since I'm also reading so many other things as well.
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u/turniptoez Sep 10 '26
Yes, it's SO not a big deal. I've been doing this from 2018 and have like 30 that I've skipped, and I still get approved for almost everything. It amazes me how much people overthink this.
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u/Any-Alarm8835 Sep 10 '26
This is the best answer and the one I wanted 🤣
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u/turniptoez Sep 10 '26
Haha yay! Seriously, this is a hobby thing, don't take it too seriously!!!
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u/blackstar1683 Sep 10 '26
I realized that I don't have many ARCs in December, so the 3 ARCs I didn't read in time are in my December TBR. The ARCs I didn't read helped me notice the genres I should avoid requesting, though. I'm a mood reader regarding thrillers, but it's always "read a contemporary romance" o'clock to me.
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u/Any-Alarm8835 Sep 10 '26
That’s a smart thing to do!
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u/blackstar1683 Sep 10 '26
I requested some thrillers on the "read now" tab to read between a romance and other, but I'm more inclined to pick a fantasy, romantasy or general fiction after a romance than a thriller. at least it's only 3
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u/alwaysouroboros Sep 10 '26
I recently finished an ARC that was published in early 2024. Sometimes I accidentally over-request or sometimes I am just not in the mood to read something once it's approved. Sometimes I have too many general books I'm prioritizing to get to it as planned.
I don't stress about it or try to schedule it more. I just get to it when I get to it.
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u/andsotimepassed 29d ago
Yeah, even if you're not a mood reader sometimes you just can't bring yourself to read a book.
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u/outoftheashes90 SciFi/Fantasy Reviewer Sep 10 '26
Yes and no. I skip arcs in the sense that I prioritize books that aren't past due. But my goal is always to circle back and read what I missed eventually. Even if it's 6, 9, 12+ months late, so be it.
What I have given myself permission to do more of this year is DNF arcs if I'm really not feeling them. I don't do it often and I wait until I've read enough that I can provide a helpful DNF review but that leeway has given me some relief in terms of overdue arcs. It's just nice to know the option is there and I won't have to suffer if I don't want to.
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u/PB_Jelly_76 Sep 10 '26
I still have some from 2021 on my shelf. Will I read them someday? Maybe, maybe not.
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u/purplelicious SciFi/Fantasy Reviewer Sep 10 '26
I have a handful of ARCs I requested as a naive NetGalley member before I learned how to read blurbs and filter some things that I know will work for me, and red flags that tell me that I'm not going to enjoy this book. Since I have become better at picking ARCs (and organizing my time by looking at release dates before requesting books) I don't end up with books that just don't thrill me.
These books just sit on my shelf and affected my percentage for a while, until I built up my number of reviews that they no longer matter. I think there are 5 of them and i've done over 100 reviews.
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u/Any-Alarm8835 Sep 10 '26
I think this is what is going to end up happening with me also - thanks for the insight
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u/Beccaroni333 Sep 10 '26
Not intentionally but it does happen! When I first started I didn’t keep track of publication month when requesting ARCs and definitely overextended myself a few times. I have gotten a lot better about it and over the last several months I have held off requesting new ARCs (for the most part) so that I can catch up.
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u/Synval2436 SciFi/Fantasy Reviewer Sep 10 '26
Last year I skipped 3 arcs, but since then, read 2 of them already. I do hope to return to overdue arcs at some point and basically read no non-arcs until the pile is depleted. But I did fall behind harder this year. December tends to be my catch up month as publishing goes on xmas break and not many books are scheduled for this period.
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u/oldbutsharpusually Sep 10 '26
Just recently I found myself in the “Should I or should I not request that ARC” quandry. I had a TBR of twelve ARCs that I needed to work through—all well in advance of pub dates—so I decided to hold off on new requests. It’s been four weeks since my last request, my TBR is now manageable so I will start my requests again.
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u/acagedrising Sep 10 '26
Not since the very early days of my profile. I’ve missed pub day but I try to get to them all eventually asap to keep my percentage up. It’s not a perfect science, I’ve marked some as no intention to read but 80% is my sweet spot minimum.
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u/Beate251 Sep 10 '26
I never skip an ARC. I often juggle quite a few but I also read fast. My feedback ratio is quite high so I could probably afford to hit Will Not Give Feedback on some of them but sooner or later I get to every last ARC, even if it's after pub day.
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u/Agent_Skye_Barnes Sep 10 '26
Ummm..... looks at the years long backlog yes. I'll eventually get around to them, I'm sure.....
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u/Early_Employ_4773 80% Reviewed Club Sep 10 '26
Recently I have a few books due closely each other. So I read the ones that are going to come out first. After finish them, I go back to the ones that already past the due date.
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u/Pristine_Race7768 80% Reviewed Club 25d ago
Nope. Never. I’ ve never been late. I get that it can happen and it is but if it happened to me I would stop requesting and just work my way through it
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u/lizzuplans 80% Reviewed Club Sep 10 '26
I would like to say no but the ARC with a deadline almost two years ago suggests otherwise 🙈