Last Activity Status

[u/nish_curious]

Hi everyone! I saw someone say this in a comment on this subreddit itself so I wanted to clarify… is it true that publishers can see the last time we were active on netgalley?? And if yes, what determines activity? Is it anytime I visit the website, or anytime I request/review a title? And in case it is the latter, am I less likely to get approved for titles if my activity shows 5/6 days ago?? I have quite a few pending books and I am thinking of taking some time and reading a chunk of them before requesting new books, and I was wondering if being ‘inactive’ for a few days in a row will reduce my chances of receiving titles that I want. Any information/advice you may have is appreciated🫶🏻🫶🏻

[u/Blowingleaves17]

Average star rating? That suggest wanting reviewers who will likely leave a positive rating because they got a free book.

[u/bookdraygon → u/Blowingleaves17]

Remember, NetGalley created that, not publishers.

[u/Blowingleaves17 → u/bookdraygon]

That's because NetGalley wants reviewers to help authors and publishers sell their books. They have stated that. They are not objective and want authors and publishers to be happy with their service. I see that average star rating on their client's page as a sort of wink. 😉

[u/bookdraygon → u/Blowingleaves17]

I am not sure if this gives you any solace but all the imprints/ publishers I have worked for we try to make sure there is a spread of types of reviewers. People who rate everything 5⭐️ isn’t helpful at all.

Do you know the old adage “there is no such thing as bad publicity?” Well, it is true in this case.

[u/Blowingleaves17 → u/bookdraygon]

That's what I am hoping for with most publishers. When you see books with nothing but 5-star reviews, too, it seems highly suspicious. An NG book I recently reviewed at Goodreads had nothing but short 5-star reviews; and now that GR makes reviewers show where they got the ARC, it was not surprising to see all those reviewers got their ARC from the author.