I wanted to do a discussion post today on two of the most used ARC websites. I know there are people that aren’t familiar with both. I have been using Netgalley longer, but I really like Edelweiss, too. I have some tips to share and thought I could talk about why I like each one.
Netgalley:
Netgalley seems to be the more popular website that more people use. I started using Netgalley well before I started this blog. I was just reading and reviewing on Goodreads. But I did notice that I was getting declined for quite a few books. A couple publishers added that they were only approving for bloggers and not just reviewers anymore. So having a blog will help.
Netgalley is easy to use. Definitely fill out your profile and link up all your sites. Also, update it every so often. I try to update my profile social media stats every 3-6 months. I find that this helps. Publishers really like to see you have an 80% rating if possible. This gets easier to maintain after you have reviewed so many books. I’m at 199 reviewed right now, so my percentage doesn’t go up or down much anymore.
When signing up, it’s very easy to over request books. I did this. Bad. And I never caught up. I still have books from two years ago that I haven’t read and I feel bad about it. I’ve gotten better at requesting, but still overdo it at times.
Most books are available in kindle and pdf, but not all. I can’t get the pdf’s to transfer to my kindle, so I have to send a note that I can’t read the format. I would suggest sending that feedback instead of leaving it if you can’t read it.
There are some publishers that just never accept or decline books. Don’t get discouraged. Most will approve books early, but I have received a few arcs the day before release date.
Netgalley is very easy to figure out quickly. The site is easy to use and you don’t have to write out a reason why you are requesting a book.
Edelweiss:
Edelweiss is a bit less common. I joined around the time I started blogging. This site is a bit confusing. I just spent a lot of time scrolling through, but I believe there are some videos on youtube that explain the different features. As with Netgalley, you need to fill out your profile and connect all your social media.
I feel the publishers are much pickier on Edelweiss. I know that Harlequin Teen (now Inkpress) e-mailed me and told me that I had to be blogging at least 3 (or maybe 6) months and have 500+ followers before they would approve. Disney e-mailed and said they don’t approve for bloggers, only librarians and booksellers. I almost never get books approved from Penguin Teen (even though I get physical books from them) or Simon and Schuster. Neither of those have given me a reason. HMH Teen ignores all my requests (but I do get some physical books and they usually approve on Netgalley). I have very good luck with HarperTeen, but I know others that don’t get anything from them. I’m not sure if there are any tricks with these, but maybe someone will comment with tips.
When you request from Edelweiss, you have to type out why you want to request a specific book. You can get detailed or just write out a couple sentences. If I’ve read the authors other books, I usually include that. And I always thank them for giving me a chance to read and review early.
Edelweiss doesn’t have a percentage like Netgalley, but I did receive an e-mail saying that reviewing books helps you get approved. Even if you didn’t get the book from Edelweiss, you can review it there and send it to the publisher. I started doing that right away anyway, so maybe that’s helped me get approvals.
Edelweiss also sends weekly e-mails with tips. I suggest reading those because they help a lot. You can add books to different shelves that you create. They also have catalogs from publishers that list books coming out for each season.
I don’t find that I get more approvals from one vs the other. I tend to request a bit more on Netgalley, but I do use Edelweiss every month. I like both sites for different reasons. I find that you need to pay attention (maybe even take notes) to which publishers approve you on which site. It helps you request less if you know that you won’t get a book from one platform.
Discussion:
Do you have any tips for either site? Do you use both? Do you prefer one over another and why? Is there anything else you can share with the readers, especially for bloggers just starting out.
I’ve never heard of Edelweiss only of Netgalley I may have to check it out. But I knew when I first started real blogging a few years ago I went straight to Netgalley because I know for the most part it’s easy to get approved for books.
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Netgalley is definitely a great way to get books. I used it by itself for quite awhile before signing up for Edelweiss.
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One thing I’ve found about Edelweiss: It seems to have better “Download Now” in genres that I like. I’ve even seen the same book on NetGalley that one would have to request, but could just download on Edelweiss.
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That’s really cool. I need to pay more attention to the download now section. Thank you for that tip!
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Like you, I used NetGalley before starting my blog. I absolutely love NetGalley, I think it’s a brilliant site for authors and readers alike. I have since made an Edelweiss account but I hardly ever go on there because I always get rejected! I think I have received 1 approval on there. I also find it really confusing! But I think Edelweiss is just a site you need to work at, it’s probably really easy once you get the hang of it. Great post! 🙂
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Thank you! Edelweiss is a lot harder to use. I do like that I’ve found different books on there that never show up on Netgalley. I do get declined a lot, but I love how certain publishers will approve everything I request. I’ve really started paying attention to which publishers work better for me on each platform.
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That’s brilliant! So glad it’s working for you, I will probably start learning how to use it properly soon 🙂
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Thank you and good luck!
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I was wondering if you can review on NetGalley a book you’ve received through another channel.
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I don’t think you can on Netgalley. Just on Edelweiss. Hopefully someone will correct me if I’m wrong on that.
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That’s what I thought but I’m new on Netgalley. Oh well! Lol great post. I didn’t know about Edelweiss.
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Thank you.
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I found Edelweiss so hard to use so I gave up over a year ago!
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I’m sorry. It definitely isn’t as easy as Netgalley.
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It isn’t….but in a way I’m glad, least it’s only 1 site I go on a spree with and then realise I have 135744356 books to read in 2 months!!!!!
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That has been the biggest problem for me. I request a lot between the two.
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I seem to request loads and never hear back……so then I request loads more thinking i wont get them all and then they all come. There is no happy medium!
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I hate when that happens! I get excited until I realize that they all come out around the same time.
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Yes! And then I have to snatch bits of time everywhere to get them read!
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I love NetGalley! And I’ve had a few publishers email me ebooks that I didn’t request simply because we had a good relationship on NetGalley. I’m still trying to figure out Edelweiss but I’m slowly getting denied a little bit less.
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I’m glad you’re figuring out Edelweiss. And that is a great thing I forgot about with Netgalley. I do frequently get e-mails with books from publishers because of it.
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Yeah and I’ve noticed that even if I email them back saying I’m not interested in the book, they still seem to keep me on their list when other books come out. It’s nice to be able to have that connection with publishers in case anything I really want to read becomes available!
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That’s great!
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I’ve signed up for both, but I exclusively use NetGalley now. I did get approved for a couple books on Edelweiss, but I just couldn’t really figure the site out–it’s definitely not as user-friendly as NetGalley. If I start blogging more full-time, though, I’d probably look into Edelweiss again.
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I know there are quite a few bloggers that only use Netgalley. I do like how easy it is to use.
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I do feel like Edelweiss is a great resource too, I just need to take the time to figure it out.
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Good luck!
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I put myself on a request ban on Netgalley until I clear my shelf!! Argh!! But a side note, I have read PDFs on my Kindle with no problem!
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That’s great. I can read them if they’re not protected and I can convert them. But the ones that have been sent directly to my kindle always have messed up formatting.
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I have pretty much given up on EW. I am glad that it is a platform that you have figured out. Every once in a while I go on there and it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. NG is so much more user friendly.
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I was so overwhelmed with it at first. It took me a lot of playing around on it to figure it out and there are probably things I’m still missing. I do find that the weekly e-mail tips they send have helped me a lot.
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I should subscribe to that! Thanks for the tips. 🙂
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You’re welcome!
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Thank you so much for this post! I’m pretty new to book blogging, and I’m starting to look into entering the ARC world, but it all seems super complicated and confusing. This post definitely cleared things up a bit! I think I’m going to wait until I have a bit more blogging under my belt before I get involved, but when I do, I’m definitely going to refer back to this 😀
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You’re welcome. I really hope it helps a little bit when you’re ready.
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Great post! I tend to use Netgalley more since it’s simple, but I love how you have the opportunity to explain in detail why you want to request titles on Edelweiss! 😊
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I sometimes like that and sometimes I don’t. I struggle to explain why I want to read each book, but hopefully I do ok.
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Great post! I tend to primarily use NetGalley because it is more user friendly, but some publishers only use Edelweiss so I request on there as well!
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Thank you! I have noticed that, too. I have found books on Edelweiss that I’ve never seen on Netgalley. I try to check both multiple times a week (because I’m obsessive).
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I gave up on Edelweiss a long time ago. It’s not user friendly and the layout just seems confusing. I also never get approved for anything haha. I love Netgalley and tend to go a little crazy requesting.
I also really like BookishFirst. I believe it’s relatively new, but I could be wrong. I just heard about it last year. You write a short impression and join the giveaway for the ARC. I’ve written and joined 3 times and won all 3. =)
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I’m sorry you haven’t had any luck. I like Edelweiss quite a bit, but it does take a bit to get used to. And you need to know which publishers that will approve there vs the ones that only approve for librarians and booksellers.
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I know I’m late to the discussion but wanted to put in my perspective on Edelweiss. I’m an owner of a wholesale book company that sells to school libraries and classrooms. We use Edelweiss primarily to build our inventory orders for the upcoming season. When a publisher sales rep visits, we go through their Edelweiss catalog and “mark up” the titles we’d like to order. We used to go through printed catalogs but all the publishers pushed for us to switch to digital catalogs and Edelweiss was built to allow all the booksellers to view the catalogs. We can request samples through Edelweiss but usually we just contact our rep and ask for specific ARCs. I know independent bookstores primarily use Edelweiss for this reason. It’s also really convenient for booksellers to share custom curated booklists with customers since you can add a variety of titles to a collection and then export it as a PDF or email it directly from Edelweiss. I really don’t use Netgalley at all.
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