Let’s talk about anything bookish!
For those of us who review books, we are very familiar with Netgalley. What struck me one day was a conversation I had with one of my friends who said that her Netgalley feedback ration was soooo low, and how could she raise it higher?
On Netgalley, the suggested feedback ration is 80% or higher. This means that you get a higher chance of getting approved when you request galleys. This also means that you have sent reviews/feedback on the books that you have requested.
My current Netgalley feedback ratio is 86%. But it wasn’t always that way! At one point, I was really struggling. And even if I mostly got approved whenever I requested but I hated looking at the 40% ratio.
But how do you even get it at 86%? Here is my secret!
Limit your requests
I used to request multiple galleys at the same time. So I would request between 3-5 at a time and I usually don’t finish reading them in time. I am a mood reader so requesting a lot of books at one time does not work for me.
I have learned to limit the galleys I request. I only request galleys that I know I can read. This means that I don’t visit Netgalley all the time. I usually visit once every other week to see if there are any titles that interest me.
If you see the number of galleys that I got approved, you will see that it isn’t a high number. This is because I was able to reign in my requesting fairly early and learned quickly that I shouldn’t request a lot. So in about 4 years, I have only requested that much.
Review even if you didn’t like the book
One of the misconceptions is that you shouldn’t write negative reviews. To be honest, negative reviews are very easy to write (this is just me, though). This is because I usually have more feelings when I don’t enjoy the book I was reading so I can actually craft a longer review. The same can be said for positive reviews. I think it is the meh books that are harder to review.
As long as the review is about the book and not the author, there shouldn’t be a problem with it.
Review even if they are DNFs
Another misconception is that DNFs can’t be reviewed. This is not true. I think that if you can articulate why these books were DNFs for you and why it didn’t work for you, then this can be your review.
A review can be short and sweet
You don’t have to write a novel when you review. Keep it short. Keep it sweet. You don’t have to write a summary of the plot. You don’t have to make it VERY detailed.
Some of my reviews have been only a paragraph which can be between 5-6 sentences articulating why I enjoyed or did not enjoy the book. Yeah, quick reviews are fun to write!
Review as soon as you finish reading
I TRY my best to review the books I read immediately after I read them. I know it’s not always possible but it helps get things out of the way pretty fast.
One of the things I learned is that if I don’t review the books as close to the time when I finished it, I usually end up not reviewing it.
How is your Netgalley feedback ratio? Do you have any tips on keeping it higher than 80%?
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