Saturday, December 13, 2014

Discussions Only We Know - Requesting From NetGalley/Edelweiss

Discussions Only We Know

Last week, I discussed the topic of whether or not you intend to read all of the books in your possession. I'd love for you to weigh in on that subject if you're interested. This week, I'd like to look at a variation of that same topic:

Requesting from NetGalley/Edelweiss

Do you intend to read all of the books you've requested and been approved for by NetGalley, Edleweiss, or physical ARC? What are your thoughts on this? Do you feel any obligation to read these books? Or not so much? How do you pick what to request and what not to request (other than the description)? Or do you go by description alone?

I personally feel a responsibility to at least attempt to read and review each and every one of the books I get approved for. That really shouldn't come as a surprise considering my response to last week's topic. I feel like I've made an agreement with the publisher by requesting to read their book. Granted this is not a written in stone agreement, but I do feel like it's important for me to maintain a good relationship with the publishers that I'm requesting books from. One of the best and easiest ways for me to do that is to fulfill my part of the bargain. "You provide me with book. I read said book and provide you with my honest thoughts on said book."

Let me be clear, I'm discussing books we've requested to review, not books that an author or publisher has contacted us about reading/reviewing.

Let's add in the fact that there are a limited number of review copies available. If I'm requesting a book that I have no intention of reading, or I have over 1000 review books in my possession that need to be read, well...that's just not really fair to someone else who might have requested the book and was denied because the publisher ran out of copies supplying me who may or may not get around to reading and reviewing each book.

How do I determine whether to request a book or not? Well, obviously I read the description. I almost always check out the average star rating on Goodreads to see what the early feedback is--if there is any. Sometimes there are no ratings and I can't really use that as a guide. If I even slightly feel "iffy" about the book after reading the description and checking Goodreads, 9 times out of 10, I'll choose not to request it. I take into consideration how many other review books that I have in my possession that need to be read, how far out I'm scheduled on reviews and when the release date is (or the time period that I would need to try to have my review posted by), whether it's an author that I trust, and truthfully, a great cover might sway me to request it if I'm feeling good about everything else--or let's be honest, a crappy cover might sway me toward not requesting it as well.

All in all, I don't think it's wise to request any and every book available that I have an inkling I might want to read. Publishers do look at the number of requests you've been approved for versus the number of reviews you've provided. So, what are your thoughts? Do you think you're entering into a semi-contract with the publisher when you click "request"? Or do you request anything you're slightly interested in? Let me know!

26 comments:

  1. I feel very responsible to read and review what I receive through netgalley & Edelweiss. The guilt at times feels very overwhelming. There have been times when I can't access the book anymore, but can get a copy from the library or will purchase it myself to complete my request. Sadly, I'm currently behind in my review for them but I hope to remedy that in early 2015.

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  2. Now I do read every book I request. On Edelweiss I have decided I will read all the books I request. And I like that they put their books as e-arcs available sooner. So it gives me lots of time to plan to read them. Plus i've been reading them in order they release. On netgalley now I do read all books I request. But I do have 6 older books (i think 5 of them were read nows). I did plan to read them when I got them. And still hope to read them. But I just haven't managed to do so. I am pretty fussy before I request a book. I will look on goodreads to read early reviews. If it's from an author i've never heard of and there are no reviews I usually pass. I have so many books to read I don't usually take a chance on something completely unknown.

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  3. What ereader do you guys have whose netgalley e-books expire? On my kindle they stay there forever.

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  4. I read everything I request. I think requesting a book for review makes me obligated to review it. I understand that authors and publishers only get so many to send out for review. I have not reviewed some books and then told the publishers that i would rather not publish a review with one star. I think, I hope, the appreciate my honesty.
    Admittedly, I a way behind with 7 netgalley books right now. Two of which are archived. I am not as faithful on Edelweiss. The books I requested there I only reviewed on Goodreads and Amazon, as well as on edelweiss. The genres were way out of my blog's scope. I am doing a Free ebook challenge this year, so maybe I will get to the those free ebooks I have had waiting to be read this year.

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  5. I have a netgalley account, but I rarely use it. When the library supplies me with every book I want it isn't a problem with a lack of books to read. When I request and get approved for a book I will read the book because I feel I owe the author that much.

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  6. When I first joined NetGalley, I didn't really understand how it worked and I requested a bunch of books, thinking, "Oh, maybe I'll get approved for a couple of these." Well, I got approved for a lot more than I thought I would and I never really caught up. (I'm actually working on getting rid of that backlog now). Nowadays, I only request books I plan to read relatively quickly. Much better.

    Hey, I see you enjoy discussions - come check out the 2015 Book Blog Discussion Challenge!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  7. I do feel an obligation to review books I've requested. Like Nicole, I'm still working on a backlog, and I've recently cut back on what I request. I'm focusing mostly on authors and books I would seek out (either buying or borrowing from the library) even if I didn't get the ARC. But sometimes I do see something that looks good, that I wouldn't have known about except for NetGalley or Edelweiss.

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  8. I've only had two review books "expire" on me. Are you sending them to your ereader as soon as you're approved for them? Or are you waiting? What kind of e-reader do you have? Ugh I HATE trying to read a PDF on my 3G Kindle or my Kindle Paperwhite, but I don't mind reading those on my phone or the Kindle Fire. I just turn the device sideways and I can read them easier. Still not convenient.

    I've got some thoughts about what to do with the books you're no longer interested in reading/reviewing, but that's for this week's discussion post.

    Yes, I don't know that ALL review books have a limit on copies the publisher can approve, but I know that some of them do.

    Thanks for stopping by and commenting Lola! Great thoughts.

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  9. I agree with you Marni. I want to maintain that good relationship with the publishers. I'm a mood reader, so as much as I'd like to read by release date, that just doesn't happen for me. But it causes me to feel super guilty if I don't publish my review within 30 days of the publication date.

    I was telling Lola, I've only had 2 review books "expire" on me. Do you go in and send them to your e-reader as soon as you're approved for them? Or do you wait? Also, what kind of e-reader do you have?

    Good luck trying to get caught up! Thanks for your thoughts Marni!

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  10. I agree with you, I like that Edelweiss offers a lot of their review books much sooner than NetGalley. I like to have PLENTY of time to get them read. I've already read two for mid-2015. Sounds like you and I have a similar process for determining whether to request a book or not. Thanks for your thoughts Jennifer!

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  11. Mine stay too. I've had two review books where the publisher set and "expiration" date on the egalley. One of them I had to read on my computer because of the type of document the publisher used. But it's not an ongoing problem I've had (review books expiring). I'm wondering if they might not be downloading them from NetGalley/Edelweiss immediately after being approved.

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  12. I think that's a very responsible attitude to have. I definitely try to review all of them too--even if I'm really late getting my reviews published. I think that publishers appreciate your honesty. They know and understand that every book is not for every reader. I won't say that 7 books on NetGalley is "way behind." :) I've got about 30 review books total right now. But I still have a really good feedback ratio. I'd rather be in your shoes though. Good luck with your challenge for 2015 though! And thanks for your thoughts Karen!

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  13. Haha...I'm with you Rachael. I definitely don't have a problem with a LACK of books to read. However, my local library doesn't have a big selection when it comes to books I typically enjoy. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  14. Haha Nicole! I think we all did that at first too. I've got about 30 review books right now. Some of them I've already read, but most I haven't. It gives me a bit of anxiety, but I feel much more of a responsibility to these books than the ones I've gotten just because. Good luck with your backlog. Also, I'm going to check out your challenge next. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  15. I have it sent right away. I have a Nook HD+ with the Kindle App on it. I have a Kindle Keyboard too, but I find it clumsy.

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  16. I think feeling that obligation is good. I don't like to see a blogger be flippant about the review books they've received. I've got about 30 review books that I still need to publish reviews on. Some of them are ones I've already read but just haven't posted my review of yet, but most of them I still need to read. I agree with you though, sometimes NG/EW has books available that I wouldn't have come across in the library or otherwise. Thanks for your thoughts Lark!

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  17. Hmm...I only have Kindle e-readers so I haven't really experienced my review copies expiring. I mean it has happened to me twice that I remember, but it's not an ongoing problem. Sorry it has happened to you.

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  18. I actually have 14 on netgalley, 7 are way behind. Also, I have 43 books on my TBR list on goodreads. That is pretty accurate since I put all my tours, publisher and author arcs on there. I am really far behind.

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  19. You'll get to them! :) Sounds like you're organized with everything. I've found that being organized helps me a lot.

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  20. With this Nook I haven't dealt with them expiring. On my old Nook I did.

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  21. I think I might have read that they expire on nooks. Can't remember exactly which is why i asked. I also had one that had an expiry date and couldn't be read on my kindle. Don't really care for that.

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  22. I guess I just don't read them fast enough :(. I always send them to my e-reader as soon as I get approved. What's the difference with when you wait? I never considered waiting as I am usually so excited I want to put the books on my e-reader right now. I also have this obsession with putting my books on my e-reader as soon as possible after I received them.

    I have a Kobo e-reader, so I need to have an epub file to read a book properly. I have an ipad on which I can read mobi and pdf files, but I don't like reading on my ipad as it doesn't have an e-Ink screen and reading on my ipad for a long time hurts my eyes.

    I am looking forward to read your thoughts about what to do with the books you're no longer interested in reading/reviewing!

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  23. Gotcha! Hopefully it won't be a problem in the future.

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  24. Hmm...Marni said she has a Nook and that's happened to her in the past too. I'm not quite sure why. I would think if you're sending them to your Kobo as soon as you're approved then you should be fine. I have had one that I forgot to send to my Kindle and it was archived on NetGalley before I had a chance to read it. But that's only happened to me once.

    I much prefer the e-Ink screen too. I have a Kindle Fire and a I read on my phone sometimes too, but I prefer my 3G Kindle or my Paperwhite.

    I'll be posting my discussion this week on Saturday. Hope you stop by and check it out then.

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  25. I also feel a certain responsibility to try to read and review most books from netgalley, but I've had a few issues were I couldn't access the book anymore on my e-reader when the book isn't open for review anymore on netgalley. Then there are some books I can't read due to the file being a pdf and showing up with too small font on my e-reader, I do keep those on netgalley as I plan to buy those books myself eventualy and then still submit my review on netgalley as well. I have one or two books on netgalley I am not really enthousiastic about anymore, but I haven't decided what to do with those yet.

    I didn't realize publishers had a limited amount of review copies available, now I suddenly feel quilty requesting those books I wasn't 100% sure about. Although recently I have been more carefull with requesting books from netgalley and only request those I really want to read. Just like you I read the blurb and usually hop over to goodreads and read soem reviews and based on that i decide whether I want it, when I am not sure I usually not request.

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