After receiving some advance copies of books through Goodreads and Penguin last year, I quickly realized I absolutely relished the experience of reading a book before its publication date and giving my thoughts on it. That led me to NetGalley, a site that links readers, teachers, and librarians with publishers.
Like many newbies to NetGalley, I made the ultimate rookie mistake: I requested every single book that piqued my interest. I was declined for a few, but was approved for most. Once the initial euphoria wore off, it hit me that I had a couple dozen books I needed to read in just a few weeks. And of course I kept requesting more- how could I not when there have been so many awesome books published this year?
I also made the mistake of not downloading books in time before they were archived, meaning I was approved for books that I couldn’t actually read. That made my ratio take a hit, too.
Why is this important?
Well, one of the criteria publishers look at when deciding whether or not to send you a book is your feedback ratio- how many books you’ve reviewed vs. how many you’ve been approved for. No one wants to send you a book if there’s a high chance you might not read it.
The golden standard for reviewers is at least 80%. Because I went request happy, I was nowhere near this ratio for months. I mean, it took a solid six months to just get me to the 50% mark.
Well, readers, it took a lot of time and effort (all of which I thoroughly enjoyed), but I finally did it. I am officially an 80%’er!
Please feel free to send me congratulatory chocolates, balloons, and cake. Oh, and more books, too.
How are your ratios doing? Any tips and tricks for other NetGalley reviewers? Let me know in the comments!
A Little Nerd Told Me 
Congratulations! I started using NetGalley in April and just got my 80% badge last week! Not because I was requesting lots but because I think you need to submit 20 reviews before being eligible!
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Oh I didn’t know that! I’m at 50 reviews so that gives you a pretty good indicator of how request happy I was at first haha.
Congrats 🙂
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congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <333333 It's so funny how when we all first start using netgalley we go on such a requesting spree lol! Thankfully I've learned to be smarter over the years and my review ratio never dips less than 90% these days :)))))))))
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Hahaha thank you 🙂 Yeah, I’m definitely trying to be more conservative and realistic with my requests but they keep listing so many intriguing books!
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Congrats!!! It’s the best feeling when you finally hit the 80% ratio. I’ve managed to keep mine between 80% and 90% but it’s so hard. 🙈
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One book I requested awhile ago was just approved so now I’m at 79% hahaha but it was nice while it lasted. I’m definitely going to make an effort to stay above 80% though.
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lol that always happens!!!
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Congratulations! Good for you.
What percentage of the books that you request are approved? One of the reasons why I haven’t signed up for NetGalley is that I’m afraid I’d request too many books, too. LOL.
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I just took a look and funny enough I’ve got just a little over an 80% approval rating on books I request.
It’s easily done, requesting too many, but I’m trying to be good about it and also get ones that are due in different months so I can spread them out a bit.
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