For whatever reason, NetGalley has decided to start putting tighter restrictions implemented publishers’ tightening of restrictions on who gets free eARCs (electronic Advanced Reader Copies).
So what.
Here’s the thing: NetGalley charges what is, to me, a micropress, an astronomical amount of money to give away books. That’s right: I would be paying to give my product to people in exchange for…very little in the way of a quantifiable return.
NetGalley is not in business to lose money. It’s in business to make money by providing a publishers’ colony. However publishers decide to define their ROI (return on investment) is how NetGalley’s going to be bringing in the money.
Follow the money.
When all other explanations fail, just follow the money.
According to Fran Toolan, head of NetGalley, each publisher decides how to distribute and restrict ARCs. Some are much more restrictive than others, but it’s never NetGalley’s decision. There has definitely been a shift in the feel of things, but that’s due to a variety of factors. I think NetGalley could have handled the changes better, but it isn’t true that they have tightened restrictions. They are just letting the publishers do it, which they have always done. As you say, publishers are the paying customers.
That’s what I meant, thanks. I’ll fix that in the post.
I’ll admit that I’m bitter about how much NG charges to do that.
Crap…I have to admit that I signed up for Netgalley when it first came out…and then didn’t utilize it very much, but that is a damn shame.
I am sorry you are bitter. It’s pretty clear that everyone has different reasons for using our service. Yours maybe to give away free books, and you don’t see the return on your investment. Others are looking to create a buzz about their books in order to increase sales, and for that NetGalley is proving to be a valuable investment.
I know that you are capable of giving away free books yourself. Why would you even consider a “service” to do so? What makes you so bitter?
Lastly, as SonomaLass pointed out above, NetGalley has NEVER implemented any restrictions on who gets eARCs. We provide publishers with the options to do so, for whatever reason they feel it’s important. Who gets or doesn’t get an eARC is entirely in the hands of the publishers. NetGalley plays no role in that process. We only facilitate the delivery to the various devices.
Thanks for commenting, Fran. If you’ll notice, I did know that NG only provides the service and that the publishers set the restrictions, and when SonomaLass pointed out that I wasn’t clear about that, I amended my post.
It is true that my complaint with NetGalley is as a publisher who actually needs that kind of visibility who can’t afford the service.
Well, to be overly honest, if we charged any less, we couldn’t afford to exist at all. NetGalley may be growing in all ways, but that also includes costs.
Thank you for being overly honest, then, because I CAN grok that. I totally get that.
I, for one, think Netgalley handled the changes well. We all received an email talking about the changes and I was aware of the new requirement list as soon as it was implemented. The outcome was inevitable.
I had no idea that netgalley was so pricey for small presses! I was wondering if you have any tips for reviewers seeking to work with smaller presses? While I like the convenience of netgalley, I also like working with smaller press authors and reviewing their works. It can be hard, however, to know who to contact about ARCs.
The only thing I know is to approach the smaller presses individually if you’d like to review their books.
Zumaya Books has a lovely selection.
Stonehouse Press does Warren Adler’s books (the guy who wrote War of the Roses). (If you want one of those, let me know.)
Most any of the smaller presses, especially the e-pubs, would probably be happy to grant a request. The only problem is that they aren’t centralized like NetGalley does for the big publishers.