Every book blog needs recent releases and upcoming books to stay fresh and lively. Blogging about new releases lets you join the conversation with other book bloggers, and readers are always looking for info on new releases and previews of upcoming books.
Besides, who doesn’t want to read a new novel first?
Booksprout also offers eARCs of indie books, especially romance and racy romance books. They have some good books here, including Broomstick, but I also got one that hadn’t been edited or proofread, so take care.
BookishFirst has ARCs from major authors, but you’ll get them through raffles, not by request. Take a look through their back catalog, and you see books here that you’ve already reviewed on your blog (or on GoodReads, etc.) you can share your reviews with the BookishFirst community to earn more points to use to enter raffles.
NetGalley is the big one! Most book bloggers use NetGalley for advance reviews. NetGalley has loads of famous authors and popular books, but you’ll probably have to complete some reviews of the available Read Now books before getting approved for a big name.
Reviewers are asked to review at least 80% of the books they receive, but if you really don’t like the book and can’t get through it, NetGalley has an option to chose not to review an eARC you’ve received. Even though I know it’s going to be read by someone at the publisher, somehow it’s easier to click “I will not be reviewing this title” than to email someone directly.
Once you have a few posts on your site, you can start looking to join blog tours. The tour organizer will send you the ebook to review and assign you your date to post. They’ll usually send some graphics and links to other blog hosts, and if they’re really good at organizing, they’ll promote your review post, too. This is a great way to get new books and connect with other bloggers in your genre. You all know I love Jane Austen retellings, so whenever I see a blog tour signup from Laurel Ann at Austenprose, I’m excited. I also really loved getting to read The Warehouse as part of Anne Cater’s book tour. But blog tours can also easily add unpaid deadlines to your life, so plan your work/blogging schedule accordingly.
Social sharing. Ok, this isn’t actually key to getting free books, but it’s part of growing your blog. If you already enjoy Pinterest, Mix, or other social bookmarking communities, share your posts there. (Everyone says that Pinterest is the key to blog traffic, but I get almost no one from Pinterest, usually new readers find my blog from Twitter.)
It’s better to share in a community where you’re already active, and to space out your shares. I’m in a couple book groups on Facebook, and every so often a new member will come in, post a bunch of self-promotional links and disappear without participating in any other conversations. Not my favorite.
You’ll want to grab all the free books, right? But don’t do it! Before you accept a promo copy, make sure you’re really thrilled to read it, or you’ll find yourself with a stack of underwhelming promo copies hanging over your head when you just want to read and relax.
Ok, book bloggers, what else do you wish you’d known when you were starting out?
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I wish I'd known now to connect with authors on social media, because sometimes they help you get ARCs of their books (one author actually signed and sent me an uncorrected proof copy of her book)! I also wish I'd known that being a bit cheeky (what I call having chutzpah) can sometimes get you an ARC as well. I've recently written to a couple of publishers and asked for ARCs and they sent me the widgets!
YES! It's so intimidating to reach out to publishers directly! My blog is small! But on the rare times when I've contacted publicists (usually to share reviews and ask for the author's next book) they've been very helpful and friendly.
Great advice here, and thanks for linking to my NetGalley post! I love seeing more fiction addicts around the blogosphere. :-)
I would tell my younger self not to be scared of talking to publishers on the phone or over email -- they want to be friendly with you because they want you, as a reviewer, to enjoy the book and your whole experience! Of course I'm still scared of talking to ANYONE so maybe I still need this advice.
Oh, yeah, the people I meet through book blogging are always very nice, and good publicists really do want to match bloggers with books we'll love and share. But it's completely against my character to email strangers, especially asking for free stuff!