REBECCA RECOMMENDS: eARCS

Everyone who reviews books knows that there are means and methods to reading ARC books. As in, books that are given to reviewers and bloggers before or around publication date in order to boost their profiles on social media. So, how does a blogger get around to gaining eARCS?

There are a number of methods to getting to this point in your blog. Firstly, you need to make sure you have a blog with book content, reviewing or showing hauls. Posting frequently also helps, although this is not completely essential, as in some cases you can post reviews on websites such as Goodreads or NetGalley (a website I'll be telling you about in a moment).

How can a beginner blogger start reviewing unreleased titles?

Your best place to start is most probably going to be NetGalley. This website is a godsend for bloggers and reviewers alike. Signing up is completely free, and although they prefer you to have a blog or somewhere you post reviews, it isn't actually essential, which is a bonus for those just starting out. This is because they ask for your feedback on the book after giving it a rating, as well as asking you to answer a couple of questions before confirming you've read a book and submitting the piece. Once you read and review a book, it gets added to your 'Feedback to Approval Ratio'. This ratio is preferred to be over 85% by those at NetGalley, which means that the more you are approved for, the lower your ratio actually becomes. However, this ratio increases with the more books you read and review, meaning you're also more likely to be approved for books too! If you're reading and reviewing a load of books from NetGalley, and they all just happen to be from a particular publisher, you may be added to an Auto-Approval list, meaning that from that point, if you request a book by that publisher, you will receive that book almost instantly into your downloads.

NetGalley has a range of books for review, so there usually is always something for everyone. Whilst this is just an introduction to NetGalley, Elizabeth over at The Owlery has created a great video guide to getting to know NetGalley a little bit better, which can be found here.

Is there anything other than NetGalley?

Yes. There's other websites available, and sadly, I haven't tried them, due to the fact that I really got on well with NetGalley. One website is Edelweiss, and although I haven't looked at it, I know a few others who have tried this website an do enjoy using it. E;lizabeth has also looked at this in one of her videos, again, really helpful, which can be found here!

Another option is entering giveaways. Authors (particularly on Twitter), often host giveaways to win a copy of their newest releases. Yes it means that you're one of x amount of people entering, but hey ho, it feels great to enter and then even win a competition!

 My final recommendation is following authors or agents on Twitter/Instagram/any social media. This is because they tend to advertise if they are looking for people to review authors work. For example, I was in contact with an agent who supplied me with a synopsis and cover of an upcoming book, and asked if I would be interested in a copy to review. From that, other authors and agents will get in touch with you, particularly if you're also quite active on social media.


So there we go, if you have any questions, or tips yourself, let me know down below!