Netgalley is a wonderful site that gives lowly humans like me the chance to read books before they are released in exchange for an honest review. The truth is I love Netgalley (maybe a little too much) and I’m so happy that it exists.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t want to check any of the new releases on the site in the ya section and feast over the books that have yet to come.

However it isn’t without its problems (more like I’m not without mine) as it strings you up into addiction. I swear Netgalley was created so that book reviewers have something to be addicted to, to the point where all you think about is what’s next on there and reading all these shiny new books so that you neglect the ones you already have at home.

The biggest issue however is how easy it is to request a book. I mean you don’t expect me to click on that beautiful request button on that fantasy book that has my name written all over.. do you? Honestly it’s terrible. There are times where I would request 10 or 20 books at once without batting an eye. (Do you see how it’s me that’s the problem?) If they only made it so that it asked you about 100 times if it really is the best idea to request this book it might make it slightly less addictive… maybe.

Anyways the point of this is that I am terribly behind on my Netgalley books to the point where I’m drowning in them and I simply need some help. I have 35 Netgalley books to read and a few more to finish my reviews for and that’s even since only requesting when Julie Kagawa’s new book was put up to request Shadow of the Fox (which is a book 1 *squeal*) which makes the total requests that are pending up to 22.. so yeah if they are approved I’m really in a hole even though I really REALLY want to read them.

So here’s the plan:

I can’t even look at what is new on Netgalley until I have completed all but two reviews from my shelf. That’s right: from 35 to 2. As much as I love Netgalley I need to make this ban because otherwise I’m never going to see the light of day.

So it’s simple:

• No looking at Netgalley ever until all but 2 reviews are done

It is simple right?

Thanks for reading! Let me know your Netgalley woes in the comments below. Who is a must request author for you?

-Till next time!

52 thoughts on “Netgalley: Thoughts, Feelings, And New Rules”

  1. The only woes I really have are getting declined for books that are highly anticipated for me. Circe by Madeline Miller is one of my most anticipated releases for the year and I was declined, that’s actually the last book I requested. I’ve only read two ARCs this year.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. You are an inspiration for me. I have no sense of self-control when it comes to Netgalley anymore. Most of my reads so far this year have been arcs (mostly out of necessity because of how often I would request) but not being approved for a book you really want really hurts for me as well.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I know… it’s too tempting and irresistible.. 😉😉😉 Luckily for me, mine is a smaller blog and I don’t get many ARCs approved… Otherwise, I request indiscriminately too… But I have been trying hard not to open the website at all these days.. 😊😊

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  5. I stoped requesting everything that vaguely interested me after having some bad luck with the ARCs I was accepted for. I don’t request a ton and I don’t get accepted a lot (I don’t get explicitly declined a lot either. Most of my requests sit in pending until they are there for so long that they move to declined), but since implementing this strategy I have had much better luck.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. That’s another great strategy! I have been implementing that a little bit as well, but my problem is that I have too wide an interest in so many genres. But I feel that limiting myself as much as possible until I can find a better rhythm will make things much better.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. I feel your pain. I am not quite as behind as you but I have 3 that are more than three months old more like 6 months. whoops! and 4 currents. I am squeezing them in as I can considering I am on like a billion ARC teams for authors and get at least three book requests for each team a month. Aggghh… I think I need to have my head checked. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That’s a lot of commitment you have there! Do your Netgalley and group arcs ever mix or all they all separate? The other thing with mine is that they are not necessarily that behind in Month (my oldest novel is from December) i just have a lot that were due last month and this one. I just also need to get back into blogging more which I’m doing.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Mine are all seperate. Sometimes the book blog tours I do are books in Netgalley. But that is about the extent of the overlapping. I am turning away alot right now trying to free up some time so I can read new releases in some of my series that I enjoy. My blogging is alot of work as well but I am hanging in there.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  9. If it makes you feel better I currently have 39 on my shelf and I’ve seen others with over 200. I do however blame NetGalley rather than myself as even if I stay away they lure you back with emails full of widgets and offers of instant approval. I think it should be like those gambling sites where you can ban yourself (for a period of time at any rate).

    I’m currently trying a Goodreads support group but I think it’s making me worse. I do wish you luck with your goal, I don’t think I could do it but just think how nuts you can go once you do.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It’s so true! The way Netgalley has itself set out really is like a gambling site for readers. It can become a very real and very hard problem to kick, but I’m determined to because I feel that I owe it to the authors I’m reading from to give their reviews on time. But it is so hard!!!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  10. I feel you on this & wish you all the luck lol. If it makes you feel any better…I’m at 22 on my shelf with a few pending 🙈so I’ve put myself on a No Requesting Ban & since January I’ve been doing ok 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I couldn’t agree with you more, I’m trying to balance things out but coming to the realization that this is just a lesson for me to learn from lol. I hope you find a schedule that works for you with your arcs 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  11. I could make you feel better by telling you how many I have on my shelf, but then I would feel terrible. All I can say is, I have TONS more. I reviewed 87 galleys last year, and if I were to keep up at that rate this year, I could request nothing and have plenty left over for next year. 😉

    Good on you for putting some rules in place. The trick is sticking to your guns. Easier to do now than later. The deeper the hole, the easier it is to say “what difference does it make now?” Just be careful not to cinch too tight. Much earlier in my relationship with NetGalley, I put myself on a ban, and it lasted 3 months, but then I binged. I binged, and because I’d got so many galleys in, I’d passed some sort of line and all of a sudden a HUGE % of my request got approved.

    Wishing you lots of luck! Wrangle the beast while it’s still beatable!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yeah, I just don’t want to get into too deep a hole. It’s so easy to just request into infinity and it gets to the point that I feel bad for the authors whose books I’m requesting that need reviews. There have been a few that I know I won’t end up liking from reading someone else’s review so I just send a message to the publisher sayin that I’m sorry but I’m not going to read such and such book and state my reason, which also helps keep it a little bit more manageable. All the books on my Netgalley shelf now are books I’m DYING to read so it really pushes me to want to get in line more as well.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. Wow, I kinda envy you.. and agree with you with how addicting Netgalley is… I still feel like new as a reviewer and I just discovered Netgalley maybe Nov or Dec last year… But the addiction was NOT GOOD. By New Year, I had at least 40 books on my shelf. I thought I can do this but by Feb, I still have at least 35. Yeah 35!!! i’m in panic. But 2 weeks ago (if im not mistaken) I decided to spend a week reading nothing but ARCs… I read nine books in a week. I learned that if I really put my mind into it, Focus on ARCs I can do it… And I somehow did.. i only have 25 in my shelf now. 🙂

    Goodluck to you… 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It is so so easy to get in that Netgalley hole. They make it so addicting! At one point my shelf was at 45 and I’ve gotten it down a bit since then, I’m just afraid of the fact that my blogging has been spotty lately and I’m just getting back into it so hopefully soon I will be caught up! 😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  13. I really need to get back to Netgalley. I got approved for and read one ARC through them ages ago but then I think I got worried that I wouldn’t be approved for anything else because of my low stats and the fact that I’m an Aussie reader. 😕 Plus I’m constantly bogged down by my already released books TBR.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Honestly Netgalley is súper forgiving and honestly you can request what you like (although I think there might be a Netgalley website specific to Australia and the uk but I am not entirely sure.) however if you have a bunch of books you already own that you wish to dedicate yourself to, that’s awesome as well! Honestly just reading and blogging what makes you happy is the best thing you can do for yourself! 😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  14. I didn’t even get a netgalley account until I finish high school because i know this is going to happen. At least if I wait until after June graduation, I will have time to actually do things. But for Now, I know that any book I request will just be pushed off by hw and afterschool activities. The only constant review service that I’m on is onlinebookclub because I heard you could eventually get paid, and I need to work my way up in ranks for that so I can get potentially paid this summer.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That’s really smart. Honestly, that’s just thinking about things responsibly and I really really respect that. I’m in a space where I do my best to cram everything I want to do in a day and it doesn’t always work out. Prioritizing right is key!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  15. This is a really good plan. I don’t have as many books as you to review on Netgalley, but what I do have feels like too much for me. I should probably give something like this a try.

    Good luck reading and reviewing your Netgalley books. I hope most (if not all) of them turn out be amazing books!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I have been struggling a lot recently with balancing out all the things I wish to accomplish in a day. So doing something about one of my biggest issues and making it a lot more manageable is really important to me. I think that things recently have been going a whole lot better and I am all the happier for it!

      Good luck on your reading as well! I hope your reads turn out amazing for you as well!

      Like

      Reply

      1. I feel exactly the same way. I want to do so many things each day but there’s not enough time, so that sucks. I’m glad things are going better for you, though! That’s awesome to hear.

        Thanks!

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

  16. I have a lot of guilt regarding my Netgalley shelf! So behind on reviews, ugh. It makes me feel better to see others are in similar situations. I have been considering starting over but I really want to read those books, so I’m torn on what to do!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It’s a really hard situation to be in because a part of you will always be afraid to stop looking at and requesting books because you never know what amazing new release my pop up, but for me I tend to want to do stop requesting out of guilt. I really feel bad for those authors whose books I have arcs for and I feel that I owe it to them to give their book a review in a timely manner. So for now my plan feels like what is best for me.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  17. I’m so glad there are others like me, I was at about 40 on my Netgalley shelf and feeling the pressure and then I swear out of nowhere I have 60 books that I need to read 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ I don’t know how I managed it!! I also can’t ban myself because then they email me with pretty books and I just can’t help myself when it’s being flaunted in my face, my goal is to cut that down to 30 by the end of the year. I’ll just have to try my best to keep the addiction in check 😆

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It is so so hard to stop requesting. It takes a LOT of willpower to not be brought in by shiny and amazing new releases. I could easily fall into have 60+ books on my shelf if I didn’t intervene at this point. I just feel bad for the books I own on my shelf and also for the authors who deserve to have a review done on time and when I think about it that way it makes it so much easier to stop. 😊

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  19. Good luck with that – it’s all I can say.
    I could never have that much self control.
    My NetGalley standing as of now is
    75% feedback ratio – 323 titles approved – 243 feedback sent
    Do the math and that is 80 books still to read and review.
    Do YOU feel better now when you compare yourself to me? LOL

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. That’s quite a lot. I felt like I really needed to get in line before I really loose control later. (I know that for sure it wouldn’t be that difficult to be 80 books behind especially because I had been at 46 before. I really don’t like the feeling of being behind and I feel bad for the authors whose books end up not being reviewed till way late, which is why I’m nipping this addiction in the butt right now.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  20. Pingback: The Sunday Post #39: Weekly Update – 4/03/2018 | Drink Coffee and Read books
  21. Pingback: April 2018 TBR: ARC April – The Book Cover Judge

  22. Oh my, I hear you! I have eight? books to review from Netgalley and honestly it has taken all of my control for that number not to be in double figures. It’s an amazing website, but certainly very addictive.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment