Blogging Tips and Tricks #2: NetGalley and Edelweiss Explained

Apologies for the pictures not fitting in to this post! I'm too lazy to try and fix it and this  post took a while to write and format!

Last week I explained what review copies and ARCs are, and what you should think about before you start requesting ARCS. I also mentioned a few places to get review copies of books. This week I'm explaining how Edelweiss and NetGalley work and how to get started in more detail, I'll be looking at approaching publisher publicity and marketing teams next week.

NetGalley and Edelweiss may seem a little intimidating to start with but they're actually really simple to get to grips with. The key to getting accepted for eGalleys on these sites is to keep your profile up to date and keep the reviews coming. I'll get more into this a little bit further in this post, but first... how exactly do these website's work?

Basically, publishers can post books on these websites, often these books have not been released. Bloggers and librarians can request access to these galleys, the publisher will then decide whether or not to give you access and if you do get access you can download the eBook format to either your computer or send it straight to a Kindle. You then read and review the book and send them the reviews on the website! Easy as... let's do this step-by-step though:

Signing up:

Signing up is easy-peasy, click the links shown up there, it's all pretty self explanatory. When you have signed up, clicked your email for confirmation and can log in, go to the next step.

Filling in your bio:

In Edelweiss, the easiest way to fill in your bio is to do it when requesting a book, which I'll show you how to do in the next step. Here is how to do it in NetGalley.

What to put in your bio:

• Your blog. 
• Your blog stats. Mine need a quick update, but you need your follower numbers, page views and your review speed.
• How long you've been blogging.
• What genre's you review (YA/Paranormal/Fantasy etc).
• Where you cross post - Goodreads/Amazon. As well as where you promote your blog review - Twitter/Facebook etc.
• Anything else that you think will help get accepted.

How to request books:

On NetGalley: Click FIND TITLES then CHOOSE A GENRE (eg. Teens & YA). After that Find a book you want to request and click on it.

On Edelweiss: Click REVIEW COPIES then on the left side SUBJECT. YA fiction comes under Juvenile Fiction. Other wise you can select AGE and browse YOUNG ADULT. Just have an explore! Find a book you want to request and click on it. 

This ends your requests to the publisher who will then either accept or reject you. This may take hours or weeks.

To download your new books:

In NetGalley: Find the book on your Dashboard, select it and click either 'download' (to get an ePub file), or 'send to kindle' to send straight to a kindle (your kindle email can be added in your bio)

In Edelweiss: Go to Review Copies in the main menu, then requests. Find the book you've been accepted for then click download and either download or send to kindle. The format can be changed here.

To send your reviews:

In NetGalley: Go to your shelves, find the book and click FEEDBACK.

*Shellyrae from Book'd Out says that she used the notes section to note the other places that she posted the review*

In Edelweiss: On the main tabs click REVIEW COPIES. Then on the smaller tab menu below click DOWNLOADS.

Your review is then sent to the publisher.

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That's the basics of Netgalley and Edelweiss down. I recommend you spend some time exploring to familiarise yourself with how it all works.

Tips for new users:

• Don't go mad with the requests. There are a lot of awesome books here and it's tempting, but you need to start slowly. Remember that you need get the reviews out in a timely manner and if you don't then publishers may think that your unreliable. It's best to build up a good reputation before you go mad.
• Don't get disheartened if you're constantly rejected, it takes some time but you'll eventually get some acceptances. 
• CHECK THE PUBLISHER PREREQUISITES. These can be find on NetGalley at browse publishers click the publishers name. Harlequin for example specify that you should be blogging for 3 months or more, regularly blogging, should post your review no sooner than a month before the release date. Whereas Random House say 2 weeks before the release date and you should be updating daily or almost daily. 

Feel free to ask questions if you're unsure or have any questions about this post, por about anything really! I'm on twitter as @jade_jmbtf or you can email me.

Also - please tell me if you have any ideas for this post!

NEXT WEEKS TOPIC. YOUR OPINION.

Next week I'll be looking at how to approach publishers by email to request review copies. 
Are you an experienced blogger? What are your dos and don'ts in this topic?

Leave an answer in the comments or tweet/email me them! If you have a blog, leave a link with your answer, I'll link you up if I use your comment next week.