When I first started off as a blogger, it was difficult for me to figure out how to find books to review (besides the extremely popular ones at the library that I had to wait forever to get or buy with my limited student budget). I’ve learned a bit in my almost-year of blogging and I’m excited to share with you some ways I’ve received books to review!
- Goodreads Giveaways - When I first started off blogging, winning a couple Giveaways made a huge difference in giving me interesting and unique material to read and discuss on my blog. Some of the books were terrible and some weren’t memorable in the least. But a lot were unique books that I wouldn’t have read otherwise. I previously wrote about winning Goodreads Giveaways here.
- Other blogs - I’ve often won books off giveaways on other blogs. Books featured on other blogs are typically reasonably popular (good for getting more blog views) and also tend to be new books, so good to look at before they are made available to the general public. Most blogs hold Giveaways periodically, but Fantasy Literature and Jean BookNerd are two blogs that hold LOTS of giveaways that are not too difficult to win periodically.
- Netgalley - This is the bread and butter of book reviewing. Netgalley is a great way to get new books and to spread the word about your blog a bit. A couple tips:
- Don’t request 10 billion books right off the bat - My initial mistake was requesting every book I could see. Once I actually was approved for a lot of these books, I had way too much to read in a reasonable amount of time. Take it slowly - request a book a week or even less if that’s too much for you.
- Balance Netgalley books with things you want to read for fun - When I initially requested every Netgalley book I could find, it was fun to read things I might not have picked up otherwise and I loved being one of the first people to review these books. It got a little old when I read 5 Netgalley books in a row and didn’t enjoy any of them. It was wonderful to return to a book I was actually excited to read. I’ve found that I get through Netgalley books better if I also read things I’m interested in - not all Netgalley books are good or interesting.
How do you find books to review for your blog? What helps you broaden your bookish horizons?
I've never won a Goodreads giveaway in my life. Part of me thought they might be rigged hahaha
ReplyDeleteA lot of my first review books I got through Netgalley. Edelweiss is another site for review ebooks that I've used a bit, but not much because it's more complicated than Netgalley.
Every now and then I get some books from publishers, but I don't request that many anymore (due to an extremely large and overbearing TBR pile)
Ha I'm sure Goodreads giveaways are rigged a bit - there are a lot of articles online stating that they'll sometimes take a chance on you and then never send you another book until you finish and review the one they sent you.
DeleteI haven't yet been supersuccessful at getting books from publishers - but I wouldn't have time to read them anyway since I'm drowning in egalleys...
I've gotten free books in the ways you mention, but I think most of the books I get are directly from publishers - either I request them from newletters or get contact with a request for a review. It's very hard not to go overboard with netgalley!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to start subscribing to more publisher newsletters once I get my egalleys under control (if that ever happens). I think especially for newer bloggers, these are great ways to start out.
DeleteI use all of the ways you mention. I also use LibraryThing to request books. Like with Goodreads, you are more likely to get another if you review the books you get. I also request books through Penguin's First To Read program. I follow a lot of author's and publisher's on Facebook, and they often link to contests.
ReplyDeleteThese are awesome resources! Thank you for sharing! I'm excited to give them a try.
Delete