I have been working with Net Galley as a professional reviewer for about two years now. During that time I have been privileged to receive many, many books from lots of different publishing houses. These books, known as Advance Reader Copies or ARCs, are frequently sent to me some time before the publication date, meaning that I am lucky enough to be one of the first people to read them.
For a bookworm, this is a dream come true. Not only do I get sent lots of free books, but I get to read them before they are even published! It's like being let into a secret society, where the currency is books, traded back and forth as ARCs and reviews. It really is a fantastic way to spend my time!
As a Wiccan author and columnist, I have always been sent free books from the Mind, Body,Spirit genre and I have long been a reviewer of New Age music too, but it is only in the last two years that I have been sent free novels. This is great because not only does it save me a ton of money - I would normally buy all the new witchy novels anyway, now I get sent them as complimentary ARCs - it has also introduced me to novels I would not normally read, but which I have greatly enjoyed. The novel Idol comes to mind, as it is not the kind of book I would pick up ordinarily, yet it turned out to be one of the best books I read last year. Being introduced to new books and new authors in this way, is hands down, one of the best parts of being a book reviewer.
I am often asked how to go about becoming a book reviewer and the simple answer is - just start to review the books you read! Use whatever platform you are most comfortable with, be that a Blog, YouTube, TikTok or Instagram. It really is that easy. However, I think the question people are really asking me, is this one;
"How do I get publishers to send me free books?"
I can only answer that, from my own experience. You have to really love books and stories. Publishers are looking for people who are passionate about books, who have favourite authors and genres, who are avid readers. They are not looking for reviewers who only want to get free books. They are looking for reviewers who have an authentic, deep-seated interest in books and reading. In short they want bookworms and bibliophiles. So, in a nutshell, to get on a publishers ARCs list as a reviewer, you will need to be able to prove your interest is genuine and that you are not just looking for freebies!
Most publishing houses, and Net Galley, prefer to work with people who are already a part of the publishing industry in some way, or who have an audience to share with, such as librarians and teachers. If you are a published author, columnist, journalist, bookseller or bookshop owner, then you stand a much better chance of getting onto the ARC lists. I know that this seems unfair, but there are only a limited number of free books to go out, so the sales team have to ensure they are reaching a target audience, or that they are working with a fellow professional of the publishing industry and someone who can be relied upon to write a professional standard review. It is also true that some publishers are more generous than others and have bigger review budgets.
You have probably noticed that I get sent a lot of witchy novels - that's because my audience is most likely to be interested in those kind of books, so anything witchy, magical and fairytale, will be sent to me. I have also reviewed MBS books and New Age CDs for magazines, so I get sent those too. Someone who writes a baking blog will be sent cookbooks, while a makeup artist will be sent books on beauty, and so on. The ARCs you are sent are targeted to your audience, so you need a defined audience to begin with.
When I started my blog back in 2011, the first thing I ever posted was a book review. I wrote about one of my favourite witchy books, by one of my favourite authors, The Wise Woman by Philippa Gregory. This novel wasn't a new release. It had been in my bookcase for some years and I had read it many times, but I felt that it set the tone for what I wanted my blog to be - magical, witchy, gothic and bookish. The point is, I started where I was, with what I already had, reviewing a book I knew well and loved enough to re-read, so I wanted to share it.
That, I think, is the key point - you have to want to share your reading experiences with others. Being a reviewer isn't about being a gate-keeper or showing off what publishers have sent you. It is about sharing a genuine love of reading. It is about meeting your obligations to the publishers who have been kind enough to send you books, by writing and posting an honest review of the books they send.
Building up relationships with publishers and editors in this way takes time. By the time I started being asked to write reviews for publishers via Net Galley, I had been consistently writing regular book reviews on my blog for ten years. Yes, ten years! This is the kind of authentic dedication to books that editors of publishing houses are looking for. It is likely that they will check to see if you regularly post about books anyway, so you need to make sure that you do. You also need to ensure your reviews are more than just a couple of sentences long!
It can be quite tricky to review books in depth, without giving too much away. Reviews are so important that we did a whole module on reviewing books as part of my Masters Degree in Creative Writing & Literature. I'm sure that this has stood me in good stead, but the fact is, I was reviewing books on my blog long before I had the MA under my belt. It does carry weight with publishing houses though, as they know that you have been trained to review to a professional standard.
That said, there is no reason why you cannot start reviewing books from right where you are, just as I did. I never wrote reviews with the intention of being sent free books. I wrote them because I had enjoyed reading a great story and I wanted other people to know about it. Even now, if I really dislike a book, it simply doesn't make it onto my blog. I meet my obligations to the publisher by posting my honest review of it on their preferred platform, usually Net Galley, but I don't feature it on my blog, if I don't like it. Only the books that I feel fit in with my platform, my audience and which I have enjoyed, actually make it onto ShimmerCast Dreams.
So my advice is to start with whatever book you are currently reading and post your review. Then, keep posting regular reviews and build up a body of review work. I can't promise that you will ever be placed on the ARCs lists, or that you will receive free books, but you will at least have the satisfaction of sharing what you love. Make sure your reviews are polite and respectful, even if you hated the book! Editors won't work with people who consistently trash their books or authors! Keep a log of what books you have reviewed, and a notebook to make review notes as you read - it can be easy to forget what you liked and disliked once you've finished reading.
You will also need to dedicate a significant chunk of your time to reading. If you want to become a reviewer, then you can't just read for fun, as and when you feel like it. Your reading commitment should run to the standard university timetable - that is, you will need to be able to commit the time to reading one or two books per week if possible, or at least three or four books in a month, and writing your reviews of them, in order to be taken seriously as a book reviewer. This is something to consider if you have a busy life with work, children, elderly parents etc.
Bear in mind that you won't get onto the ARCs lists overnight. It took me ten years of regularly reviewing the books I bought and read on my blog, before I was ever sent a free witchy novel by a publisher. But if you're prepared to be that dedicated, then go for it and see what happens. In the meantime, I have some fabulous magical and ghostly books to share with you, that are all due to be released in the next few weeks. Spooky season is coming up and I have some great spooky reads for you, so keep checking back!
Good Luck!
BB Marie x
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