I’m Tarah Theoret, your new Reader Concierge at NetGalley, which means I have the pleasure of working with our ever-expanding community of professional readers (reviewers, bloggers, librarians, booksellers, media professionals, and educators). I will be answering your support questions (via Facebook, & Twitter, or support[at]netgalley.com), helping to connect you with content you’ll love from our publishers, and generally being your go-to gal for all things NetGalley. I’m especially excited to expand our social media to grow our community and enhance our interaction with you, our readers. So stay tuned for some exciting enhancements—not just to the NetGalley website itself, but also in the ways we connect with all of you.  This includes more interactive posts (questions, polls, and contests) on Facebook, Twitter, and our blog Follow the Reader!

Before coming to work for NetGalley I worked at Penguin Young Readers Group, where I did marketing for YA & Middle Grade books and used NetGalley from the publisher’s perspective. It was easy to recognize what a useful tool NetGalley is for publishers and professional readers alike. Imagine my delight in finding an opportunity to join this (quickly) growing company that connects readers and publishers, and to have a chance to begin interacting with such a wonderful community. Personally, I love reading fiction on my Kindle Fire.

You’ll begin hearing from me about new titles that fit your interests and what changes we have in store for your NetGalley experience. Don’t hesitate to reach out anytime (via Facebook, & Twitter, or support[at]netgalley.com)—I love hearing from you!

I am so excited to join the NetGalley Concierge Team and am looking forward to helping all of you explore and use NetGalley!

]]> http://followthereader.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/hello-from-your-new-reader-concierge/feed/ 20 tarahtheoret Tarah, Reader Concierge http://followthereader.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/armchair-ala-with-netgalley/ http://followthereader.wordpress.com/2012/06/18/armchair-ala-with-netgalley/#comments Mon, 18 Jun 2012 19:27:49 +0000 lindseyrudnickas http://followthereader.wordpress.com/?p=2637 ]]> Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so we’re borrowing the concept of Armchair BEA for this Armchair ALA post!

NetGalley loves librarians, and we’re grateful for the support you’ve shown us! Our librarian membership has grown significantly over the past year, and now is the second largest segment of our community (after reviewers/bloggers). Earlier this year we conducted a survey of the librarians using NetGalley, and found some interesting stats.

Our NetGalley at the Library initiative began following our partnership with the American Library Association. If you’re an ALA member, be sure to include your ALA number in your NetGalley profile (My Profile/Account Information) so publishers will see the ALA icon appear when you request titles. Publishers have told us that librarians with that ALA icon are approved more quickly and often. And be sure to sign up for our NetGalley at the Library newsletters here!

We’re also so excited to be working with EarlyWord and Penguin on First Flights: The Penguin Debut Author Program. There’s still time to join and get a copy of City of Women by David R. Gillham from NetGalley!

But now onto ALA Annual. This year, we’re sad to not be attending the show ourselves, and figured some of you librarians might be feeling the same. We’re hoping this Armchair ALA post will serve as a connection point between those of us at home and those of you at the show. So, spread the word via Twitter (#ArmchairALA), and for those of you lucky librarians who are in Anaheim, share the wealth and give us the inside scoop in the Comments section below! Which authors did you meet, which publishers had the best giveaways or beautiful booths, and what titles are you most excited about?

We’ve compiled a list of titles you won’t want to miss–either at the show or from the comfort of your own chairs courtesy of NetGalley.

Click to view our NetGalley Roundup: ALA Annual Preview Edition!

Have you seen Library Journal‘s exclusive 2012 ALA Galley & Signing Guide from PrePub Alert editor Barbara Hoffert? The guide notes whether titles listed are available via NetGalley. Sign up now, and as soon as it’s published, you’ll receive an email containing LJ’s insider’s guide to the most promising new titles coming to ALA Annual in Anaheim. Don’t miss out on this essential roadmap helping library professionals navigate the biggest show of the year! Plus, you’ll see embedded icons that will guide you to NetGalley—so you can request a copy even if you won’t be at the show.

Happy reading,

Lindsey

Digital Concierge, NetGalley

Hello, dear friends! I hope you’re enjoying the bookish delight of BEA from the comfort of your own homes. I’m fortunate enough to attend BEA each year to meet with our publisher clients, and say hello to the many bloggers, librarians, reviewers, and other friends who support NetGalley. This year, I’ll also be speaking on a panel at the BEA Bloggers Conference on Demystifying the Book Blogger & Publisher Relationship. But our love of books and bloggers doesn’t stop at the doors to the Javits center, and we know you don’t have to be at BEA to feel the buzz.

NetGalley has always been a friend to bloggers—it’s been our pleasure to work with you for the past 4 years as the book blogging community has flourished, and we thank you for your enthusiasm for the site. It’s so rewarding for us and for our publishers to see blogger-led contests and read-a-thons like “NetGalley Month” and the year-long “NetGalley Reading Challenge.” For NetGalley and bloggers alike, we’re sure the best is yet to come, and we can’t wait to continue the journey with you!

NetGalley is all about the newest books—helping connect publishers with buzz-makers (like you) to launch titles faster and further. This year for BEA, we’re working with some great industry partners to help bring the galleys to you, so read on.

BEA BUZZ BOOKS: EXCERPTS FROM OVER 30 TOP FALL 2012 TITLES from Publishers Lunch. We were thrilled to join with Publishers Lunch for this cool promotion, which they’re calling “BEA in an eBook.” The best part: it’s available to READ NOW on NetGalley—instant access, no requesting, no waiting.

BEA is all about discovering the fall season’s big books, from new voices to breakout authors, hot nonfiction and beloved bestsellers. Publishers Lunch has packed a convention’s worth of exclusive excerpts from top Fall titles featured at the BookExpo America convention into a single volume. Enjoy new works from Junot Díaz, Mark Helprin, Rhoda Janzen, Barbara Kingsolver, Jessica Khoury, Dennis Lehane, J.R. Moehringer, Neil Young, and many others in the free BEA BUZZ BOOKS. In addition to the excerpts, there’s even a round-up from Publishers Lunch of over 100 Fall books of note of all kinds to have on your radar.

PLUS: Go beyond the excerpts with NetGalley

After most excerpts, look for a link to READ or REQUEST the full galley on NetGalley. Publishers can choose how to provide access to the full galley, so you’ll see two kinds of links—either a link to request the title on NetGalley, or a widget link for approved access as soon as you login. Enjoy!

Barbara Hoffert’s BEA Galley & Signing Guide 2012 for Library Journal. It’s being called “the librarian’s essential BEA 2012 navigation tool” and we have to agree! Barbara’s been tracking some of the show’s top titles, from large publishers and small. Plus, you’ll see embedded icons that will guide you to NetGalley—so you can request a copy even if you won’t be at the show.

Feed Your Reader with NetGalley all year long!

Although BEA is an especially busy time, we’re working everyday adding new titles from publishers for you to request and review. Browse our catalog anytime, and keep updated on what’s happening at NetGalley with our newsletters (spoiler alert: a facelift and lots of big changes are coming—stay tuned!).

Speaking of which, here are two of our recent BEA-related newsletters:

NetGalley Roundup: Get Ready for BEA

Feed Your Reader with the biggest buzz books at BEA

And watch your inboxes for the NetGalley Roundup: BEA Edition, going out the week of the show! Sign up to receive our newsletters, or find them on our NetGalley Roundups page.

Happy reading,

Lindsey

Like so many people in book publishing, I entered this industry because I love to read. So imagine my delight, when after many years of marketing publishing technology solutions, I was asked to launch a site dedicated to “professional readers.” (Professional reader: noun: Those whose job it is to read, review and recommend books, primarily new books, to consumers). Professional readers are reviewers, critics, media, booksellers, librarians, bloggers and educators, to name just a few, and there are over 57,000 of them already using NetGalley for free to access digital proofs from publishers.

Digital proofs are eco-friendly, fast, and cost-effective
Galley distribution is one of the key publicity and marketing activities performed by publishers and media agencies, but the process of distributing print proofs is cumbersome, expensive, and inefficient. At its simplest, NetGalley helps to simplify and speed up that process by substituting secure digital galleys for print.

Communities of influence are larger than you think
One of the great ironies of print proofs is that their distribution is often limited by budget, and limited to a perceived “A” list of influencers. We’ve often heard from publicists, marketers, digital marketers, library marketers, sales reps and even authors that they’d like to broaden the number of people who can preview their content before it’s published, and that they’d like to know with more certainty the influence and reach of those broader communities. Today’s web technology makes this possible.

The largest segment of our current community is reviewers, comprising just over 50%. Librarians make up 19%, with the remainder split evenly between booksellers, media and educators. Our UK member-base is growing more rapidly as UK publishers begin making content available, and we’re working closely with those publishers to introduce their contacts to NetGalley. We also hope to work with other member organizations as we are with the American Library Association.

Request and invite
New books have a better chance of commercial success when they’re launched into dedicated communities of interested readers. When publishers list their titles in the NetGalley catalog, allowing members to request access, they are identifying and cultivating new influencers as well as connecting with existing contacts.

Publicity is also about pitch: Publishers use our tools to incorporate digital proofs into all they already do for their titles, including pitch emails, giveaways, bookseller marketing, author events, social media marketing and more.

We support DRM (or not)
Despite many industry debates about the pitfalls of Digital Rights Management, an overwhelming 89% of titles we handled in NetGalley last year have security applied to prevent unauthorized sharing or distribution. It’s our opinion that publishers have the right to protect their content as they (and their authors) see fit; but we also offer a DRM-free option for publishers who are interested in making their content more widely available. NetGalley members read on all major devices and tablets; right now the split is about even between Kindle and all other Adobe DRM-compatible devices (iPad/iPhone, Kobo, Nook, Sony Reader, and Android phones/tablets).

We help navigate the digital landscape
Customer service—to publishers and especially to readers—has grown to be a key piece of our business. Though unfortunate, accessing a protected proof on a device is more confusing than it should be. Our team of Concierges is comprised of former book publicists or marketers who understand that a timely, professional response is essential, particularly when dealing with a media contact. With publishers, that same team provides creative examples of how to incorporate digital proofs into specific campaigns, launches new programs like NetGalley at the Library, and helps generate invite widgets for publishers to use when inviting their own contacts to view a title on NetGalley.

Digital is global
There are no boundaries when it comes to information, and this is just one of the many reasons we’re so pleased to be launching officially into the UK publishing market. It’s been our pleasure to work with early adopters like Bloomsbury, Faber and Faber, Harlequin, HarperCollins and Penguin, and we’re looking forward to expanding the number of titles, readers (and local staff) in 2012 and beyond.

Susan Ruszala is the President of NetGalley. Find out more about NetGalley at www.netgalley.com or visit us at the London Book Fair in the Digital Zone, W845.

Notable Books and Advance Galleys: It’s so much fun to say “We knew you when”

It can be fun to look at someone famous and say “I knew you when…”, particularly when that “someone” is a book, and the “when” in question is waaaay back before that book came out, and no one knew the book was going to be as hot as it turned out to be.

Or when you’re looking at the ALA Notable List, and remembering when you picked up the ARC at a conference, or got the egalley from NetGalley, because you thought it might be good, and, lo and behold, there it is, an award-winner.

Sometimes, you read a book, and you know it’s special. Then you tell everyone you know until they’re sick of it, and you. Unless you’re very lucky, and it’s your job to help people find their next perfect read.

The ALA Notable Books List is always interesting and useful, because as soon as I see it, I look at it and go, “oh, that one was popular”, “oh, that’s an interesting choice”, or “mmm, I can see why that got picked.” In collection development, it always made for a list of titles to check, but they were usually ones the library already owned. We’d miss one sometimes, especially on the poetry portion of the list!

Maybe it’s because I’m  personally a genre fiction reader, but the ALA Notable Books List always seemed like the “big books” list, Not big in the sense that they’re long books, but big in the sense that they’re literary, at least on the fiction side. These are “important” books, even when they are also very, very popular. Tea Obreht’s  The Tiger’s Wife was one book that we just couldn’t get copies of fast enough. I remember seeing it in NetGalley before the pub date, and I wish I had snagged it then! Then I would have known in advance it was going to be big!

There’s another ALA list, one that reflects what people read for pleasure, instead of the important books. It’s The Reading List that RUSA CODES publishes. This list has categories for genres like “Science Fiction” and “Mystery” and “Romance”, you know, the good stuff. (I’ve never been so sure about that “Adrenaline” category.)

Genre fiction sells, and genre fiction circulates. That’s what circulation statistics show, and publishing numbers and everything else. The books on this list are the ones that people will enjoy.

And they’re fun.

The trick for librarians is picking out which one, or ten, are going to stand out from the crowd. It’s hard because the genre field is crowded and very diverse. Each genre can feel like its own little planet, and the galaxies can seem light-years apart. Lists like this are great navigational tools.

Each title on the fantasy list this year is absolutely marvelous. One of my favorite books of the year, The Magician King by Lev Grossman, is on the short list. The short list! It’s not even the winner! I knew when opened the first page of that egalley from NetGalley that it was going to be one of the big books of the year. But as far the winning title is concerned, as soon as I saw the NetGalley description for this title, it was clear that Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus was something special.  The circus arrives and it brings magic.

On the 2012 list, one of the shortlisted titles in the romance category is Kristan Higgins’ My One and Only. I resisted the impulse to get an egalley last year, but Higgins new book, Somebody to Love, is available now. And I have an egalley from NetGalley.

Maybe Somebody to Love will be on the RUSA CODES Reading List in 2013. And I’ll be able to say that “I knew it when…”

Marlene’s library credentials include an MLS from the University of Kentucky (Go Wildcats!) and over 20 years experience in collection development in public and academic libraries around the U.S; from Chicago to Alaska to Florida. For the past year Marlene has been a consultant and blogger at Reading Reality, where she reviews all the genre fiction she can find, and advocates for ebooks only publishing through her Ebook Review Central feature every Monday. Carina and Dreamspinner, two NetGalley clients, are among the regularly featured publishers. Marlene is also a reviewer for Library Journal.

March 7:

NetGalley: For Authors, Reviewers, and Publishers

Book Blogger’s Online Conference, Paco Media Group

12:30 pm EST

Online

NetGalley Community Concierge Kristina Radke will be discussing how NetGalley works and how to effectively use the site as a professional reader. This is the third annual Online Conference to help advance communication between Book Bloggers, Publishers, and Authors.

March 8:

Digital Galleys/Digital Catalogues/Digital Everything: How Publishers Are Interacting with Reviewers Today

NBCC General Membership Meeting, National Book Critics Circle

10:00 am EST

Eugene Lang Center, New School
55 W. 13th Street, New York

NetGalley President Susan Ruszala will be participating in this panel along with Katie Freeman, Publicity Manager, Farrar Straus Giroux; Peter Miller, Publicity Director, Liveright (Norton); John Oakes, Publisher, OR Books; and Christian Purdy, Director of Publicity, Oxford University Press (USA)

March 10:

IBPA Publishing University, Independent Book Publishers Association

Sheraton Fisherman’s Wharf Hotel
2500 Mason Street
San Francisco, California

NetGalley Digital Concierge Lindsey Rudnickas will be participating in two events:

Ask the Experts

2:00-2:45 pm PST

Your own private consultation with experts from all segments of publishing!

Getting Attention: Promoting Your Titles to Bloggers and Online Communities

3:15 – 4:30 pm PST

Shelfari, Goodreads, “mommy bloggers”—the list of online groups awaiting your book is huge and in this session, you’ll discover where to find them and how to reach them. You’ll walk away with strategies to spread the word about your book directly to your readers. Co-panelist is Joan Stewart of The Publicity Hound.

March 21:

NetGalley for ECPA Members: Creative and Effective Strategies for Using Digital Galleys

ECPA Roundtable, NetGalley

1:00 pm EST

Online

NetGalley is hosting this session for current clients.

Come join NetGalley for a roundtable discussion with other Christian publishers who are using digital galleys to reach communities of professional readers. NetGalley will present examples of how digital galleys have been incorporated into specific campaigns and provide an overview of key new features and programs. We’ll cover key reporting metrics and present updated stats on our community and activity. The session will feature ample time for discussion and questions, so that publishers can share ideas and suggestions for future development specific to the Christian publishing community.

This session is for current NetGalley clients only, but we’re always happy to provide an overview of the site and our partnership with the ECPA at any time. Please email info@netgalley.com for more information.

Stay tuned for news of our participation at the big trade shows—first up, London Book Fair!

Happy reading,

Kristina

Take a look at the press release and check out the detailed results, below:

Results are based on a survey of 1,286 NetGalley librarian members and were collected from December 1, 2011 through February 7, 2012. 59% of librarians surveyed primarily use NetGalley to purchase new titles for their library, and the remainder use it to find new titles to recommend to patrons. Nearly 100 librarians wrote in to point out that they use NetGalley for both purposes.

*overlap occurs

*Publishers, remember that you can link to your title in the NetGalley catalog or allow auto-approval in any online advertising or marketing that you do!

**Publishers, this suggests that there’s a huge growth opportunity to pitch NetGalleys directly to librarians either through NetGalley’s marketing programs (NetGalley at the Library and Feed Your Reader), or using the widget in your own campaigns.

**Librarians, include your institutional email address in your NetGalley Contact Information and Public Bio so publishers know where to reach you!

*Publishers, don’t forget to add urls and use the Digital Press Kit to drive traffic to websites and direct readers to your marketing assets.

*ALA members, be sure you’ve added your ALA number to your NetGalley profile so publishers will see you’re part of the organization. More info is here.

A note on methods: The survey was open to NetGalley members and non-members alike, and was posted via Twitter (@NetGalley), Facebook.com/NetGalley, Direct Email, and re-posted by Library Journal. Results were collected between December 1, 2011 and February 7, 2012.

Thank you, also, to these librarians who had such wonderful things to say about NetGalley!

“I purchase 95 % of what I read on NetGalley. Great books.” –Kathy Spielman, Yorba Linda Middle School Library

“I use it to strengthen my case when recommending titles for purchase AND to look for books that would be good candidates for book clubs.” –Janet Lockhart, West Regional Library

“I use [NetGalley] for two purposes. As a librarian, I use it to find books and authors for the library collection. As a member of the New Mexico Library Association’s committee for our state children’s choice award, I use NetGalley to find exciting new books to nominate for the Land of Enchantment Book Award. We nominate about 30 titles per year, of which three are chosen for an award.” –Beth Nieman, Carlsbad Public Library

“It is so nice to be able to pick and choose the galleys I want to look at rather than getting a big old box, taking the two that I want, and having to dispose of the rest.”— Marea Black, Phoenix Public Library

“I use your emails religiously to find new and interesting titles to order, and recommend. I *love* getting emails about available titles and always look at the titles/publishers.”—Gina Robertson, Gardendale Public Library

“I love this service! It has really helped me decide what items to order in a time of financial problems.”—Jennifer Johnson-Spence, Cooke County Library

“[I] love being able to read books in advance and be able to talk about them with patrons when they come out. Also makes it easier to read new and different authors.”—Sharon A. Redfern , Rockville Public Library

• Recently Approved Titles: these are new approvals you’ve received that you haven’t yet looked at.
• Active Titles: these are titles you’ve been approved for, which you’ve already viewed (viewed means you looked at the title page, not necessarily that you’ve downloaded the file yet).
• My NetGalley Activity: this is a snapshot of your activity on NetGalley. It shows when you became a member, how many invitations you’ve received from publishers to view titles (widgets that were emailed to you), how often you’ve been approved and declined, and the number of reviews you’ve submitted via NetGalley. Don’t forget that even if you’re not a “reviewer” you can submit your feedback to the publisher using Manage My Reviews!

While you’re checking out these new changes, please take the time to update your contact information! Since more and more publishers outside of North America are now participating in NetGalley, publishers need to know what country you reside in so they can make sure they have territory rights to share galleys with you. Publishers will now be able to see your country when you make requests. Go to My Profile/Contact Information to update your country informtion.*

If you’re a librarian who belongs to the American Library Association, be sure you add your ALA number to your NetGalley Account Information! Adding your member number will help publishers approve your requests more quickly. Learn more.

Lastly, everyone should feel free to use the Manage My Reviews section to send feedback to the publisher!

• Bloggers and reviewers, send the text of your review, links to where it’s posted and when.
• Librarians, let them know if you’re adding it to your collection or recommending it to library patrons. Are you interested in hosting an event with the author? Ask them here.
• Booksellers, tell them if you’re hand-selling it in your store or planning to add it to a special display. Do you want to set up an in-store signing? Reach out here.
• Educators, tell them if you’re adopting it for your course or using it in a lesson plan.
• Media professionals, they certainly want to know if you’ll be running a story, booking the author, otherwise covering it, or pitching it as a new television show or film!

Once you’ve written your message, change the status to “Review Completed” and press Save & Close. The message will be sent directly to the publisher.

*Note: NetGalley will NEVER reveal your address, phone or email without your permission. You can manage your privacy preferences in your Public Bio, under Visibility.

In preparation for Midwinter, we at NetGalley have been busy little bees working to enhance our service for librarians. I’m most excited to share the news that NetGalley has partnered with the ALA! If you have an ALA number, add it to your NetGalley account by logging in, clicking on My Profile, and then Account Information. Once you add your number, publishers can easily identify you as an ALA member and we anticipate your requests will be approved faster and more frequently. Some publishers have already told us they plan to auto-approve all ALA members for their galleys going forward!

We’re also starting a new newsletter and social media program aimed just at librarians! “NetGalley at the Library” newsletters will be sent out monthly and feature titles and promotions from various publishers. Don’t miss out—be sure you sign up to receive these and other newsletters here.

Nearly 1,000 of our librarian members have already taken our survey, which is great! But we still want to hear from YOU. If you’re a member and haven’t already taken the survey, please follow this link to do so. It should only take you about five minutes to complete. If you’re NOT a NetGalley member, or know someone who’s not a member, we have a whole separate survey for you to take. The surveys will close after Midwinter on 1/27/2012. Our intent is to discover more about how NetGalley librarian-members use the site and what aspects you find most useful. We will share the general results with publishers so they have some feedback from the librarian community on NetGalley.

Lastly, I just want to remind you that the ALA Midwinter website has a lot of really great tools for anyone attending the conference. Check out the scheduler and the exhibitor list, and find hotel and travel information. I’ll be roaming the exhibit hall on Saturday and Sunday with an “I Love NetGalley” sticker on, meeting with publishers and hopefully speaking with some of you librarians! If you spot me, please stop me to say hello—I’ll save a sticker for you, too.

Happy travels to Dallas,

Kristina, Community Concierge

We at NetGalley love seeing how many bloggers sign up and how many books ultimately get consumed by the end of the month. Keep us updated on your progress on Twitter with the #NetGalleyMonth hashtag! Plus be sure to follow Emily @WilowRedHouse for news/prizes/etc.

All the info is below, and stay tuned for our next post at the end of the month with the list of participating bloggers.

Everything you need to know is in Emily’s “DECLARE YOURSELF” post — but for those of you who are new to this, here’s a quick rundown:

(Thanks to Sarah from Workaday Reads for creating this cute button!)