Travis Neighbour Ward posted a question on the Independent Publishers of New England google+ page as to whether anyone who used Netgalley to post books before they’re published felt it was worth the money? And how many reviews had it generated per book for you on average? NetGalley provides digital review copies to professional readers, including booksellers, librarians, media, bloggers, reviewers and educators. The cost to list a title with them for 6 months is $400, or $300 if you are a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and do it through them. As others might be interested in my response I thought it would be useful to put an edited version of my reply out to a wider audience.

We’re using Netgalley for the third time at the moment for Janis Hills’ Isis, Vampires and Ghosts – Oh My!. We used IBPA for our second book Shelley Davidow’s Lights Over Emerald Creek. While listing with IBPA is cheaper, and it also gets you a mailout which you would have to pay for separately if you don’t list with them, the level of information you get about those downloading the book isn’t as useful (although IBPA will provide you with detailed information on request). As I am interested in building up our own email list of past reviewers I’ve reverted to listing seperately.  Continue reading →