Solving for Tsundoku: Breaking Up with NetGalley

July 29, 2018

 

 

 

 

is a series of posts focused on making peace with the piles.


 

Melanie @ Grab the Lapels offered me an interesting piece of insight earlier this month:

NetGalley gets more from you than you get from it.

This came up as we were discussing how much anxiety meeting ARC deadlines gives me, and how the ever-present Feedback Ratio feels completely unachievable. I’ve gotten to a point where reading all these ARCs feel like a chore. And that is NOT how reading should be!

How did I get here?

Like most new NetGalley users, I assumed it was quite challenging to be approved for ARCs. So, day one, I binge requested. Like. A lot. This was September 2016. I was approved for 43 books from that binge. 43! Let’s just say, I started my ARC education that day.

Over time I learned some secrets. Such as the 80% feedback ratio really matters to publishers. That publishers are more likely to approve requests for “less popular” books (AKA the books no one is talking about on the blogs, but are still worth reading). Publishers actually do read your profile; they care about what you are there. And that you need to share reviews on a platform which isn’t Goodreads. Blogs are perfect. But Twitter and bookseller websites are also great.

When I started my relationship with NetGalley, I thought I wanted to read books before everyone else did. I was also excited about the prospect of writing reviews which publishers would reference. The bookish equivalent of your name in lights! A quote on a cover or a website? YES PLEASE. As I’ve participated in State of the ARC and have been spending more and more time thinking about my relationship with ARCs, I realize this isn’t what I want. At least not any longer.

I’ve realized that I don’t particularly care about reading books first. Or whether or not Death by Tsundoku ever becomes a big deal. What I care about is having a discussion; digging into a book with other people and exploring their experiences in comparison to my own. As I’ve connected more and more to these ideas, my passion for ARCs has died off.

I’ve never used another eARC request site other than NetGalley. And I’ve only rarely had authors reach out to me and request I review their books. At the beginning of this year, I had 3 ARCs I received via author request, 6 unsolicited/giveaway ARCs, and 21 NetGalley ARCs. I’ve prioritized reading NetGalley ARCs due to the ever-present Feedback Ratio which seems to be haunting my dreams. These factors have led me to push through reading quite a few books I honestly didn’t enjoy at all. This completely goes against my philosophy as a reader! I firmly believe in Did Not Finish-ing (DNFing) books. Always. At some point, I lost my way and betrayed my own beliefs.

So the real question is: Can I let my ARCs go? What if I don’t care to read these books any longer? Recently NetGalley added the option to specifically state why you aren’t reading a book instead of providing direct feedback. This has brought some controversy to my life. When I requested these books, I was asking for the honor of early reading and a free eBook in exchange for a published review of the content. I feel obligated to read and review these books. 

Melanie’s right: NetGalley gets more from me than I get from it. As a platform, I’m totally over it. All it does is add deadlines and stress to my life about poor decisions I made in the past. But I still believe that I owe something to the authors who wrote these books. There are people behind these novels and they deserve to hear some feedback. Just as I blog to develop relationships with other readers, I realize that I read ARCs to develop relationships with authors. 

It’s time to let some of this baggage go. Here is how I’ll be adjusting my interaction with ARCs going forward:

  • I will mark all remaining NetGalley ARCs from my September 2016 binge as “I will not be giving feedback on this title – did not finish”. This is honest feedback! I’ve attempted to read each book before and never got too far. I just always hoped I’d be in a better place someday to enjoy these books.
  • I will stop requesting books on NetGalley. This is a bit embarrassing, as I requested a few earlier this week… but seriously, the uncomfortable anxiety NetGalley gives me will never go away if I don’t let it go. We’re done.
  • I will prioritize reading ARCs I receive directly from authors over NetGalley reads. This will promote the interactions I’m looking for out of this experience.
  • I will not seek out additional ARCs. If authors reach out to me, I’ll interact with them. However, I will not seek out ARCs from additional spaces like blogger directories for reviewing books, First to Read, or Edelweiss.

Wow. It feels shockingly good to make these statements. While I recognize DNF’ing so many books will irreparably damage my Feedback Ratio (being books I was approved for but never reviewed), I don’t actually care. By this time next year, I hope to have cut NetGalley out of my life entirely. Here’s hoping!


What do you think?

  • Do you read ARCs? How do you typically receive them?
  • What is your relationship with ARCs? Why do you or don’t you read them?
  • What are your thoughts about letting ARCs go? Am I a hero or a monster in your eyes? Why?
  • Have your thoughts about your relationship with ARCs changed after reading this post?

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