NetGalley July Twitter Chat Q&A

Last night the Lovely Lindsey was generous enough to join us on twitter to answer all our pressing NetGalley questions.

Below are all of the questions asked (I think I got then all!).  

As was the case in April, there was a lot of awesome info shared.

Highlights of the chat:

*Future upgrades to NetGalley's site will hopefully include some batch updating functionality (announced by Lindsey)

*NetGalley October is a go! (announced by me :)

Both questions and answers have been summarized and / or expanded on for clarity.

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Q: Lindsey, do you have an ereader?

A: Of course! Lindsey has a Kindle and she also uses Bluefire's reader app on her iPhone. Other NetGalley team members have Nooks and Sony Readers as they like to keep all their bases covered. 

Q: What happens when you get approved for a title twice? Should we upload our reviews twice or archive the extra?

A: For duplicate approvals, it is fine to archive one but also fine to send review twice if you want to be extra sure :)

Q: Is there anyway to delete a book from your archive - essentially deleting all records of a request from your account?

A: No. You can archive any book but you cannot delete it. You can delete Requests from your account, but not titles. It is however something NG can consider for future changes.

Q: Any plans in the works for batch updating? Being able to mark more then one book at a time as 'viewed' or 'accepted' would be great!

A: Yes! NG is hoping to add "batch" functionality in the future.

Q: How long after a book is removed from NetGalley for requesting can a review still be submitted?

A: Even books that have expired will still be in your account (In "My Reviews") and publishers what to know when books are reviewed. So, if you have reviewed it, you should submit it.

Q: Is there a reason why NetGalley books expire? And why do they have to?

A: NG leaves it completely up to the publisher - they have to be neutral. Most publishers have DRM galleys (so they expire) but other publishers offer DRM-free galleys which won't expire. It depends on the publisher's view on security. BUT if you send a galley to your Kindle, it never expires - no matter which publisher it came from. The reason Kindle is different is because Amazon has their own proprietary DRM, not Adobe DRM like others.

Q: So, Kindle downloads never expire - what about galleys I put on my Nook?

A: For Nooks, or any other ADE-compatible device, the galley will expire. You can re-download from NG if the publisher hasn't archived it. 

Q: Is it up to the individual publishers to decide when / if to archive a title?

A: Yes, each publisher decides IF and WHEN to archive each title. Most do so after or around the publisher or on-sale date.

Q: Is it better to wait until I post my review on my blog or can I post to my NetGalley account first?

A: Publishers want to know WHERE and WHEN your reviews are posted so it's best to post first to your blog and then to your NG account.

Q: Will publishers be putting more titles from their catalogs on NetGalley?

A: Yes! Many more titles are coming. Some "big" publishers are still getting started but will be rolling out by imprint.

Q: Do new titles go up on a specific day of the week or is it random and up to the publisher?

A: It's up to each publisher. Some do it monthly or by season and others do it one at a time when the file is ready.

Q: Does NetGalley check books prior to allowing them to be posted? Sometimes the formatting is a little off.

A: NG does try to check ever single file but sometimes there is nothing they can do about formatting - especially when it comes to the Kindle. Amazon converts PDFs into their proprietary Kindle formats and the formatting isn't always great. NG does email publishers all the time to ask about re-formatting so if you see something weird, let them know and they will try to have it fixed.

Thanks again to Lindsey and everyone who participated!

If you have questions about NetGalley, don't hesitate to email or tweet Lindsey (support[at]netgalley.com / @NetGalley)

Next week I'll be asking everyone who participated in NetGalley July for their list of books read so stay tuned for that post!

If you couldn't join in on the fun this month - there is always October!