What happens when you combine the targeted reach of NetGalley with the broad appeal of a consumer giveaway?
In March, NetGalley explored this question by sending a special newsletter featuring 11 Booktrovert giveaway and sweepstakes campaigns. The newsletter encouraged 53,000+ highly engaged NetGalley members to claim an eBook from any of the giveaways, or enter to win the sweepstakes.
By pairing the direct-to-consumer Booktrovert campaigns with the trade reach of a NetGalley newsletter, publishers were able to create new opportunities for both professional reader discovery and consumer engagement.
NetGalley and Booktrovert work together to extend marketing reach to any audience.
NetGalley helps publishers generate reviews and nominations, reach trade professionals and influencers, and drive buzz. Booktrovert creates excitement among consumers via urgency-driven giveaways, increases sales and pre-orders, and grows the author’s mailing list.
Together, they create a full-funnel approach to book promotion. NetGalley plants the seeds of interest and advocacy pre-publication, and Booktrovert nurtures the growth at and beyond launch by expanding awareness and engagement. Then, both platforms can be used to keep the momentum flourishing as a book moves into the backlist.
The results of the newsletter reinforce just how effective this combined approach can be:
The special NetGalley newsletter resulted in more than 8,700 unique clicks to the featured Booktrovert campaigns. In fact, in all 11 cases, engagement with the Booktrovert campaigns experienced noticeable lifts in activity immediately following the newsletter, with some seeing the number of entries increase by more than double after the newsletter was sent out.
What makes this especially impactful is the context in which these readers are discovering the campaigns. NetGalley members are already primed for book discovery as tastemakers; they’re actively seeking new titles, exploring upcoming releases, and making decisions about what to read or buy next. By introducing giveaways with a lower barrier to entry via newsletter (especially for those who weren’t approved or may have missed the original request window) they now have a second, immediate way to engage. Plus, the reach has also expanded to consumers via the Booktrovert feed and daily digest email. These are readers who may be hearing about your book for the first time.
You might also be familiar with the “I keep hearing about this book!” metric that we collect on NetGalley, and we are firm believers in this principle. The more often an audience hears about a book or sees a creative marketing effort by the publisher, the more likely they are to engage with it. Seeing your book in more than one bookish space increases the likelihood that you’ll convert that person into a buyer!
Ultimately, the multi-pronged approach works because it reflects how readers actually discover books.
It’s rarely a single moment—it’s a series of reinforcing actions that create sales velocity and success.
Having your book on NetGalley organically introduces a book to industry professionals and early advocates. A newsletter brings that same title back into focus. Adding a Booktrovert campaign demonstrates ongoing marketing effort to these trade audiences, and offers them an easy way to both act on their own interest and share the opportunity with their own audiences. Each step builds on the last!
By connecting these touchpoints, publishers and authors can create a better path from discovery to engagement to sales.
