Celebrating Growth This Spring at NetGalley

At NetGalley, we’re honored to be your partner in connecting books with the readers you want to reach—and it fills us with pride to report on our platform activity that directly benefits your books. This month we’re celebrating all the amazing activity your books saw on NetGalley.com in Q1:

630,000+ Active Members

When we say “active” we mean it! NetGalley regularly removes inactive member accounts, ensuring that we’re reporting a true community size. We have a dedicated team who engage with the NetGalley community to ensure they have all the resources they need to succeed as book advocates. Resources like the Book Advocate Toolkit and Social Media Handbook are designed to help our members write valuable reviews, navigate key bookish social spaces like BookTok and Bookstagram, and become even more effective promoters of your marketing efforts. Plus, we’re always excited to help craft your Book Club Kits to include author interviews, recipes, activities, book recommendations, and discussion questions for library, school, bookstore, and reader-driven clubs.

We love nurturing NetGalley’s knowledgeable and passionate community, who work to amplify your books’ reach across every corner of bookish conversation.

10.7 Million Avg Pageviews Each Month

With close to 11 million pageviews per month, Q1 2025 saw 9% growth when compared to the same period last year. This activity is driven by our community’s interest in the books that publishers and authors make available on NetGalley.com (nearly 7,500 books and audiobooks in Q1 alone), and desire to spread the word about the books they read!

More Than Just Views!

Your books benefit from more than just impressions on NetGalley—here are additional key KPIs that we tracked from January – March 2025:

NetGalley and Rakuten Kobo Launch New Technology Partnership to Integrate a Kobo Reading Option within the NetGalley Platform

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Newburyport, MA (April 30, 2025)—NetGalley, LLC, the recognized industry-standard for digital galley distribution and book marketing, and Rakuten Kobo, global digital reading retailer, announced today a new technology partnership for the collaborative development of an integrated Kobo reading option connected to the NetGalley platform.

Starting today, NetGalley clients can bulk-enable a “Send to Kobo” reading option for their digital review copies in advance of a late May launch to NetGalley members. Once live, the Kobo integration will allow NetGalley members to seamlessly send NetGalley epub files to their Kobo eReaders or the Kobo app, offering greater reading flexibility and convenience without the need for sideloading. ePub files will be protected with Kobo’s proprietary DRM.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Rakuten Kobo to bring this streamlined reading option to the NetGalley community,” said NetGalley President Lindsey Lochner. “At NetGalley, we’re committed to making books easily and securely accessible to members, however they like to read—and we’re proud to have co-created a complete end-to-end connection between NetGalley and Kobo to ensure NetGalley members can access books on their preferred device.”

“This partnership with NetGalley reflects our dedication to a more open approach to digital reading, where readers have more control over the way they experience books,” said Rakuten Kobo CEO, Michael Tamblyn. “By launching with easy ‘Send to Kobo’ ePub support, we are giving to NetGalley members what we hope is the best possible reading experience, taking full advantage of the format’s flexibility and customization options on their Kobo devices and in the Kobo app. We’re excited to see how this integration enhances the way readers discover and engage with new books, and we’re committed to expanding format support as we move forward.”

Following NetGalley’s January 2025 launch of a new proprietary in-browser reader, the addition of “Send to Kobo” is a further enhancement to the list of NetGalley’s Reading Options in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and France. At launch, the Kobo reading option will be available for ePub files, with PDF support expected later this year. The Kobo reading option will be introduced on the Japanese domain once PDF support is available.

“Send to Kobo” will be available to NetGalley members starting late May. Additionally, once Booktrovert—NetGalley’s forthcoming consumer marketing platform—is live in late June 2025, Kobo will be one of three default options for eBook giveaway fulfillment.

Both NetGalley and Kobo are excited about the positive impact this partnership will have on the book community. For more information, contact concierge@netgalley.com.

Freebies, FOMO, and Sales Funnels: The Secret Recipe for Selling More Books

Smart consumer marketing isn’t about selling harder—it’s about creating buzz, building trust, and turning browsers into buyers.

First, what is consumer marketing?

The primary goal of consumer marketing is to increase discoverability for your book, both within and outside of the known target audience. It may include a number of different tactics, like:

Advertising (increase visibility)
Incentives (discounts, bundles, special packaging, etc.)
Engagement campaigns (to encourage a flurry of activity that others want to join, like giveaways, limited-time offers, author interactions, etc.)

These efforts work together to put your book in front of the widest potential audience, with a goal of sales conversion. Consumer marketing tactics can and should effectively fill your sales funnel.

Why does it work?

Well-planned consumer marketing fosters reader engagement in both the short and long-term. The more often consumers see a product, the more likely they are to follow through to purchase it. Add on a lot of organic online activity around that product (for example: likes and comments on posts featuring the book cover, excited chatter about winning a giveaway, emotional online responses to the moods a book evoked) and readers will buy and read the book to ensure they’re not left out of the conversation happening within their communities!

The ultimate goal of consumer marketing in book publishing is driving sales and fostering long-term reader engagement. Encouraging word-of-mouth recommendations, maintaining ongoing engagement through newsletters and social media, and offering special promotions or giveaways can help sustain book sales beyond the initial launch. By continuously nurturing reader relationships and filling the sales funnel with additional potential consumers, publishers and authors can fatten the curve ahead of the long tail dropoff of sales.

Image via “Should You Invest in the Long Tail” by Anita Elberse

Cannibalizing Sales: A False Assumption

There’s a long-standing myth that book giveaways will cannibalize sales. In reality, strategic efforts can ensure that the benefits of book giveaways far outweigh any potential lost sales. While giveaways provide free books upfront, they often lead to increased sales in the long run as new readers who enjoy the book recommend it to others, leave positive reviews, or purchase additional books from the same author or publisher. Often a reader will purchase the same book they got for free in a different format! (Hint: Digital giveaways are cost-effective, offer extensive reach, and help drive print sales!) Here are some key strategies to ensure giveaways enhance sales rather than replace them:

1. Use Giveaways as a Lead Generation Tool

Build a direct marketing channel by collecting participants’ email addresses. This will allow you to offer exclusive discounts, pre-order bonuses, or future book recommendations, increasing the likelihood of future purchases. Do more with this list than just sell to them – practice empathetic marketing efforts to truly engage with these fans and, instead of replacing sales, giveaways will help establish a loyal customer base.

2. Offer Limited-Time or Exclusive Copies

To maintain perceived value, keep giveaways limited by time or quantity, or exclusive. This ensures giveaways act as promotional tools rather than permanent free alternatives to paid books. Consider:

Exclusive early access to members of your mailing list (or limit access to special book clubs, or the author’s street team)
Gift a copy of the book to readers who participate in online activities – posting a review, following the author on social media, sharing posts, tagging friends, etc.
Limited-edition bonuses like digital extras (a bonus short story, character art, playlist, etc.) that are only available to those who download the book during the giveaway window. This adds a sense of exclusivity even to a free item, and can drive urgency.
Run giveaways when certain community goals are met, for instance: “When we hit 2k Instagram followers, I’ll release a free novella!” This turns readers into active promoters to unlock free content.

3. Pair Giveaways with Paid Promotions

Instead of relying solely on giveaways, integrate them with paid marketing campaigns to boost overall sales. For example:

Running limited-time discounts alongside giveaways to encourage purchases from non-winners.
Upselling other books or merchandise after a giveaway.
Using retargeting ads to remind giveaway participants to buy related books.

4. Target the Right Audience

Instead of giving away books to general audiences, focus on specific groups that are likely to amplify sales by driving visibility. This includes:

Influencers, bloggers, and reviewers who will generate buzz.
Librarians and educators who may purchase copies for their institutions.
Book club members who may encourage group purchases.

5. Reach Outside the Target Audience

Don’t be afraid to cast a wide net! A giveaway is a low-barrier entry point, making it a perfect opportunity to test new waters and attract unexpected fans. By broadening your efforts, you are likely to discover new audiences with their own spheres of influence.

Advertise in unlikely (but aligned) spaces. Instead of just running ads or promotions in bookish spaces (like BookBub or Goodreads), try platforms that are less saturated but still relevant to your book’s themes.
Create cross-interest appeal in your messaging. When promoting the giveaway outside your usual reader group, highlight elements that appeal to broader interests, for instance: “Love stories with powerful women and epic travel? Snag this free adventure-romance before it’s gone!”

Rather than negatively impacting revenue, strategic giveaways can help you grow your audience, increase engagement, and drive long-term sales.

Tracking ROI (Return on Investment)

Any marketer or publicist will tell you that it can be tricky to tie one specific campaign directly to sales results. The path from visibility to conversion isn’t always linear. A potential customer might see a press mention, hear about a book from a friend, and then finally click on a digital ad weeks later before making a purchase. Because of this complexity, it’s more useful to think beyond just direct sales and instead focus on a broader set of performance indicators.

When organizing campaigns, be sure to set goals and plan to track metrics like audience engagement, website traffic, lead generation, or social media growth. These indicators provide a clearer picture of how your campaigns are influencing customer behavior over time. When evaluated together, they can help you understand the cumulative impact of your consumer marketing efforts, even if it’s difficult to pinpoint a single source of ROI.

Get Started Now!

Giveaways and other consumer marketing efforts are powerful tools not just for boosting immediate sales, but for cultivating long-term engagement and reader loyalty. Combine tactics to increase visibility with incentive-driven campaigns and smart audience targeting, to turn casual browsers into devoted fans. Strategic giveaways serve as catalysts for discovery and word-of-mouth momentum, especially when paired with paid promotions and authentic community engagement. And while ROI can be challenging to measure in a straight line, focusing on holistic performance metrics offers a clearer picture of sustained impact. Ultimately, successful consumer marketing is about more than just selling a book—it’s about building relationships that keep readers coming back for more.

NetGalley is here to help: Schedule a Booktrovert campaign now!

We’re thrilled to offer NetGalley clients a streamlined consumer marketing platform for the widest audiences, while leveraging and retaining the professional community that exists at NetGalley. Learn more here, and see how it compares to Goodreads!

London Book Fair Wrap-Up 2025

The London Book Fair 2025 was busy – both for NetGalley and for the book trade in general. Publishing Perspectives reports around 300,000 attendees and a 10% increase in activity in the International Rights center. It was certainly noticeable how busy all the halls at Olympia were, especially on the first two days of the fair. It felt like old times, even as we ushered in the new with our Firebrand Group stand moving to a bigger, better and more spacious area.

With more room in our stand, we were able to conduct even more meetings than usual and make the most of our whole Firebrand Group – NetGalley, Firebrand Technologies, Supadu, and Media Do International – being in the same place at the same time.

*Clients & colleagues of the Firebrand Group at London Book Fair*

While there are uncertainties out there for global publishing, this year’s theme, “Defining the Future of Creative Content”, hinted at the number of conversations surrounding AI. There was an energy and a spark across the fair as businesses weighed the threats and opportunities throughout the industry.

The announcement of Booktrovert – a brand new, standalone consumer marketing platform powered by NetGalley – was timed to coincide with the fair. Booktrovert will be launched in Q2 2025, as a destination website where readers can celebrate their love of books by participating in digital giveaways, special promotions, and fun bookish activities. Publishers and authors looking to reach U.S. readers will be able to start scheduling campaigns very soon!

Aside from the meetings and the long queues for coffee, London Book Fair is all about connections. The opportunity to discuss ideas in person with both clients and colleagues is always a pleasure. The energy of this year’s London Book Fair was welcome to see, and promises much for the rest of the year!

Stuart Evers (Director, NetGalley UK) and Kristina Radke (SVP, Business Growth & Engagement) at the Firebrand Group stand during LBF

IPG Spring Conference 2025: Challenges and Opportunities for Independent Publishers

The Independent Publishers Guild Spring Conference 2025 was subtitled “Going for Growth”, and it provided an opportunity for Independent and Academic Presses to discover new ways to innovate and to grow, despite the significant challenges facing the publishing industry.

After a fascinating insight into the use of data and statistics by Tim Harford, host of Radio 4’s brilliant More or Less, the conference moved on to a panel discussion on the lay of the land for independent publishers. Kate Wilson (Nosy Crow), Bella Lacey (Granta Books), and Karen Phillips (SAGE Publishing) gave a fascinating insight into what is at the forefront of all indie publishers’ minds, namely AI, increased National Insurance contributions, inflation, declining interest in reading among young people, post-Brexit trade regulations, and economic uncertainty with the U.S.

These were themes that were returned to over the course of the day, but for all the turbulence caused by these disruptions, the mood remained one of resilience and determination, looking for the positives and the opportunities available.

In this vein, Dan Mucha of World of Books shared insights on online book sales, emphasizing the importance of discoverability and reader engagement. Amongst the key takeaways was that reviews were very important for consumers, on which to base their purchasing decisions, and also to help with discoverability.

Discoverability was also covered in some detail by Michael Tamblyn, Rakuten Kobo CEO, in his session on the future of Book Subscription services. Data from Kobo’s digital subscription service, Kobo Plus, suggested that subscribers started six times more books per month than those who purchase individual titles. Furthermore, subscription sales did not appear to cannibalize traditional sales; rather, they expanded the readership.

Michael finished his session with a quick and highly informative look at AI for publishers. Ultimately, AI’s full impact remains uncertain. While it may disrupt traditional processes, it could also open new doors for creativity, efficiency, and innovation within publishing.

Closing the conference, Frank Cottrell Boyce raised an impassioned call to action regarding the decline in reading for pleasure among children. With 1 in 11 UK children growing up without a book at home, the industry must work together to find new ways to engage young readers. The publishing community, whether independent or not, has a unique opportunity to champion literacy, ensuring that future generations develop a lifelong love of reading.

With this in mind, we recently published a Community Spotlight on the Children’s & Middle Grade categories, so click to read more about activity for these books on NetGalley, and insight about UK NetGalley members’ engagement.

ABA Winter Institute Wrap-Up 2025

The 2025 Winter Institute, presented by the American Booksellers Association, was one of the most high-energy, collaborative, and emotionally charged events we’ve attended. While we acknowledge the reports of a contentious community forum, the personal experience of the NetGalley team members who attended was one of optimism and hope. From booksellers eager to get started or learn how to utilize NetGalley even more to publishers discussing evolving industry trends, we found the gathering to be dynamic and insightful overall.

Booksellers: Learning, Listening, and Looking for Audiobooks

*Tarah Theoret (VP, Community Engagement) and Darcy Piedmonte (Director of Customer Acquisition & Success)*

Winter Institute remains an incredible opportunity to connect with booksellers at all stages of their careers. This year, we met many new booksellers who were excited to learn how to utilize new tools available on NetGalley (like the NetGalley Reader) and confirm that their staff could sign up for their own NetGalley accounts and use the ABA store number. Education was a key theme for us, ensuring that booksellers understand widget invites, auto-approvals, feedback expectations, and how NetGalley can help streamline their workflows.

One persistent misconception we addressed was the belief that booksellers are required to maintain an 80% Feedback Ratio on NetGalley. While it is recommended that all member types submit Feedback, we recognize that writing a review may not be a priority for booksellers in the same way it is for a journalist or consumer reviewer. As NetGalley continues to evolve, we are exploring ways to further customize the Feedback process for booksellers and other member types.

A recurring theme in our conversations? Booksellers want more audiobooks! Several expressed that audiobooks help them keep up with their TBR lists and allow them to be more effective handsellers. Our response? “Tell your sales reps how important audiobooks are to you and your staff,” because booksellers really care about reading books before including them in their inventory and selling them. In other words, hand-selling is alive and well and distinguishes the indies from other retail spaces.

Publishers: Digital Expansion and Strategic Conversations

A notable question from many publishers was, “Can you tell us more about NetGalley’s reach?” While the focus at Winter Institute remains the bookseller community, publishers are keen to hear how NetGalley connects them to independent booksellers, and also other member groups like librarians and journalists. They were interested in stats, reporting, and facilitation of communication with those who’ve interacted with their books, particularly when comp books, or additional titles by a given author are published. To learn more about NetGalley’s reach, check out our 2025 Community Update and Community Spotlight on Children’s and Middle Grade activity!

An additional trend in the Galley Room was the increasing use of QR codes for digital access. We were happy to show how easy and sustainable QR codes can be right at our table. A partnership with Patagonia Books allowed us to exclusively offer their book, Tools to Save Our Home Planet, via QR code. A number of other publishers incorporated QR codes alongside physical galleys in the Galley Room and we were thrilled by this interest in a growing digital shift. We encourage publishers to further streamline their processes by linking straight to NetGalley and ensure a seamless experience for booksellers. To that end, we also shared a QR code of our own Sustainability in Publishing post.

We also planted seeds for NetGalley’s upcoming consumer marketing opportunity, Booktrovert, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Publishers have long wanted to target both book trade professionals and consumers, but not necessarily in the same space. When they heard that “it’s coming,” excitement was palpable.

Looking Ahead: Opportunities & Next Steps

Overall, Winter Institute 2025 was an energizing reminder of the passion, dedication, and resilience of the book industry. As booksellers, publishers, and industry professionals continue to adapt and innovate, NetGalley remains committed to supporting the connections that bring books into the hands of readers everywhere.