Independent author M.J. Etkind recently shared her experience on Reddit about using NetGalley for her books — including landing a feature in the The New York Times and generating meaningful library sales. Her biggest takeaway? NetGalley is far more than a review tool. When used strategically, it’s a professional marketing platform designed to connect authors with booksellers, librarians, media, and industry professionals.
Here’s what indie authors can learn from her approach.
Remember Who NetGalley Is For
Many independent authors view NetGalley as a way to collect reviews on Goodreads or StoryGraph. And yes — reviews in these places absolutely matter, but M.J. believes they’re not the only thing that matters!
NetGalley was built primarily to serve industry professionals, ranging from booksellers, librarians, media, reviewers and educators. But M.J. has found that if your only goal is consumer reviews (meaning reviews shared on retail sites like Amazon or social sites like TikTok), you may be underutilizing the platform. Authors can, and should, think bigger! Trade visibility, library discovery, and retail relationships are all within reach when using NetGalley. M.J. discovered that one of her biggest long-term values came from focusing on professional audiences, particularly within libraries and bookstores.
Budget Conscious? You Have Options.
For budget-conscious indie authors, M.J. recommends working with a NetGalley reseller to reduce the cost of the investment.
For independent authors, you have options:
- Work with NetGalley directly: You have full control over your own account and title listing, with instant access to data. Plus, participating in NetGalley’s built-in promotions and Booktrovert are just a click away!
- Work with a NetGalley reseller: Resellers may provide some discounts and/or shorter time commitments. Some even have marketing and PR options bundled into their offerings, which can benefit authors looking for a bit of extra help!
M.J. has used Victory Editing Co-Op, one of the longest-standing NetGalley co-ops/resellers available. Additional experienced resellers can be found here.
How to choose?
Authors who want full control, detailed data access, and the ability to actively manage and scale their campaigns may prefer working directly with NetGalley. Those looking for a lower upfront cost, shorter listing durations, or a more hands-off experience may find a reseller to be the better fit.
Anne Victory, owner of Victory Editing and facilitator of the Victory Editing Co-op, says, “My co-op gives authors maximum control while making NetGalley far more accessible. I focus on removing friction so authors can spend their energy where it matters—reaching readers.”
Know the Communication Rules
To maintain member privacy and trust, NetGalley has important guidelines regarding member contact. Based on her experience, M.J. recommends following these two lines of outreach to ensure broad engagement and relationship-building with readers:
- Send a gentle email to past ARC readers notifying them of a new book
- Send reminders to approved members encouraging them to download and review
In fact, NetGalley offers template language to help you get started with outreach like this!
Plan your communication strategy carefully to ensure you’re following best practices that will help you stay on the right side of GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy-related regulations.
Have Your Retail Infrastructure Ready
Timing matters. M.J. emphasizes making sure pre-order links are live everywhere, especially on Amazon, Goodreads, and through IngramSpark. This will ensure your retail links are available by the time your NetGalley listing gains traction! Metadata distribution through Ingram can take over a week from file approval to bookstore visibility, so plan ahead.
If industry professionals discover your book on NetGalley but can’t easily order it, you risk losing momentum.
Invest in Your Cover
M.J. saw a dramatic difference in performance between books with strong covers and books with weak ones.
On a platform like NetGalley where books are browsed quickly and feedback on the cover art is encouraged, cover quality directly impacts request rates. This is especially true of cover images that were generated by AI. While many indie authors are understandably conscious of budget, your cover image is not the area that you should scrimp on!
Include Industry-Focused Materials
In addition to the book file, M.J. ensures that all of her developed marketing materials have been added to her NetGalley listing, so that industry professionals know how and where to reach her. She includes:
- A sell sheet
- Ordering information for bookstores and librarians
- Contact details
- Backlist catalog information
- Direct links to social and retail sites for reviewers to cross-post reviews
This reinforces NetGalley’s professional purpose and makes it easier for industry members to act, as well as helping more casual consumer reviewers share their reviews widely!
Integrate NetGalley into Your Bookstore Marketing Plan
For M.J., NetGalley isn’t a standalone tactic — it’s part of her broader bookstore outreach system. She includes her NetGalley link when pitching bookstores, giving them a frictionless way to preview the book in order to help them decide to carry it in their store, hand pitch to readers, and enhance sales. In this context, NetGalley serves not only as a review tool, but as a professional access point within a more comprehensive marketing strategy.
M.J. Etkind lives a double life. By day, she is a corporate girly with a business degree. By night, she writes romance novels in a cozy book filled apartment in Boston. M.J. Etkind’s most favorite fun fact is that she once took an entire vacation to visit a bookstore. Etkind has previously published two romance novels. Dishwasher Safe (2024) and The Witch of Wall Street (2025) which was featured in The New York Times Book Review.
