NetGalley is a website initially launched in 2008, aimed at the distribution of digital galley proofs of books, some of which have not yet been released. NetGalley was developed as an alternative to the production of paper galleys, and has since evolved into a key marketing and publicity platform for publishers and authors. Publishers that offer e-galleys include Hachette, Harlequin Enterprises, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and many others in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, and the US. The site offers electronic galleys to "professional readers" such as bloggers, book reviewers, booksellers, educators, journalists, and librarians.
History
The NetGalley website was created in 2008 as a joint venture between Firebrand Technologies and Rosetta Solutions. Initially launched shortly before the 2008 BookExpo America, the site was founded by Rosetta Solutions, and Firebrand Technologies took over in December 2008. NetGalley has since widened its roster of publishers and range of reviewers, and has begun offering services to publishers in France, Germany, and the UK. In 2012, the site began offering expedited approvals to librarians who added their American Library Association member number. NetGalley also began a partnership with the Library Journal for reviews of original ebooks in the romance genre; Library Journal stated it was "a move designed to address 'the skyrocketing popularity of ebooks in U.S. public libraries'". In October 2012, the NetGalley website relaunched, addressing numerous performance and scaling issues related to an old architecture, improving existing features, and introducing new ones.
Features
The site layout allows users to search the books available for review by publisher, genre, or date of upload onto NetGalley. Users request the titles they want, with a representative for the publisher making the decision to approve or decline the request. If approved, the user usually has a choice among EPUB, Kindle, or PDF formats of the book.
Reception
Reception to the site has been mixed. ALA TechSource wrote: "whatever it lacks in aesthetics, NetGalley makes up with simple ease of use and great content." Galleycat reported that in 2011, the site had seen a 500% increase in reviews in comparison to previous years.
