
From NetGalley.com
So you want to get free e-books?
You’re a book lover, book reviewer and/or book blogger and you, too, want to receive e-galleys of advance reader’s copies?
Alright, I’m going to tell you how.
How to Get Free E-Books
E-books, I find, are the easiest to get. In some cases, you don’t even need to have a blog to receive free e-books.
What you need to do:
1. Write reviews. Don’t think anyone will give you free e-books for your own pleasure; authors and publishers want feedback. And I don’t mean one-sentence reviews. There is no minimum, but I’d go with at least 250 words.
2. Be honest, but fair. Authors and publishers want your opinion, so give it to them. But don’t only concentrate on the book’s flaws or qualities: try to give both. And why not even find a solution to a problem you found with the book? I know sometimes a book can be so frustrating and annoying and BAD that you can’t seem to find anything good about it. In that case, say what you need to say, but insult no one.
3. Post your reviews. So you wrote a review – what now? You post it! You have an Amazon account? Put it on there! You have a Barnes & Noble account? Do the same thing! Goodreads and Amazon are usually the main places where they ask you to post your reviews, so do that. It’s not long, and reviews are very important for sales so, the more you share them, the better it is for the authors and publishers. Even if it’s a negative review. Can you imagine if every Amazon and Goodreads book had only 5 star ratings?
4. Say thank you. Authors/publishers gave you free e-books for your own honest opinion? How wonderful… so thank them! Building a courteous relationship with authors and publishers is salient if you want to continue getting e-books in the future and gain their trust.
5. Disclose. This is something requested by every program, so don’t forget to disclose in your review where you got your copy.
‘‘I received ___________ via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.’’
Where to get free e-books
1. NetGalley. This is the easiest place where to get free e-books. It helps to have a blog, but it’s not ‘‘obligatory’’. You create yourself a profile, set your role, add info in your bio and you’re free to request any book you want! It doesn’t mean your requests will always be approved, but you’re going to get there. Don’t forget: building professional relationships with publishers and authors is the key. So maybe your first request will be declined, and your second, and your fifth. I remember the day I created my NetGalley account, I requested 20 books.
Do you know how many were actually approved? 5.
Don’t lose faith! It’s normal: they don’t know you and popular publishers don’t send e-books to whoever requests their books. Be patient. The more you review, the higher your ratio gets and the more trust-worthy you look.

From my profile, on NetGalley.com
2. Edelweiss. Getting books from Edelweiss is harder than getting them from NetGalley. For this one, apparently, having a blog is not obligatory either, but again, it helps with the approvals. There are so many publishers on there, and so many books. You also need to create an account and then, when you request a title, they ask you to give a reason why you’re requesting that specific title. You have to give a good reason.

From Edelweiss
I don’t use Edelweiss anymore, because I now have the contact of 15+ publishers. And I prefer physical copies or requesting directly from them.
3. First to Read. This program was created by Penguin. How it works is that you create an account (don’t need a blog) and you start with a couple of hundred points. Every time you request a title, you gain new points, and when you have enough, you can use those points to ‘‘buy’’ a title, meaning you’re still requesting it, but you’re assured a copy.
Also, it’s only available to US residents.
4. Blogging for Books. This program offers both print and e-copies. If you’re not a US resident, you can only get e-galleys. I did create myself an account, but I never used it. All they ask of you is to 1) have a blog, 2) request a title and then 3) review it. It’s pretty simple, but the titles available are not exactly glorious, in my opinion, which is why I never requested one.
5. Book Tours. A great, easy and very enjoyable way to get free e-books and arcs is by participating in book tours. Sadly, you definitely need a blog for this one and again, if you want print arcs, you usually have to be a US resident. How it works: You sign up for a book tour on one of the many websites hosting blog tours. Then, the host provides you with an e-galley (or print in some cases) normally a month before the book tour starts. You read the book and write a review for it. But you don’t post it yet – you wait until the date the host assigns you for the book tour.
Pros: free books, a lot of traffic, great interactions with other book tour participants.
Cons: it’s a promotional tour, so negative reviews aren’t exactly accepted.
What happens is that, usually, if you rate a book lower then 3 stars, the host will give you a pre-made promotional post to publish, instead of the review, such as an interview with the author, a guest post, etc. They will ask you to hold your review for when the book tour has ended.
I did a couple of book tours, when I first started blogging, but I quickly after started getting print ARCs from publishers, so I lost interest in that.
Some great Book Tour hosts:
YA Bound Book Tours
Xpresso Book Tours
Rockstar Book Tours
6. From publishers directly. I recommend you start with the programs, if you’re a new blogger, and then contact publishers about e-copies. You’ll learn more about requesting books from publishers in my ‘‘How to get free advance reader copies’’ post, very soon.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I meant to both do a ‘‘how to get e-books and print books’’ post, but it would have been too long for your liking. It will come soon, though.
LOLA
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Very informative post! I look forward to the next post on how to get ARC’s.
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I actually wrote 1/3 of it, but it’s quite long, which is why I didn’t post it with this one! Thank you!
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Great way to keep your followers coming back for more 😉
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hehe!
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What an informative post!
Also people can get a swoon reads account and also read from there. It’s a pretty good site. But I haven’t gotten around to using it so I have no idea how it works.
Wonderful post Lola! I’m looking forward to the next post 🙂
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True, but I didn’t include it, because they’re not actually published yet, on Swoon Reads. It’s like you’re reading uploaded books, and the ones who get the most views get published. It’s peculiar, but yeah maybe I could have added it. 🙂 Thank you!!
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Ah I see. Good point.
You’re very welcome Lola 🙂
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Great post Lola. Something I’ve had in mind a while to do – one day 🙂
I’ve been blogging a couple of years now and I get books mainly from Netgalley or direct from publishers. ebooks suit me as visual issues mean I can’t read print now. Tried edelweiss but TBH found it cumbersome to use and don’t bother anymore. Had a couple from penguin first to read so you can get ebooks when in UK. I love to read, and also look in free kindle lists, smashwords and still buy some too…
My first requests on Netgalley were pretty much like yours but by sticking with it and always reading/reviewing everything requested I get most requests now. Occasionally some are country limited and UK residents may not get them. Each publisher is different. After a while many will give you auto request so you don’t wait, simply press request and its ready instantly. If you do get turned down and fit their profile its wroth emailing to see if they’ll reconsider. I point out that I’m a UK resident but have worldwide blog followers so country limits don’t really apply. There’s also quite a few Read Now books which are available instantly to anyone and are a great way to get started.
You wrote: “Even if it’s a negative review. Can you imagine if every Amazon and Goodreads book had only 5 star ratings?” Absolutely agree with this, would make reviewing pointless. Try to be constructive though and not just gushing with good reads, or rude with ones you don’t like. Authors work hard and if you don’t enjoy a story it will still appeal to people who have different tastes. I’ve had some unpleasant comments a few times when i post a 2 star review, and I never write unpleasant/rude comments, just point out what I don’t like. It’s not something I do often often, but sometimes what the description says and what the book holds aren’t a great match, and if i don’t like it then others who share my taste may not either! Conversely I’ve bought books with one and two star reviews simply because what that person didn’t like made it great for me 🙂
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Really? Because on the First to Read website, they really specify that it’s only open to US residents… and you say you still get the e-galleys anyway? Maybe because they don’t know you live in the UK? How can that be?
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no idea? I just joined up, get the emails and if something appeals apply…I didn’t know about the US restriction…oops. I think I’ve had two from there, I don’t really look at it now.
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just checked my profile – my mistake , I’ve requested three but don’t seem to have had any – must be some other site I was thinking of. I’ve got my UK address written on my profile though….but can see now the US/Canada restriction (blush) I must have not looked at the T&C when signing up.
I understand about sales tax for country restrictions but when they’re not paid for there’s no tax due so don’t really understand why they limit galleys. The whole tax on ebooks but not print books thing is weird though IMO.
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I really have no idea how it works – though it is strange. However, there’s so many things online nowadays that the tax thing doesn’t surprise me at all! 😛
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I don’t have a blog and use edelweiss a lot. So you don’t have to have a blog. But you do need to leave reviews (like at netgalley).
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Oh, really? You’re the first person I hear that gets Edelweiss titles and doesn’t have a blog. Thanks for that!
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Wow, I enjoyed reading this so much!
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Great post, Lola. I don’t avail of Net Galley or Edelweiss all that much, nor join blog tours, but that’s because I suck at fulfilling obligations. Lol. I work with Penguin Random House Canada exclusively just because they’re the only publisher who actually reached out to me. I don’t request ARCs from other houses because (see: sucking at fulfilling obligations).
This will be helpful to those starting out. 🙂
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New to your blog so I have a question.
Do you cover places to get free/reduced eBooks which don’t involve reviewing the books? There are several sites which offer this and I use them quite frequently plus I have a couple of authors I work with directly
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No, I don’t cover those ones in this post. Plus I wanted to concentrate a bit more on e-advance reader copies. But yes, I am aware of those. My target audience is book reviewers, that’s why 🙂 Thank you for your comment!
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Great blog! I love the book sharing going on! 🙂
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Reblogged this on Rainbow Glazed Nights and commented:
I thought that this would be useful for all of my dedicated readers out there.
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Thanks so much!
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Informative post. I have never received an ARC although have always been curious about it especially since I see some bloggers always posting reviews mentioning that they are ARC. I actually know one blogger who only reviews them and does like a post each day! Thank you for this post, I am wiser now:-)
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Such a helpful post for new bloggers like myself! I’ve had the luck to get a few requests accepted on NetGalley, and ARCs that I actually wanted to read, considering I’m new on blogsphere and all!
I’d love to read the post on how to request print books, and I’d like to know how that dynamic works when you request a print book from a publisher, how do you approach. Other doubt of mine is, when are publisher willing to send out a print ARC to an international blogger. Thank so much for this wonderful post and I’m already looking forward to the next one!
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This post is so helpful! Thank you, Lola! I live in Asia so it’s really hard to get a physical copy since it cost a fortune
So I’m thankful for NetGalley’s existance! 😀
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Awesome post! Very informative, I’m surely going to return to it when I find more time to dedicate to reviews in the summer!
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Yup, this was where I found the Penguin Random House site! Thanks for this helpful site. I was only on Netgalley.
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