The Librarian Writer

I've been a member of NetGalley for a few years now, and it still surprises me that more people don't know about it. NetGalley is a website where librarians, teachers, bloggers, book reviewers -- basically anyone who reads and shares those books with other readers -- can get free downloadable advanced reader copies. This is a valuable tool, especially for librarians, for several reasons. First, it's a great help as a selection tool, so you know what's coming out and how good of a read it is. Second, print ARC's can be a pain in the ass. Yes, it's awesome to get them in the mail directly from the publisher. But you can't put them in the collection afterwards and you can't have the Friends of the Library sell them. I give them away to the kids in the Teen Zone, which is cool, but sometimes the ARC can differ significantly from the final work, and that kid may never pick up the final copy. So NetGalley fits a much needed niche. By having the ebook ...

My January pick for the Debut Author Challenge was Across the Universe by Beth Revis . And I'm still waiting to read it. I'm currently first on the hold list at my local library. No tsk, tsking me for not buying a copy. I'm a librarian. I use the library. I buy plenty of books as gifts, but I rarely buy books for myself. Because I'm a librarian. I use the library. But I'm bummed because now I feel I'm falling behind on DAC. Enter NetGalley . I heard about this nifty service through my tweeps on Twitter. Those involved in publishing in some way (including librarians!), can sign up for free. Publishers offer online ARCs for upcoming titles that users can request. I wrote a short bio to introduce myself to publishers, who then approved my requests. My first request, which will remain titleless, was a slow read for me. So slow that after 200 pages I finally gave up on it. When I was younger, I felt obliged to finish every book I started. I've since realized th...