NetGalley's Book Advocate Toolkit is a new/updated how-to and help tutorial guide for book advocates and reviewers written by the folks at We Are Bookish. Originally released in 2022, this updated and reformatted guide was published 22nd July 2024. It's 31 pages and is available in ebook format.

Whether readers have been reviewing for years or are just thinking about starting, networking and learning from other reader/reviewers is always a great idea. Adding techniques to an expanding arsenal of tools for creatively evaluating books and presenting them objectively to followers and the general public is a good way to increase reach and deepen our own understanding of the things we read and review.

We Are Bookish has collected a number of good tips and tricks in this short guide. They've included info about motivation, how to review, how to format a review, what to say, scheduling, follow ups, audiobook reviews, and more. There's a flowchart about what to do with DNF (did not finish) books. They've also included a very helpful page on writing critical reviews, something that nearly all reviewers struggle with.

They also tease an upcoming social media toolkit at the end of the booklet.

Five stars. This would be a great fit for pretty much everyone who writes even the occasional book review, blog, or bookish social media post. It's necessary to create a NetGalley account to access and download the booklet, but it's a useful, graphically appealing tool.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

First let me preface this review by saying that I am taking part in the #CampNetGalley challenge and reviewing this toolkit completes one of the squares on the bingo card. The rules do not say that I have to give it a positive or negative review (chuckle) - just that I review it.

Imagine my surprise when I actually like it (chuckle). I wish when I had joined NetGalley that this toolkit had been sent to me. I struggled around the app and I even learned something new while participating in the challenge that I didn’t know I could do on the app. 💡

NetGalley's Book Advocate Toolkit Revised Edition has a nice clean layout with lots of colors and graphics to keep the reader engaged and interested. The toolkit takes you step by step as you set up your account to navigating your way around to requesting books. Then on to giving feedback or not giving feedback on the books you have been approved for. I was so surprised that all of the links in the toolkit worked. I clicked and clicked just to make sure.

The tips are great and should give new readers and even those with experience (like creating lists 🙋) creative ways to organize, write, and share their reviews. I also learned that pencils are a really good thing (chuckle). I had no clue that my reviews had been shared so many times and I thank every publisher that has shared them. I had no clue to even look or that even existed until I read the toolkit.

I recommend that every reader utilizing NetGalley at least take a look at the Toolkit. I also recommend that when new members join NetGalley, that this kit is sent to them as part of the “welcome” package. It’s a valuable source of information that is easy to read and loaded with great tips.

This tool kit is soo helpful to help better prepare myself for reviewing ARCs! I am excited to use all the information I learned in this tool kit to improve my reviews! A solid five star wealth of knowledge for anyone just getting started on NetGalley!

This toolkit has helped me polish up my reviewer profile and made it super clear how to go about requesting books.

The layout and text feels very accessible and uses clear language with direct links for further information if required.

I would recommend this resource for any new users looking to make the most of their experience on NetGalley.

This is a very helpful booklet to read when one is just getting started on netgalley. It is especially helpful for writing reviews, even including an annotated example. I will definitely be referring back to this throughout my time on netgalley.

After going through NetGalley's Book Advocate Toolkit, I updated my profile to better showcase my personality. The PDF was really insightful, as it clarified what publishers look for when granting access to advanced copies, both digital and audio. I recommend it to anyone looking to become a stronger book advocate.

Fantastic little book of information. I especially liked that the booklet had information about how to write reviews. It could have more explanations and details on that, as I know a lot of people, including myself, who don't feel confident with their review. Either way, it was supurbly done, and I look forward to putting some of those lessons that I learnt to action with some reviews. I figure now is a good start.
Great written voice, and the writing is clear and easy to understand making it a quick and reliable read. Would recommend it to new NetGalley friends.

This is something I didn't think I needed but now it's the the best Netgalley toolkits I've seen.
Full of tips and explanations and how to better write your reviews.
I will for sure use this toolkit everytime I write a new review from now on

I was excited to see that an update the Netgalley's book advocate toolkit was available! This is filled to the brim with useful info and great direction for any Netgalley member,

This was a perfect reminder to everything NetGalley. Having been a member of NetGalley for years, I really loved giving this a read and finding out some tips and tricks to update my profile.

This 2024 version of the NetGalley's Book Advocate Toolkit is the updated we needed and that I wish I had back in 2010 when I started this account! What I love most is how it goes in depth about practically everything so that you can make NetGalley work best for you! Bravo, Netgalley team!

This is AMAZING for a reviewer. Thank you so much for providing us with such detailed information so we can pass along the best possible reviews for both authors and potential readers. <3

This is a must read for anyone serious about reading through NetGalley.

Appealingly laid out, with a comprehensive information and easily do-able suggestions, this was great; it goes into a lot and covers so much so much of what new-to-NetGalley users are facing and has tons of useful information even for NG readers of years.

This is a great reference tool for beginners or anyone needing a refresher on different aspects of NetGalley or requesting books from publishers.

The NetGalley's Book Advocate Toolkit is a clear, accessible guide to being the best Netgalley reviewer a reader can be. From how to set out the profiles to the process of getting approved and cautionary tales of request sprees, this book provides everything a reviewer needs to get started. Need help writing your review? This guide can give you some pointers here, too.

Clearly laid out, with bold infographics and easily-digestible text, this is an essential guide for new reviewers and a great refresher for experienced book advocates.

~ Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

Super helpful. I always appreciate guidelines to help me flourish. Thanks, Netgalley, for this guide.

Very informative, while I joined NetGalley earlier this year, this toolkit helped me understand the website and processes a lot more. I appreciated the info on DNFing books and the advice throughout the toolkit. It was also fun and easy to navigate.

This toolkit was sent to me to read and review by NetGalley. It will help me so much to write my review correctly and help the authors, publishers and people like me who just love to read. I took screenshots of the three pages I needed so I can refer to them the next time I need to review a novel.

This is so helpful, especially to new members! And even as an existing member, I still found some new tips and tricks to help me as well. I can't wait for the social media section when it comes out!!! As someone who loves reviewing and being active in the bookish community, I think it will be super insightful for new and fresh ways to rave and build hype for new books. Thank you so much to the Netgalley team for creating such useful tools! It really shows how much y'all care about your members.

Thank you, NetGalley for this toolkit! The NetGalley's updated advocate toolkit is user-friendly and has a beautiful concept and layout! I found this toolkit extremely helpful with easy-to-understand examples of how to update your profile which I did go and do! It even went through how to set up your devices and navigate NetGalley which can be tricky at first. I highly recommend you download this toolkit if you are just beginning or if you need a refresher on how to be most successful using this platform!

I am learning through this toolkit it is important to not request everything unless you can keep up with your feedback because it does affect your ratio! The ratio is significant because it tells the publisher how likely you are going to rate and review the book you are requesting. I think the section describing how to give the best reviews was explained well and gave great examples of what works and what doesn't. I definitely will keep in mind for the future, who I am recommending this book for and being unique in my reviews.

Overall, I am impressed with this toolkit and would highly recommend this to others getting into NetGalley! I am also very excited to see that coming soon, NetGalley is offering a kit called NetGalley's Social Media Toolkit! I think this will be very helpful, for those using Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to review books!

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