As the first bookish discussion post of 2025, I want to talk about ARCs. As book bloggers, this is something that comes up for so many of us, and it dominates a lot of my reading. Here’s some subtopics to consider:
- Why is it so hard not to request any new books on NetGalley? I keep telling myself that I’m going to slow down on requesting ARCs, but don’t seem to be able to stick to it, although I’m much better about not buying new books.
- What do you do with them after reading? Personally, I tend to keep them because they’re frequently parts of a series and books that I enjoy, but I always struggle with what to do with the ones I didn’t love. I have a Pango account to resell books, but I never include ARCs. Instead, they’re most often dropped off at a little free library or my local public library.
- How do you track your ARCs? Since I get a combination of NetGalley ebooks and physical books from publishers, I create both a spreadsheet listing all books I need to review, and a reminders list for Physical ARCs and NetGalley reads. It probably sounds like a lot of effort, and it honestly isn’t. It just helps me keep track of what to read and when it needs to be read by. I also keep a running list of NetGalley ARCs in a Pages document so that it’s a lot easier to schedule my State of the ARC post.
- Do you prefer ARCs or blog tours? It seems like people tend to gravitate towards one or the other. I started out with blog tours, but quickly discovered that having to read a book and post my review on a specific day stresses me, so I focused more on ARCs.
Feel free to get creative—tell me what you think about the subtopics I listed, and if there were any that I might have left out.
Categories: Sunday Bookish Discussion
Leah's Books 
Nice post🌅🌅
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Thank you!
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I have significantly slowed down from requesting ARCs from NetGalley. I’ve really been enjoying working with JustRead Tours and that’s where I’m getting a large portion of my books. It is a little stressful having to publish on a specific date but I like having the physical signed copies. I got a tip from a friend to request the books I get from JustRead through NetGalley so I get credit at both places so that’s what I’ve been doing. Plus I get the NetGalley version so much sooner so it eases the some of the stress. However, not all the books are available on NetGalley. I also ease some of the stress of the book tours by signing up for author interviews (so fun!) and excerpt posts (haven’t had one yet). That way I can read the book and review it when I’m ready.
To teach, I use a paper calendar and I star everything that is a to do in my Gmail account. As soon as I get a notification of a tour or deadline, I add it to the monthly and weekly spread of my calendar. I also have specific stickers I use to indicate if it’s for Bookstagram or the blog. I always keep my calendar opened on my bookstand for one week ahead so that I make sure I get everything done.
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That’s such a great thing, to be able to enjoy blog tours! They weren’t for me, but when I get an ARC from NetGalley, I’ve started requesting audiobooks because it’s an easy way to get through the book faster, since I always have an audiobook and an ebook or physical read going at once.
Calendar stickers sound so fun! It reminds me of being a kid and having a sticker book.
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