Meet the Bloggers is a new feature on The Hardcover Lover. So what's it about? Well... it's about meeting new or different bloggers. Each month, a different blogger will be featured here with a bookish guest post.

Are you ready? Let's meet today's featured blogger.

Meet Jessica

Today's guest blogger is Jessica from Princessica of Books. She's here today to talk about something that all book bloggers, especially new book bloggers, worry about or utilize - NetGalley and Edelweiss.

Edelweiss and NetGalley Tips

What is Edelweiss (EW) and NetGalley (NG)? EW and NG are promotional tools that authors and publishers use to give out eARCs, or electronic advanced reader copies, or other front-listed books. You actually don't even need to be a blogger or Booktuber to request books, you just need an established platform.

Materials needed:

love for literature
an electronic device
an email
an established platform (Youtube channel, blog, etc,.)
patience

Tips for Edelweiss!

When I started out, I felt that Edelweiss was the harder of the two to navigate; it's just so analytical and there is so much to do and so many categories! It's a bit overwhelming at first, I'll admit. However, I was lucky enough to find a couple guides that helped me navigate through the website.

A Blogger's Guide to Navigating Edelweiss (via Aila @ One Way or an Author)
How to Request E-ARCS on Edelweiss For Your Book Blog (via Jessica @ Bookish Serendipity)

I'll let you read those first. Go ahead, I'll wait. Both girls are very detailed while describing the process which definitely helped me! In fact, once I got my account all set up, I was able to request 5 ARCs (I could've done more but I had to stop myself)! I felt so comfortable with it.

In addition to following the guides above, here are some tips I thought of and wish I had when I first started off:

Have a good description of yourself! Share your stats (not just blog, but ALL your social media including Goodreads or Amazon), how long you've been blogging, and what your blog focuses on. This should be 4-7 sentences.

What NOT to do:

My name is Jess and I am a blogger at Princessica of Books. I like books.

What TO do:

I am a blogger for young adult book blog, Princessica of Books (http://princessicaofbooks.wordpress.com), where I review, spotlight, and share YA books. It has been up and running since July 2015 and the blog has about 1,700 views monthly, and a grand total of 9,424 hits to date with 1,215 followers. I also have a Twitter with 910 followers, Instagram with 310, and Goodreads with 573 friends. On all three social media platforms, I am highly active and promote all books I read. In addition, I also blog at http://readandwatch.co where, again, I highlight and promote YA reads.

See how it is detailed, yet concise?

2. Be specific on why you want to request! Why do you want to read that specific book? What pops out to you? Can you relate to it? Have you heard amazing things or does it remind you of some other book you loved? Tell them! The more detailed you are, the more it shows how much you want to read a certain book.

Tips for NetGalley!

NetGalley is easy enough to navigate. In fact, it is so easy to use that many bloggers find themselves requesting several ARCs at once. I'll touch upon this later.

Keep your profile updated! Every month or so, update your stats. This is what publishers will look at and if they see an empty profile, then you will NOT get the ARC. Put stats, a visible email, and ALL your social media platforms. Feel free to put a picture up as well.
Know what publishers are looking for. You can actually check this by clicking on a specific publisher and looking at "View Approval Preferences." It'll save you a bunch of time since it narrows down what books to request, just in case you don't meet the requirements.
Keep your ratio high! This is a very important thing to publishers because it shows how reliant you are. If they give you a free book will you read and review it in a timely manner?

For both:

Don't request too many at once!! I CANNOT stress this enough. Sure you might say, "Oh, I'm new to this. I probably won't get approved for many so might as well request 10." No. No. NO. Yes, you may be new but don't underestimate your worth or anything! It's better to be safe than sorry. I suggest requesting 1-5 at once, wait a week or two, then request others. You don't want to be buried with ARCs then have your ratios drop because you couldn't handle it all.
Keep track of what you request! This ties in to tip one. Remember what you request! You can actually track and check your requests on both websites, but I also suggest writing it down.
Know when the book comes out. You don't want to request a book that comes out that month unless you can read it before. It is not required to finish the book before the publication date but it definitely helps the author. SERIOUSLY. Know when you need your review up by and stick to it!

So you got approved, eh?

Congratulations! At this point remember to:

Thank the publishers for providing a complimentary copy! Every time you mention the book (well not every time, but like hauls and reviews), make sure to show gratitude towards the publisher.
Disclose where you got the ARC from. Okay, this is a legal thing so really remember this.
Promote! The whole point of an ARC is to promote the book before its release so update your Goodreads statuses and post about it on social media.
REVIEW THE BOOK. Seriously, don't forgot to submit your review.

Above all remember,

ARCS ARE NOT EVERYTHING.

Receiving ARCs DOES NOT mean that person is the best blogger. It's a privilege, not a right, so don't be mad if you aren't approved for one. We all get denied, it's inevitable.

Good luck and don't be afraid to DM or email me any questions!

Jess is a book blogger, bibliophile, feminist, and a future cat-lady. She enjoys supporting her local library and absolutely adores indie bookstores. When she is not reading or doing any other bookish sorts, she is probably listening to Troye Sivan, tweeting (@PrincessicaOB), or doing schoolwork [yes, although she hates it, she is quite responsible]. Feel free to chat with her on Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram or email her at princessiccaaaa[at]gmail[dot]com. Yes, two c's and four a's.