Top Ten Tuesday: Netgalley Rejections that Hurt the Most!

/ Leslie

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week there is a new topic for bloggers to choose and list their top ten. This week is Top Ten Books Set In a Place I’d Love to Visit (real places or fictional)

I’m not really feeling this topic so I’m going to divert. I am actually going to do a topic that I saw a couple weeks ago by Kristin @ Kristin Kraves Books! I’ve linked her post so you can check out her answers. Don’t worry- I asked and she said it was ok!! The topic is Netgalley Rejections that Hurt the Most! Some of these hurt pretty bad!!! I’ve loved the idea of this and thought I should go down memory late and re-hurt myself. LOL These are in no particular order!

First and foremost… is this one! I think it hurts the most because it’s the most recent one. I even spent an hour writing an email to the publisher, asking if they would accept my Netgalley request. I was declined a week later and I may or may not have cried a bit. Haha. Okay, not really but I was really bummed out!

I just want to cry. I am so bummed that I was declined for this one!

I saw everyone raving about this and had to wait until release! It was painful. I have loved all of her books and I was so sad to be declined since I was accepted for her first one!

I was heart broken about this! LOL. I blame them that I only just read this a couple weeks ago.

Totally crushed. Wednesday Books does not like me! Any of their arcs that I’ve gotten are from when they do their “48 hour read now” posts. I fit all their criteria so I don’t know what it is!

Sigh.. I remember it like it was today! haha

I had emailed the publisher after I was declined on Netgalley. She said they were out of them and she couldn’t help me. A couple days later I got an arc sent through Edelweiss. lol This one had a happy ending but I was so upset that I emailed them after the decline! haha

I’ve never been approved for a Kristin Hannah before or after this. This one hurt the most though.

Another one that I was so upset about!

WHYYYY. I’m so sad about this one too.

Well here are my top ten most hurtful declines over the last several years!!! There’s a really varied set of genres here but that’s just me. lol

Let’s chat below & drop your links!!

69 thoughts on “Top Ten Tuesday: Netgalley Rejections that Hurt the Most!”

  1. Here I was, thinking I am the only one who feels bad about NetGalley rejections! We should start a group for this. Haha 😉
    What hurts more than rejections is no response. I have had many book requests pending for months! The book archives and yet my request remains pending until one fine day when it is finally moved to the declined section. (Must be some auto setting where pending requests get declined after a couple of months.)

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    • haha! Omg.. we should!! What could we all it? Rejectiongalley? Rejectionally? haha. IDK!
      Yes, the no responses are the worst. Especially, when I email them! Or when it’s just sitting in my galley pending for a year. Thank goodness we can take it back now!! I had a book on there that was almost two years old! This year, when they let us “remove” our request, it was so nice!!

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    • Woah, lucky!! I’m excited by your fortune! 🙂 I was declined for FLF! haha. But yeah, I wonder if sometimes a nice person is in charge of looking at requests that days. Who even knows.

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  3. NO BUT THIS POST – I LOVE SO MUCH 😭😭 honestly, ive been declined for most of the arcs I’ve REALLY REALLY wanted, so I’ve kind of stopped requesting?? Although the reason for that might also be my inability to complete reading books by their due date and thus having them expire AND THEN MOURN THEIR LOSS,, which IS COMPLETELY MY FAULT, but moodreader troubles ok?? Plus most of the expired ones are either those that I’ve never really been interested in reading in the first place OR have read the first few pages but then hated,SO. I much prefer just waiting for the release and reading them all then, BUT I’M SORRY YOU GOT DECLINED FOR ALL OF THESE,, ESPECIALLY BABEL AND FOUL LADY FORTUNE MUST HAVE HURT SO MUCH I’M SORRRYY 😭

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    • Yes!! Omg, it’s such a struggle. I’m so much better at just being bummed for a second and then moving on. I have so many other books to read anyways!! I end up buying or pre-ordering the books anyways. I totally understand why you would stop requesting and just wait for them to come out. Mood reading is a KILLER. I hate being such a mood reader!! Thank you for understanding my misery with Babel and Foul Lady Fortune!! 🙂 ❤

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  4. I saw Kristin’s post as well and I still stand in awe of all of you who receive so many books from Netgalley and Edelweiss and so forth. I am definitely doing something wrong and I guess I need to start figuring out exactly what that is – but I get rejected way more than what I receive any books!!

    But it is always a hard blow and it hurts if they don’t want you to read their books…

    Elza Reads

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    • I gave up on Edelweiss. It’s more for libraries, schools, and book buying people. I was doing okay there and then it’s just been a waste of my time. With Netgalley.. I went through my years of a lot more declines than acceptance. I think getting your # of reviews up there and keeping your % above that 80 threshold helps. I started requesting not so popular books to give me a better chance too. I would go through the “read now” and find anything that sounded good too. It helped get reviews and my ratings higher. I found an absolute GEM through the “Read now” section- A Man Called Ove by Backman!!! Also, keep all your stats in your bio and update it like monthly!

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  6. NetGalley declines feel so personal, don’t they? Even though my head knows that there could be a myriad of reasons that have nothing to do with me, my heart breaks whenever that happens.

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    • Right?! It feels personal even though it’s most likely not. Sometimes though, I wonder if they check out my blog and say.. “this isn’t it!” haha. Then I should feel attacked. See, my mind goes all over. lol

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  7. I remember the Babel one 🥺 I thought you got Foul Lady Fortune though!! I’m sorry that you got rejected for that one too! I think the one good thing about being international and having limited access to galleys and stuff is that I can’t request all the popular ones and get rejected cos I can’t even see their listings to begin ith 😂 I’d no doubt get rejected for all of these too had I tried to request them though—you’re not alone! Haha (that probs brings little comfort, soz)! 💜

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    • Oh my gosh. yes. I was so upset but you were there to make me feel better. Thanks, friend. ❤ That actually makes me realize how lucky I am! At least, I am able to request them!! I'm so sorry that you don't have the same options. I am glad that blog tours help out with that though!

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    • Yeah, I usually just get a bit bummed when I see it was declined but then I move on. I have so many books to read that it’s okay. I’ll eventually get to it! Babel really hurt though!! I think it was because I was extra and emailed. The only response I got was a decline a week later. lol

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  14. Haha this would be tough! Can you believe I’ve never requested a Netgalley ARC? I don’t know why, just such a mood reader I suppose, but yes if I really wanted one and got rejected it would sting a little! 🙂

    Babel looks really good so I can relate!!!

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    • WHAT!!??!! I’m actually really impressed with that! It can get overwhelming because once you get an accepted title, you kind of get a small high. lol. Then you just want more. It’s a never ending cycle and then you’ve requested more than you should have! lol

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  15. I’ve received a couple of rejections lately that don’t make sense to me either. They were based on my location; for some reason, they’re saying I’ve been rejected because the offer was for people in Canada only. The thing is that I am in Canada. After the first one, I double-checked my settings, only to have it happen again last week.

    I prefer to be excited when I get approved for books, especially the ones I’ve wanted to read for a long time.

    Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
    https://readbakecreate.com/7-bookish-places-i-want-to-visit/

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  17. I love this topic so much that had also asked Kristin if I could use it, although I’m saving it for a later date. I can totally feel your pain on some of those rejections, although I fortunately got approved for some of the ones on your list. I always get rejected for Aden Polydoros books, and it breaks my heart every time!

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    • I used to be so chill when it came to Netgalley. I would only request a couple at a time. Now, I’ve got several sitting on my “to-read” list. haha! Thankfully, I’m not really behind yet. I’ve managed to keep up but that could change rapidly. lol

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  21. I have really bad luck on Netgalley so I don’t request ARCs on there anymore. I use Edelweiss because I have a great approval ratio there. Oddly, my request for The Empire of Gold was rejected on Netgalley but I got approved on Edelweiss.

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    • That’s happened to me before. I would get declined and then approved on the other. I took a year off after I had my kid (3 years ago) and I haven’t been back to Edelweiss because I couldn’t get an approval to save my life! I might have to update my profile there and see if I can get any that I’ve been declined for!

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    • It’s so random sometimes. I think there’s several people that have certain days to do some Netgallely work. Maybe that’s why it’s so chaotic and sometimes you get rejected when you’ve gotten an arc for a certain author with them! It’s the only thing that makes sense to me. lol. At least, you get the physical copy though! 🙂

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  24. Misc etiquette note: is it general practice to ask someone before using a prompt they came up with? I’ll usually credit them and link back but I don’t think I’ve ever actually straight up asked if it was aight. Thoughts?

    I think for me it’s worse when I’m not approved OR denied, and it just sits there pending, taunting me, making me keep a sliver of hope while also getting more and more frustrated. I’m so grateful we can withdraw requests now! Spite withdraws after a MONTH or more is my standard to clear out the queue and put myself out of my misery.

    Additional question is once you’re denied… do you ever find yourself not picking it up right away even once it’s published? Like you’re too sad that it dampens your excitement?

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    • So, I’m not sure about that? I always ask if it’s not something I’ve seen before. I know there’s a lot that I’ve seen and I just do the same- link and give credit. BUT when it’s not something I’ve seen a lot, I ask because I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes!

      Yes, omg.. I do the same with the spite withdraws!! haha. I love it. It makes me feel like I have some power back! Although, I do get a bit sad sometimes and don’t want to pick up the book right away. I try not to let it dampen it too much but I do find that I will wait much longer to pick it up later. It might be self-conscious! You are definitely not alone there!

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  25. Great choice of a topic! My own list would probably be a mile long as I get rejected for most popular books… Either that or they are wish only in the first place. xD My most recent one that really hurt was probably The Botanist by M.W. Craven; one of my favorite series but I guess they didn’t want me reading it early. Then again, I was rejected for the previous book as well, so I should have seen it coming.

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    • LOL! I could have probably made a few of these posts with my rejections! I’m much better at moving on though. There’s so many books. haha. Oh no, what a bummer!! I just looked up The Botanist!

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  26. What a great topic choice! I have never been approved for an Emily Henry book. I just happened to win an ARC of Beach Read in a giveaway. I’m gutted every time. Haha! I was also denied for Namesake, but I got approved for her next book Spells for Forgetting?? I was very surprised. And I’ve never been approved for an Ali Hazelwood book either. I do think getting my Netgalley rating up to 90% has helped me a lot. And I’ve been doing a pretty good job of reviewing books before their publishing date. Maybe that makes a difference, but who knows?? I consistently get Christina Lauren and TJR’s books, so that helps with the sting of not getting Henry’s and Hazelwood’s a bit. Haha! I’ve never been brave enough to contact a publisher except one time when I was denied an ARC of one of Sarah Morgenthaler’s books after I’d been approved for the previous ones in the series. I just contacted the representative who’d sent me the previous ones and they sent me the one I was denied for. So it definitely never hurts to ask. I need to try it more often. 🙂

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    • OOH, I got Spells for Forgetting too! It was when it first appeared on Netgalley a few months ago as just a “wish.” I somehow got that granted and that never happens! haha. I was so confused but okay!! I always keep my Netgalley score above 85%. I’ve always been so weird about that! I have literally been only reading arcs lately because I just can’t read other books when I have so many that need to be read for Netgalley/publishers! Thanks, anxiety! lol I had only done it once before now. This last month.. I’ve emailed like 3 publishers! Haven’t heard from any but I’m proud of myself for actually doing it!

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