Today’s TTT topic is a freebie, and I recently received a rejection from Netgalley that stung a little, which was the inspiration for this post! I often talk about the ARCs I receive from Netgalley, but I never speak about the requests I make that are rejected. You will notice that a lot of these are romances because that tends to be the genre I request the most and there are a few romance publishers who very rarely accept my requests- I am looking at you Forever! I’m so grateful for every ARC I receive, and this post is just for fun!
Feed Them Silence is the book that inspired this post. I read an ARC of Summer Sons and absolutely loved it. I have been excited for a new book by Lee Mandelo ever since and had my hopes up when I saw it was available on Netgalley. It is a SciFi horror novella but it does not come out until March of next year, so I have a long wait ahead of me.
I cannot be too mad about not being approved for Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake because I haven’t read the first book, A Brush of Love, yet but I do have it on audiobook. I am still excited about this one because I know there is baking involved and it has the one-bed trope!
Netgalley has so many holiday romances available for request right now and A Merry Little Meet Cute is the one that I am most excited about, so I was sad about this rejection. I also just adore Julie Murphy, so it was a double blow. I am still so excited to read this during the Christmas season. It looks adorable!
The cover of Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things is one of the cutest things I have ever seen! I definitely requested this based on the cover alone, but the premise sounds adorable. It follows the love stories of four sisters over the course of four seasons. It comes out in October and sounds like a fun book to read that time of year, so I will definitely pick it up then.
Love in the Time of Serial Killers might be the rejection that hurt the most because it is one of my five-star predictions! It is a romance following a woman who loves true crime and has the wrong impression about her new neighbour. It sounds like so much fun and a book a will be reading the minute it comes out!
The Hookup Plan is the third book in Farrah Rochon’s The Boyfriend Project series. I have only read the first one, but I loved it. I really should read the second one so I will be ready when The Hookup Plan comes out on August 2nd. I am running out of time!
You know I love foodie romances and the title of For Butter or Worse is so cheesy and punny- I am here for it! It feels as though I have been waiting for this romance for ages. Thankfully, it comes out in a week from today, so not much longer!
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is one of my most recommended books. I have lent my copy to people in my real life so many times and it is always a hit. I am so excited to have something new from Gabrielle Zevin and requested Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow months ago but was rejected. It did end up being part of Libro.fm’s influencer program and it is out now, but I haven’t read it yet, of course.
Simone St. James is arguably my favourite mystery writer, so I was beyond excited for The Book of Cold Cases! I was rejected pretty quickly, which was no surprise to me because I know so many people love her as well. I cannot believe this book has been out for months and I haven’t read it. Definitely have plans to get to it in the fall!
If I see a witchy book on Netgalley, I am going to request it! Payback’s a Witch came out last year and I probably would have read it if I had received an eARC, but it is one I keep forgetting about. I know it has mixed reviews, so if you have read it, do you think it’s worth picking up?
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Love this as a topic! I also have gotten some rejections that made me quite sad, including Lana Harper’s sequel to Payback’s a Witch. I really liked Payback’s a Witch and definitely think it’s worth picking up. Great list!
That makes me happy that it’s worth the read! The last thing I need to do is start another series but it just sounds too perfect for fall!
This is such a good topic. I’m sorry you were rejected for all of these books.
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-an-outdoor-adventures-reading-list/
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
What a great topic! I remember when I got rejected for a Nora Roberts book and how much that hurt, especially since I moderate the Nora Roberts group on Goodreads! Ouch.
Thanks for sharing your most painful, Kristin💜
I didn’t know you did that! That’s so cool. I love Nora Roberts. I need to get back into reading her stuff!
Great topic choice! I recently got rejected for the new entry into the Well Met series which hurt. I was also very put out by being rejected for: The Poison Season, Heartbreaker by Sarah MacLean, and Dead Man’s Hand by James J Butcher. Dang Netgalley!!!
Hahah oh no! There’s something about getting rejected for a sequel that hurts even more!
I was recently rejected for A Merry Little Meet Cute too!!!! I’m so sadddd since I’m so excited for this book, but its already, I look forward to reading it around the holidays. I also really love Sierra Simone’s romance books so I can’t wait to see what this duo wrote up!
Doesn’t it sound amazing?? Oh well, it’s probably better to save it for around the holidays anyway!!
I agree, it’ll be a great read around the holidays and I’m eagerly anticipating it! 🙂
Great topic! It’s definitely one that no one talks about often and I know there has been some i have been salty about. 😂
Haha it was painful to look at all my declines!
Rejection is always hard. I hope you get to read all of these books soon anyway. 🙂
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Thank you! I am still excited for them all!
Oh I feel you…. I’m not on Nergalley very often and tend to get rejected more than approved…. Maybe I should be more adamant or something.
I also loved loved loved The Storied life of AJ Fikry!! You know it has two titles? The Collected Works of AJ Fikry and The Storied Life of AJ Fikry. So cool. Still want to read Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow as well.
Enjoyed reading your post today!
Elza Reads
Ohhh I did not know that! I know that it is being adapted, which is very exciting!
Great post!! I was also so upset about getting rejected for Simone St James’ new book! But I’ve heard it’s… not very good.
I’ve been hearing mixed things too! I’ll get to it eventually 😂
i never keep track of those…maybe i should
I usually don’t! It’s better that way 😂
Thanks for the “Love In The Time of Serial Killers” rec! I look forward to checking it out when it becomes available on Amazon!
Doesn’t that sound so good?
I’ve just properly signed up to Netgalley so we shall see how I get on. I get the chance to be on Blog Tours otherwise so I won’t be too devastated if I get rejected from them (much 🤣😂)!
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2022/07/19/top-ten-tuesday-storylines-settings-that-make-me-think-of-summer/
I have been loving the audiobooks on Netgalley! I do blog tours every once in awhile!
I love a Blog Tour. I have tried really hard to cut down as I was doing 4/5ish a month… I’ve got 2 for August and 2 for September so I am really looking at October now…
Netgalley rejections sting! And don’t get me started on “pending” 😩
I just looked at my pending list for the first time in awhile and it’s definitely painful!
Great idea for a post and boy, could I have a list!!! It seems I rarely get approved for “famous” authors, but can sometimes get ones from people I’ve never read or heard of before. However, I did luck out and get Tomorrow and Tomorrow, but NOT Book of Cold Cases. Sigh. I guess all of us can identify with this rejection feeling. Happy Reading on the ARCs you DID receive!
my TTT list: https://www.bookshelfjourneys.com/post/ttt-evocative novels-list
Thank you! It’s seems a lot of us were rejected for Cold Cases!
What a great topic! I could do the books I wish I’d not been accepted to review! lol
I got rejected for Brigid Kemmerers Defend the Dawn and I’m on her street team….that hurt the most!!!
Hahaha that truly burns! How does that happen??
I have no idea! I was like you cannot be serious!!!!
Rejections really stink but what really upsets me are when they tell you to check their profile for approval preferences and either you met all the requirements and they still rejected you, or they never filled them out so there’s no way to know what they want.
I agree! There are some publishers who never accept my requests and I can’t quite figure out why.
It always sucks getting rejected on Netgalley. I’ve stepped back from it in the last year or so because I just haven’t been feeling like reading e-books and I was getting so behind on my arcs that it was getting stressful! I have been quite lucky that I’ve been accepted a lot more than declined, but there have definitely been some rejections that have stung: I was accepted for Caraval by Stephanie Garber so it was a bit of a sting when I was rejected for the sequel Legendary. Noughts and Crosses is one of my favourite books of all time, so it definitely hurt when I was rejected for Crossfire when that came out.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2022/07/19/top-ten-tuesday-377/
I have really embraced audiobooks on Netgalley. I seem to get through them more quickly!
It always hurts most when you are rejected for a sequel!
I may have to try that and see if they have any I’d like, because e-books have never really been my thing. It definitely does!
I didn’t get The Book of Cold Cases either, if it makes you feel better. I ended up listening to the audiobook from my library and it ended up being a great experience. I’m kind of glad I got to experience it that way instead of reading the ARC.
It’s seems a lot of us were rejected for that one!! I have always listened to her books on audio, so that is a great point!
I’ve felt this pain before too. I can’t stand the rejection. I have a tendency of searching for titles in the Read Now category.
Haha that is smart! I have read some amazing books that were Read Now!
I have felt this way as well! It doesn’t happen as much these days, but still does! And sometimes it is from publishers that I used to have a contact who emailed me about physical copies, but then she moved to a different publisher and now I am auto-approved for them, but I miss the physical ARCs. Fun post!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2022/07/19/top-ten-tuesday-topic-freebie-ten-romance-authors-i-still-need-to-meet/
Great topic! Though there are so many good books coming out that I’m always impressed when people request—and then keep up with—ARC copies.
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2022/07/19/top-ten-tuesday-invisible-books/
I learned the hardway to be more picky when requesting arcs. It’s easy to become overwhelmed!
I can see that! And I think you made the right choice. I’ve seen lots of bloggers post about having too many ARCs, and that stresses me out (even though I’m not the one with the ARCs).
Oh man. Those rejection emails still hurt.
They really do!
Payback’s a Witch is on my TBR, too–I hope we both enjoy it when we read it!
I hope so too! I tend to love witchy books no matter what 😂
And if they’re witchy contemporary or romance, sometimes that’s even better, haha!
Oh wow, this is probably the best freebie topic that I’ve ever seen! I can completely identify with that sting of getting denied an ARC that I have my heart set on, and I’ve definitely gotten denied for some that I truly wanted. Now I want to use this topic idea!
I would love to see your list of rejections! It was painful to look through all of mine though 😭
I love this idea and is so true!! Have a great week!
Thank you so much!
I love this topic!! Do you mind if I keep it for the next time I need a freebie?! I know the hurt when getting a rejection for a book I really wanted! So grateful for all the approvals but those declines can really hurt!
My Top Ten!
Of course! I’d be curious to see your rejections so we can share in our pain!
Thanks! haha, there are definitely some that really hurt.
I love this topic, Kristen. Forever is one that declines me almost all the time, so I know the feeling. This is another topic, I am going to keep in my back pocket for another freebie day.
Oof yeah some of these would’ve hurt my feelings too! Great post!
I’m not on NetGalley, but I can imagine how much it hurts not to get access to a book you really want to read early. Great post!
Great topic! I definitely have a bunch of NG rejections that made me super sad, especially when they’re for books I absolutely want to read and/or publishers who’ve approved other requests!
I was rejected for Long Live The Pumpkin Queen this morning. Was crushed!
💖
I was almost instantly rejected for both Love on the Brain and A Very Merry Bromance.
I noticed that at least one of your listed rejections (The Hookup Plan) was published by Forever. I’ve noticed that particular publisher has a tendency to offer some of their books as Read Now a just a couple of days. The trick is to follow them on social media and check their posts regularly. Don’t request the books until then because once you’ve been rejected for a galley you can’t download it even if it’s Read Now.
That is such a good tip! I’m always rejected by them and didn’t realize they use the read now feature. I’ll have to follow them. Thank you!
omg i love this topic it’s so fun!! NG and edelweiss rejections genuinely hurt so much hahahaha 😭
Hahah they really do!
I learned pretty early on in my NG requesting career just how impossible it is for me, as an international (non-Western) reader to actually get ARC requests approved so I stopped that real quick 😂 I sadly don’t even see these titles on my NG but I would’ve defo requested them (and probably gotten rejected too, lol)! Great topic choice, Kristin!
I don’t understand why eARCs aren’t more available internationally!
I have a friend in Germany who has the same problem finding/getting approvals for books! It’s annoyingly North American-centric.
My request for Love in the Time of Serial Killers was also rejected, so we share that pain. 🥲
I was so sad!!