At its second quarter meeting, the Motherboard voted to pause Broad Universe's NetGalley program for at least 6 months because of the increased costs to subsidize the program. We will reevaluate the decision at our October meeting.

Broad Universe’s NetGalley program began in 2014 to make the review service affordable for small presses and indie authors. (The regular cost starts at $450.) Our program never made money, but initially the difference between the cost of the service and the fees we received was nominal. 

In 2020, Broad Universe experienced a steep drop in the number of titles scheduled, and despite a 2-for-1 deal offered during the summer of the pandemic, interest has not returned.

In December, we reduced the number of books featured each month from 10 to 5 and hoped that 2021 would bring a resurgence of interest. Unfortunately, we often had only one book scheduled each month.

The NetGalley program has routinely accounted for almost half of Broad Universe's annual expenses but this benefit was used by a fraction of Broads. Without corresponding income from the program, the cost created an unsustainable situation and led to the Motherboard’s decision to put our NetGalley on hiatus.

To help us determine the level of interest in bringing back this service, we ask authors and publisher who would like to schedule a book on NetGalley in late 2021 and early 2022 to Contact Us. Please provide details about the number of books, release dates and the number of months the titles would be listed.

The Motherboard would like to thank all Broads who volunteered for NetGalley team between 2014 and 2021. These volunteers worked every month for years to promote, schedule, invoice, check files, and send data to authors and publishers. The Motherboard is deeply grateful for their time and efforts. We could not have offered this service without this amazing group of volunteers.

-- Broad Universe Motherboard