Build the trade-review plan
Prepare for the LibraryReads nomination window
For eligible adult titles, make sure advance copies are available where public library staff can find them well before the monthly LibraryReads nomination deadline.
Authors often hire help with this: library or cataloging.
Why it matters
A LibraryReads selection puts a book in front of public librarians nationally at exactly the moment they are ordering, and the list is widely displayed in libraries. Because nominations come only from library staff who have read an advance copy, the preparation is entirely about making that copy available early. Nothing else an author does can substitute.
Your part
- What you do
- Verify. Someone else may do it. Inspect the result yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Publisher and Author and Publicist. Publisher makes the advance copy available and promotes awareness; library staff nominate; author verifies
- When
- Several months before publication, ahead of the monthly nomination deadline for your publication month (Build the trade-review plan: twelve to six months before publication, before any deadline closes)Checked September 13, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
LibraryReads is a monthly list of the ten adult titles that public library staff across the United States most enjoyed reading in advance. Library workers nominate from the advance copies they have read, usually on NetGalley or Edelweiss, and the votes are tallied under monthly deadlines that fall several months before the books publish. Publishers do not nominate; they make the book available and raise awareness among library staff.
This is a library recommendation program, not a review outlet and not something an author can apply to. The author's realistic role is to check that the ingredients are in place: the digital advance copy is on NetGalley or Edelweiss early enough, library staff can request it, and the publisher knows the nomination deadline for your publication month.
Ask whether LibraryReads is part of the plan and, more to the point, whether the digital advance copy will be on a platform library staff use, early enough for the nomination deadline that applies to your publication month. If you publish the book yourself, read the current eligibility page carefully first: the program has been built around publisher-supplied advance copies and its rules on independent titles change, so confirm before planning around it.
Eligibility is limited to adult titles. Youth books are outside the program.
Common mistakes
- Treating LibraryReads as something an author submits to.
- Advance copies arriving on NetGalley after the nomination deadline has passed.
- Assuming a youth title or an ineligible edition qualifies.
- Asking readers who are not library staff to nominate.
Identifiers for Prepare for the LibraryReads nomination window
Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All book identifiers.
| My status | Identifier | Why this matters | Yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| NetGalley The main platform for giving reviewers, librarians, and booksellers a secured digital review copy before publication. | This decides who can read your book before it is out and how early, and feedback posted through it frequently reappears as reviews on Goodreads and retailers around publication. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask whether the book will be listed, when the listing goes live, how long it stays up, and who approves requests, and a hybrid author should confirm who is paying. If you publish the book yourself, this is a real expense you choose, and it needs an approval plan, a plan for reading the feedback, and enough lead time, typically three to six months before publication, to be worth anything. Record the listing dates and check that the description and review file match the book you intend people to read. | Add your NetGalley listing link | |
| Edelweiss+ The digital catalog where booksellers, librarians, and reviewers see forthcoming books, months before publication. | Buyers deciding what to stock and librarians deciding what to buy often see your book here first, so the description, the author biography, and the comparison titles in that listing do their work long before anyone has read the book. It displays what the publisher's feed and catalog team supply, so it is a downstream view rather than a source, and a mistake in it came from upstream. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask which catalog the book sits in and to see the listing before buyers do, and a hybrid author should confirm the publisher has an account at all; a self-published book appears only if a distributor lists it, and titles published through IngramSpark don't appear automatically. Check the listing against your own record, especially the description, biography, comparison titles, and publication date. | Add your Edelweiss+ listing link |
What done looks like
- The nomination deadline for your publication month looked up on the LibraryReads site and noted.
- A digital advance copy available to library staff on NetGalley or Edelweiss well before that deadline.
- The publisher aware of the program and, ideally, promoting the title to library staff.
- Eligibility for your title and path confirmed from the current rules.
- No attempt to nominate your own book or ask friends to.
Ask your publisher
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Sources and last checked
- Official source
- Official source (opens in a new tab)
- Last checked
- September 13, 2026
- How confident we are
- Verified
Rules and deadlines change. We last checked this information on September 13, 2026. If you see something that needs updating, please tell us.