Hey ya’ll. Today I’m sharing something a little out of the norm of recipes and book reviews. For a while now, I thought it would be nice to share with you guys how I went about first requesting review copies and receiving free books! For me, it was such a long process of doing my homework and finding sites worth joining — so I thought I would use my blog to tell you how I did it.

Before I get into requesting review copies, I want all you non-bloggers out there to know that it’s possible to get free books without a blog. I only know of a couple sites so far that give you a chance to earn free books by doing other things like sharing on social media and taking short surveys, but I think it’s a GREAT idea that other publishing companies will follow suit on.

For Non-Bloggers:

Tyndale Rewards Program
This is the only program that I’m aware of that doesn’t require you to post a review for products on a blog. Instead, Tyndale Rewards allows you to earn points for free books. Ways to earn points include short surveys, taking quizzes, subscribing to e-newsletters, participating in contests, sharing a Tweet, and/or reviewing products on sites like Amazon and Goodreads. Sounds pretty neat, huh? That’s because IT IS. I’ve already received four free books and I’ve earned enough points for two more! Yay me. Sign up here.

Goodreads Giveaways
This one requires a lot of time and effort, but if you have some downtime and want to win some free books this is a good option. Goodreads has TONS of book giveaways running and you don’t need a blog to enter. If you win a book, it isn’t even required that you review it. However if you DO review the book you are much more likely to win again in the future! Kinda awesome. See Goodreads giveaways here.

TheLibraryThing
Again, some time and effort is required for receiving some free books. But it’s well worth it! TheLibraryThing gives out a large selection of early reviewer copies every month, all you have to do is request, receive, and (if you want to continue being chosen for participating in the future) review on TheLibraryThing! Super simple. Check out TheLibraryThing requesting center here.

First to Read
This is Penguin’s social media platform for readers. They offer non-bloggers early access to their latest titles! Members may earn points by engaging on FirsttoRead.com in a number of ways. You then enter drawings for galleys. They are only offered once a month or so and it’s on a first-come-first-serve basis, so make sure you know the dates of the next drawings. Check it out here.

For Bloggers:

Obviously there is a lot more opportunities for book bloggers to receive free books in exchange for a review on your blog, e.g. review copies. This is more of a transaction — the publisher or author provides you with a copy of the product and in exchange, you agree to review that product on your blog and other review sites. Here are some programs you can apply to join! Most are very accepting and offer lots of choices, especially in the Christian Fiction genre (which is kinda my thing).

 BookLook Bloggers
My personal favorite! If you’re a blogger and enjoy reviewing books, this is the site for you. The selection is seriously great, plus if you have a certain amount of followers you can request TWO hard copies at a time. Most of my books that I’ve gotten free are from here. So. much. YAS.

Blogging for Books
My very first blogger review program. They have a variety of books available ranging from fiction and cookbooks to crafting, business, religious books and more! Easy to join and simple to keep up with.

Bethany House
From their website – “Each month we send out two newsletters, one for fiction and one for nonfiction, listing the titles available for review. Bloggers can request one title for review each month…” All you have to do is fill out the online form to receive the newsletter, then after you read and write a review you just submit a blog review link via the same link. *thumbs up*

Revell Reads
Same deal as Bethany House. (They’re both a part of Baker so they have essentially the same program setup.)

Tyndale Blog Network
For a review on your blog and Amazon, this program will send you either a free ebook or hard copy. Selections vary every month.

Netgalley
You’ve probably heard of Netgalley, since this is definitely the most known. This program has a HUGE selection, but the review copies are only available in digital format. If you’re an e-reader who likes a variety of books, this program is worth looking into.

Moody Publishers Newsroom
From their website – “The Moody Publishers Blogger Review Program provides bloggers with free copies of Moody Publishers products.  We require participants to post their review on their blog as well as another online consumer site such as Amazon.com” Although a little confusing at first, if you’re one to appreciate books from Moody you’ll enjoy this program.

Faith Words
Aimed at the Christian market, they will send you emails on which books are available and it’s easy to sign up. They publish big-name televangelists like Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, and T.D. Jakes.

Litfuse Publicity Group
Litfuse does Blog Tour campaigns and I always love participating in these tours! Their selection includes fiction and non-fiction reads from some of my favorite authors, like Becky Wade, Tracie Peterson, Sarah E. Ladd, Melanie Dickerson, and much more. All you have to do is sign up to “join the flock” and receive emails with blog tour opportunities.

Entangled Teen
For free ebooks, you just opt-in to Entangled Teen’s mailing list and become one of their reviewers! I’ve gotten a couple free e-copies in the YA genre (one of my faves!) and it was very simple to submit. You can also sign up for their mother-company Entangled for adult reads.

Blog Tours
There are lots of different blog tour programs out there to join. For example, Rockstar Book Tours has a lot of tour opportunities. You just sign up as a tour host and then you can sign up for different tours. They do a lot of YA books I’m interest in (which is why I know about it) but if you’re interested in more genres just look up the best book tours for that category.

Direct Request
Now, this is something I have ZERO experience in so I can’t really tell you a lot about it. What I do know is that once you establish yourself as a book blogger, you can directly email publishers requesting review copies that you want. To do this, a review policy would be helpful where publishers can see them on your blog. Then you figure out what books you’d like, identify the publisher, and visit their website. There is usually a link on the bottom of the page called “media” or “publicity.” That’s where you’ll find the contact info for the publicists. A lot of them are helpful and say “Direct Request a Review Copy” or something of the sorts. You email the publicist with your request, and they’ll either decline or accept your offer. Remember to keep it professional.

I know this is only a small amount of the programs out there, but these are the ones that I’ve personally used and enjoying participating in. If you would love some free books and enjoy writing reviews, what are you waiting for?!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog. I hope this was helpful for you guys! Fellow book bloggers, is there any more blogger review programs you can recommend? Comment below! ♥