E-Galleys?

New Service Digitizes Galley-Distribution Process
(Book Business, 4/28/08)

Rosetta Solutions Inc., a Seattle-based publishing services company, announced last week a new product that will connect publishers and “professional readers” while streamlining the galley-distribution process. The online initiative, NetGalley, enables book publishers, reviewers, media, librarians, booksellers, bloggers, educators and others to access and share content and information about new book titles.

NetGalley will be launched commercially May 28 at BookExpo America in Los Angeles. Rosetta Solutions says it has already received commitments from book publishers including St. Martin’s Press, Hachette Book Group, Bloomsbury USA and Sourcebooks to participate in the service’s pilot program. In addition, Publishers Weekly has agreed to be the first major media organization to use NetGalley, making the service its preferred method to manage galleys.

“We are delighted to be here at the beginning of this terrific program,” says Matt Baldacci, vice president, director of marketing and publishing operations, St. Martin’s Press. “NetGalley will make our interaction with Publishers Weekly more efficient, and has the potential to show cost, resource and environmental efficiencies. These benefits are good for PW, the publishers that will join the full roll-out, and the industry in general.”

With NetGalley, publishers are able to connect with bloggers, use modern tools like e-galleys and print-on-demand, and promote their titles to an expanded universe of professional readers—including media, online reviewers, bloggers and specialty publications, without the cost of producing and distributing physical galleys.

“The response from publishers to support this initiative has been extraordinarily positive,” says Ted Treanor, CEO of Rosetta Solutions. “NetGalley selected this group [of publishers to participate in the pilot program] for their diversity of size and publishing type, and their willingness to innovate. We’re counting on these partners to help us continue to refine NetGalley.”