I'm in the process of getting my first novel published by a major publisher (yay!) and my editor just asked me how many galleys I'd like to receive. I have NO CLUE how to answer this. What's a typical number for the author to get? What exactly will I need them for? I assume I'll receive some copies of the finished book that I could give to friends and family, and I'm not sending galleys out for blurbs or review since the publisher is handling this. Is there something else I'll need them for?
Question about galleys
- Thread starter Sarah697
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IIRC I got 5 ARCs of each book. Kept one, gave the rest to friends/family. For the third book I gave two copies to readers who'd been enthusiastic about the first two, but that's the closest I got to using them for promotion.
Regarding finished copies - my contract spelled out how many copies I would be sent for free. I got a purchase discount on anything over that (and I did buy some extras, since I loved doing Goodreads giveaways before they went behind a pay wall).
They are just copies you can send to people to review. Like, bloggers, youtubers, friends in the industry, an impatient grandma etc. A galley may not have the real cover but may be bound in plain card instead. They may not be all proofread and finalised. They are not meant to be pretty, just to let people read the book before it's published, so that their reviews can appear along with the book. Or, if you know famous people, they can provide a blurb for the actual book: "My, what a wonderful pamphlet! - Will Shakespeare, an old friend of Sarah697" 
Or, you can sell them to collectors later, after you become really famous. No obligation to have any at all. Just an option.
Or, you can sell them to collectors later, after you become really famous. No obligation to have any at all. Just an option. They are just copies you can send to people to review. Like, bloggers, youtubers, friends in the industry, an impatient grandma etc. A galley may not have the real cover but may be bound in plain card instead. They may not be all proofread and finalised. They are not meant to be pretty, just to let people read the book before it's published, so that their reviews can appear along with the book. Or, if you know famous people, they can provide a blurb for the actual book: "My, what a wonderful pamphlet! - Will Shakespeare, an old friend of Sarah697"
That helps, thanks!
I got ten and I needed them all. I sent one “on tour” in my debut group and got lots of reviews from that. I sent a couple to journalists, gave one to a friend who’s a librarian and promoted the book to other librarians, and so forth. I think I did giveaways with a few. The publisher sent them out as well, but somehow I found destinations for all of mine.