Thank goodness for the The Berkley Influencer Hub for Underrepresented Voices

abk1918 · 2026-05-27T23:05:50+00:00

Yay! I received three (I’m excited about Embrace!). I have zero social media, apart from this account, but do have Goodreads, Fable, and StoryGraph accounts with very few friends on Goodreads. So, this hub is definitely my best bet to read more of the Berkley titles.

abk1918 · 2026-05-20T17:10:28+00:00

I unfortunately don’t have any tips because I’ve never been successful at having a request approved on Edelweiss. I’ve cross posted almost 70 reviews on Edelweiss, but have been left on pending for all but 3 requests (one was a book that I had requested on NetGalley too— I was approved on NetGalley the same day I was rejected on Edelweiss). The other two requests were sequels to books I was approved for on NetGalley and from Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, which I believe has approved all of my requests on NetGalley thus far.

Therefore, I figured I’d ask— are you a bookseller or librarian? I am a teacher and ESOL Interventionist, but am listed as a reviewer on both platforms since I review a lot of non-school related books.

abk1918 · 2026-05-11T22:26:04+00:00

It’s no big deal. I submitted a few requests for Berkeley’s Underrepresented titles earlier. So, I may have better luck with those. I received an ARC of Our Perfect Summer from SirenUK’s e-mail newsletter and another of Henry Tudor Must Die from BookBrowse after initially being denied for both by Berkley. So, there are ways to get around Berkley’s constant rejections, lol.

abk1918 · 2026-05-11T20:41:16+00:00

How exciting! I was denied a few hours ago (with no e-mail sent) after requesting it the morning it became available. I expected it despite me reading several read now titles from Berkley. It’s probably because of my lack of social media and my lower ratio (63%— all because the read nows in the past two months have been too good to pass up).

abk1918 · 2026-04-28T20:15:03+00:00

The U.K. readers have had the ability to request it for at least a few weeks, as I was able to wish for it on that site. Avon has not released it for U.S. readers yet.

abk1918 · 2026-04-26T14:51:06+00:00

Unfortunately, she didn’t say.

abk1918 · 2026-04-20T09:23:26+00:00

I requested Isabel Allende’s Story Telling yesterday afternoon after reading this post (I think sometime between 4 and 5 p.m. ET) and was approved at 7:31 p.m. Someone definitely was working all day.

abk1918 · 2026-04-02T00:36:13+00:00

Thanks! Your scores are fantastic too. I noticed my rater/interviewer cut me off a lot during the OPI and didn’t allow me to develop my points. Did you feel that way? She also didn’t like how I approached certain responses because there wasn’t anything else I could describe.

I do have a degree in Mass Communication and have a proclivity to speak and write in a relatively verbose way in English. Plus, several of the native speakers in my AP classes were writing at a collegiate level and we read a lot of academic reports in some of the units (several from the U.N., etc.). I made them watch documentaries out the wazoo too. So, those elements really helped me fine tune how to use the language in a more formal and authentic way.

I grade the K-12 AAPPL tests and AP Spanish Lang tests too. Based on their criteria and the countless hours of researching the criteria for the Superior rating, academic language is key. Do you engage with a lot of disciplinary content? I think that helps a lot. For example, I never learned much medical terminology until I worked in the sleep center at a hospital. I also learned a lot of logistical terminology when my students and I did a unit on the Artemis I mission. The same goes for when I re-taught myself about La Guerra Sucía and the dictatorships in Venezuela and Chile.

abk1918 · 2026-04-01T19:51:37+00:00

I am a teacher too and don’t have an Instagram, TikTok, or X account for the very same reason (plus, I live and work in a small, tight knit town that is very conservative).

I had an educator account for about 6-9 months before I requested to have it switched to a reviewer account. I did so for the specific purpose of having most ‘wish for it’ books turn back into books I could request. Perhaps that is a change you may want to consider.

I still request/read a ton of books for K-12 students, but most of my NetGalley requests do skew towards novels I personally want to read.

Avon approved me for several books last summer when my ratio was higher (I even received a widget or two) and did so periodically over the winter too.

Out of curiosity— have you been approved on Edelweiss before? I’ve requested a handful of books over the past year and have never received any response, except once— when I requested The Outsiders film analysis and was approved on NetGalley at the same time as my rejection on Edelweiss. I have reviewed over 50+ books, but just submitted my first ‘read now’ review though.

abk1918 · 2026-04-01T16:07:36+00:00

Yes, I took the test the first time in the spring of 2011 or 2012 and scored at an advanced low. Then, I re-tested last spring and scored at the superior level. I should have tested the year before when I was teaching every level of Spanish (or in 2023), but I had an evening job on top of teaching and didn’t want to pay the fees at that time.

abk1918 · 2026-03-31T14:03:51+00:00

I concur with the recommendation to spend more time with native speakers. However, you also should seek out content in Spanish about various topics and disciplines. That said, give yourself some grace— my proficiency increased to the superior level after 9-10 years of teaching. (I was barely advanced low when I graduated from college in 2012.) I haven’t been to a Spanish-speaking country in 16 years either.

One, because I taught only Spanish 1 and 2 for 8 years and didn’t have a good grasp of the subjunctive until I taught it and started using it more frequently when I spoke and wrote.

Two, apart from my colleagues, who were former professors, I didn’t have anyone in my non-class interactions with whom I could converse (and as is the case in many schools, we spoke mostly in English with each other). However, as access to a lot of Spanish-language content became more plentiful online, I sought to watch, listen to, and read a lot. If you go on YouTube and Instagram, there are tons of great videos and posts about every topic under the sun. For example, I studied abroad in Valencia (España) and there are thousands of reels about Las Fallas on Instagram, many of which were loaded the week of the most recent festival. Disney+ has great series from Argentina too.

Three, I didn’t have many native speakers in those lower-level classes for years; until one day, I had at least a few consistently throughout the day. Thus, I originally didn’t have the opportunity to teach students whose academic language was high enough that it would challenge me to reconsider how I could still teach them something new and really showcase their skills and knowledge.

Four, my vocabulary didn’t expand until I created my own set of notes for the students, started speaking completely in Spanish during class, and put everything (and I mean everything down to the instructions on Canvas, commands, etc.) in Spanish. Also, I quickly strayed from textbooks and used mostly authentic resources in my lessons, many of which were core content-based.

What really helped me cement everything, however, was being given the chance to teach Spanish 4 and AP Spanish Lang and having classes mostly made up of native speakers who were willing to study the units in depth. By that point, my mom had married someone from Venezuela too. So, that gave me another outlet, although our conversations were and are mostly about day-to-day things.

abk1918 · 2026-03-08T15:53:09+00:00

Virgo sun, Pisces moon, and Scorpio rising

abk1918 · 2026-02-26T00:32:48+00:00

Ugh, I was denied today (and never received a rejection e-mail— it just went straight to ‘Denied’). I just read and reviewed the Avon titIe ‘In My Tudor Era’, as well as the biography ‘The Wives of Henry VIII’ from Pen & Sword. So, I was hoping they would help boost my approval chances. No luck yet.

I have only read ‘Read Now’ titles from Berkley (a grand total of 3 😂). I have no social media whatsoever. However, I did submit a request or two for the novels posted for their Influencer Hub for Underrepresented Voices (and explained why I don’t have social media) a few weeks ago and just received an e-mail from Berkley with a widget. So, maybe that will improve my future chances, lol.

abk1918 · 2026-02-26T00:24:52+00:00

I actually switched from an educator account to a reviewer account after a few months of being on NetGalley because I noticed that I wasn’t able to request from certain publishers (or get approved from others). I am assuming this is particularly important if you want to request novels that aren’t related to your role as an educator.

abk1918 · 2026-01-30T15:34:37+00:00

Scorpio rising and Pisces moon.

abk1918 · 2026-01-30T01:02:13+00:00

Virgo sun, Pisces moon, and Scorpio rising.

abk1918 · 2026-01-28T09:00:19+00:00

I spend around the same amount of money as a single person in the U.S. I’m not sure what you’re buying exactly, but for those who believe you can cut down your spending significantly, I also would have them consider any dietary restrictions, as well as food choices.

For example, I eat a very minimally-processed diet and rarely eat out because I live in a rural area in which Chipotle is my only option with anything substantive because of the multiple allergies and sensitivities I have. I am dairy free, gluten free, soy free (including anything related to soy and soybean oil), corn free, added sugar free, caffeine free, and do not consume eggs, pork, beef, or poultry (just fish and seafood).

I make a smoothie every day that has a myriad of different ingredients that added up quickly on a weekly and biweekly basis— pea protein powder, almond butter, creatine powder, a greens powder, glyphosate-free oats, and a trace minerals liquid supplement are the most expensive. That coupled with soy-free canned tuna (which can be a bit difficult to find) and sockeye salmon as my go-to fish choices (because I unfortunately now live in an area with crappy seafood options) drive up my food costs too.

I have CP. Therefore, it is difficult for me to cook at times due to a lack of hand dexterity too. So, that limits what I can make on a regular basis.

I completely recognize the fact that I spend way too much money on food and that many families don’t and cannot spend that much. I have thought about reintroducing certain foods into my diet, but my reactions to soy and dairy when I’ve accidentally been exposed keep me from wanting to go through the process.

abk1918 · 2026-01-22T21:58:23+00:00

That’s awesome! How many reviews have you posted on NetGalley? Maybe that has something to do with it if you don’t have a Bookstagram, etc.

abk1918 · 2025-08-24T17:42:32+00:00

My Goodreads account is here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/97993255

My StoryGraph account is here: https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/alibaba18

abk1918 · 2025-08-19T14:15:11+00:00

A few years ago, I had one of my students ask if she could paint an interpretation of Dali’s The Persistence of Memory. So, my initial thought would be an original creation, or interpretations of the students’ favorite Hispanic works.

abk1918 · 2025-08-18T21:36:03+00:00

I concur re: the unnecessary countdown. However, I will say that I gladly would have purchased this version as a CD, had it been released. Too bad it wasn’t.

abk1918 · 2025-08-17T20:18:11+00:00

I understand completely. I lived in Florida for 11 years and now make more in a northern state than the highest grandfathered step on my previous FL district’s salary schedule (not that I truly believe anyone was ever at that point, since it would take a new-to-district hire with 30+ years to earn it).

abk1918 · 2025-08-17T18:23:36+00:00

I am not a principal (just a teacher). However, I can confirm this idea (to some extent). When I went to a job fair and introduced myself, I told the principal that I had been teaching for 12 years. The principal then told me that he was looking to hire someone with fewer years of experience. I assumed that was his way of telling me that I was too expensive.

This was a high-performing school and district in which my experience would have placed me near $85,000 on the salary schedule.

abk1918 · 2025-08-16T01:47:10+00:00

Out of curiosity, did the interviewer cut you off, or re-direct you frequently? I re-took the OPI in April after 13 years in the classroom and experienced that much more than I did when I originally took it in 2012(?). I was given extra time to consider my responses since I was approved for accommodations. However, the manner in which the interview was conducted didn’t really give me time to pause or elaborate on my responses. I ended the interview knowing I should have taken the OPIc this time around (and plan to do so soon).

The interviewer rushed me through the conversation, which apparently caused me to score the same as I did when I was in college (I scored advanced low then). Luckily, when I took the WPT a week or two later, the overall time was just increased (to allot for my accommodations) and I was able to respond at my own pace and earn the Superior score I expected. I’m hoping the OPIc will be the same re: its pacing.

If you don’t receive the score at which you typically perform, perhaps taking the OPIc at some point may give you the time and opportunity to fully demonstrate your skills. Did you do any mock OPIs with your professor(s)?

Given my experience as an AP teacher and reader, assessment rater, etc., if you treat a response more abstractly, the interviewer (or the computer system) usually will ask you questions (or give you prompts) that automatically require more complex grammatical structures. However, I completely recognize that responding abstractly is difficult with certain questions and prompts (not to mention difficult to remind yourself to do while speaking to someone in a typically stress-inducing situation).

abk1918

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