A bound galley is an advance copy of a book that hasn't been proofread and has no cover. In most cases it will consist of the book wrapped in card stock and includes information such as number of pages, author, publisher, ISBN, final trim size and publication date. These advance copies are generally sent out to reviewers three or four months before the book is released. Self-publishers can send advance copies to book bloggers and local newspapers for review.
A few pieces of information must be available to your reviewers before they start reading your galley. This information will generally appear either on the cover or the first page. These necessary elements include:
title
author
publication date
ISBN
publisher name and contact information
price
number of pages
number of illustrations
trim size
distributor and contact
contact name and information for the publicist
"Uncorrected proof: do not quote without prior permission from the publisher."
Before sending a galley, read up on the individual reviewer or service as much as possible. It's not uncommon to find book-review bloggers who write reviews before the book's release. Many of these bloggers will have guidelines to follow, which are stated on their blogs or websites. If you cannot find the guidelines, email the blogger and ask.
Reviewer guidelines may include things such as the genres they like to read, the book length, or age group they review for, as well as if they're willing to take self-published books.
Ship galley copies out as soon as you get replies from possible reviewers. While it can save trips to the post office to wait to hear from all of your reviewers and send the galleys at one time, some may not respond as quickly as others. To give reviewers ample time to look over the work and write up a review, it's best to ship them out as soon as you can. A nice added gesture would be to send each one a handwritten note thanking him for his time.