I don't know how the rules run for the challenge, but I'd like to request that if someone has a lot of separate entries and is not posting opinions or reviews of the books read, that they list them all by title only in one post or a few posts, with their total number, so that it's not essentially ending up spamming the list with a lot of empty posts.
I think it's great to add so many books to the tally, but having so many entries at once with nothing in them makes it difficult to find the new or recent posts... If the rule is that each one has to be posted separately to count for the challenge, can that rule change for posts which are only posting the title and no review?
Sam
Blog with Sam and friends at Love Is An Exploding Cigar
Guest Blog:Aug 21, Chris Green
posting to keep this up top
posting to keep this up top so it stays visible. :)
sam
Blog with Sam and friends at Love Is An Exploding Cigar
Guest Blog:Aug 21, Chris Green
Good question, Sam....
The word 'review' implies an actual review. I can't tell you how many times I've clicked on one to find out more about an interesting title only to read... nada, nothing, blank space only. But I also understand that readers who inhale scores of books in a matter of days can't possibly do lengthy reviews on them all. They'd be posting longer than they were reading! What you suggest seems logical.
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
Thanks Amanda
I kinda wish ibob would stop for a moment and see our posts and think about condensing... *G* Though I'm not trying to pick on anyone -- I've seen plenty of folks do this, and on weekends, in particular... I think the intention is good, to help the challenge, but...
Again, I think it's great to add so many books to the challenge, and I'm sure no harm is meant, but it isn't as productive if it's all blank posts...
Sam
Blog with Sam and friends at Love Is An Exploding Cigar
Guest Blog:Aug 21, Chris Green
I think the problem could be
I think the problem could be solved easily. The reviews have to be posted seperately I think but they could solve the problem you are having by puting the title and after that in paranthesis put (NFI). That would tell everyone that there is no review attached and if they have time to go back and put in a review (NFI) could be removed.
ELLEN TOO
A true teacher is a person who, at the end of the school day, still likes children!
It took me a minute
to figure out what NFI was, LOL.
That wouldn't stop the recent posts from being swamped when someone is posting literally dozens of these posts in a sitting... this has been going on for hours... oh well. I like to check recent posts, but things get pushed down so far so fast by the empty posts, that it's hard to keep up and easy to miss things... ah well. It's not a big deal. I think for posts where there is no review I don't see why only titles can't be just listed..but that's just IMO. Also, if there is no review, how do you know someone read the book? I mean, I could just list a bunch of titles, but that's a different issue altogether...
Sam
Blog with Sam and friends at Love Is An Exploding Cigar
Guest Blog:Aug 21, Chris Green
NFM
no further message. I've see this(and used) At least it prevents having to click "more" on a bunch of posts that don't say nothing. It doesn't help seeing a bunch of blogs when someone does a blog/book dump but at least we aren't spending more time clicking the "more"button
Christa ~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Challenge Blog
My Shelfari Page
July's MEMBER OF THE MONTH
ah
now I see what you mean where the same person added 273 books at once. While this super for the book count. I for one don't have time to go back 270 posts to see any before these
Christa ~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Challenge Blog
My Shelfari Page
July's MEMBER OF THE MONTH
I-just-posted..
I-just-posted-a-query-to-that-one-posting
the-empty,'where-is-the-review'?I-wanted-to
see-what-the-book-is-about-to-tell-if-I-wanted
to-read-that-book.
Can-the-host-remove-the-blank-reviews?
Aurelene
I am guilty of the empty
I am guilty of the empty reviews sometimes and I know today. I try to get all my books posted by the end of the each month and then catch up with my reviews. I use the more to come message with mine. Unfortunately we have to post the separately. I'm just not a read and post a review person. I tried, but it never works.
See what I read last year - Star's Reading Lounge
http://www.myspace.com/kimanipress
http://www.myspace.com/kimani_tru
But Star
Do you add 270 at one time and I believe I've read some of your posting and there are ratings.
Christa ~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Challenge Blog
My Shelfari Page
July's MEMBER OF THE MONTH
Hey_Star-I've-seen-your-ratings.....
Hey_Star-I've-seen-your-ratings-and-it-gave
me-an-idea-whether-the-story-was-worth
a-read.I-saw-that-review-about-the-'Big-Booty'
which-looked-more-like-a-Barbie-booty.
I-don't-like-folks-listing-a-title-and-nothing
else.
Aurelene
In an early entry...
ibob apologized for it but said was catching up. And I've seen where some have posted several in one entry and then gotten requests from a moderator to separate them. I don't think there is an easy answer when someone is catching up, esp. since there is such a huge push for the high number of books.
The D2K Paranormal Junkies 2008 Challenge
The conundrum comes from several things.
For starters, each book needs its own entry to be counted toward the goal. That's a system requirement and there's nothing that we readers can do about it. I'm not sure there would be another way to approach it, either. Yes, it's frustrating when someone catches up all at once and yes, it's frustrating when they don't do any review at all, but to hit 100,000 books this year, we're going to have to accept that this is going to happen.
As for combining entries, well, we've all pointed out that it's not possible this year. I remember that last year, ibob did just do lists. I can't remember if it is/was b/c she has limited access, a slow connection, or a very busy life. And as has been pointed out, she did apologize in advance. What has NOT been pointed out, is that way back in February (or maybe March), she said that she'd have to bow out b/c she cannot do the lists. So, the question comes down to: do we want her 400+ reads this year or not?
Another factor is our attitude and our participation. Yes, we all prefer reviews. We've discussed this, esp. early in the year when we had a lot of new people who were not posting reviews (and possibly still aren't). But let's take a step back. For starters, who has time to read 100,000 reviews? I don't. For another thing, in order to GET to 100,000 reviews this year, we need as many people participating as we can get. We cracked 15,000 last week and tomorrow is June 30th. Now, I assume that eHQ didn't expect us to read in a steady manner all year -- that we would have a lot more books entered over the summer when so many of us have more time to read and review -- but let's face it. Tomorrow is June 30th and we should be close to 50,000 not barely over 15,000. So bottom line there is, I think that we simply have to accept what people have time to give. I repeat, I do understand that we "regulars" do prefer reviews, but the people who just come in in order to post their books and help the cause probably thin
I clicked on your profile, Sam, and you've been so busy writing/working that you've only had time to read 6 books. Have you promoted the challenge at your WEB site to get your fans participating? Had your friends with WEB sites promote the challenge? Encouraged fans to write a review with each read? Reminded them that their reads don't have to be all romances?
Have you all gently reminded people in the eHQ forums where you are "regulars/known" that we need the other community members' books "reviewed" here at the site? In May, I did gently or not so gently remind the forum-goers where I regularly post that we need their reviews. But, that's only two or three forums. That leaves a big part of this site not gently reminded. I noticed in a recent online read that there were several people who haven't reviewed a book all year. Yet, they are community members. Since they are not people that/whom I "know", I didn't say anything to them. But you can bet that I wanted to. I mean, if you're here, you must be a reader. Even if life has kept you from reading much this year, if all 3000+ community members post SOMETHING this year, those of us who read well over 33 books/year (what we would each need to read to hit 100k), then it would probably all work out.
I'm compiling a list of what my extended family has read and will be mailing it in. Here's a link to a blog entry that I did last month with things I've done to promote the challenge. Of course, these things probably attract people who will do a "non-review review", but let's do the math again and when y'all tell me a better way to get the numbers up, I'll do it. No one gave me more ideas of what else I could do -- if you do (give me ideas), I'll use them!
FWIW and hoping I didn't make y'all to angry,
Penn
Join the 2008 Book (Reading) Challenge!!! It’s for a good cause and it’s FUN!
Come find my teammates and me at The DFWPlus Blog!
Yeah they told us
Yeah they told us we had to make a separate post for each book for the automatic counter. I've sometimes written a few sentences and then NFM which I think works well. If I can't see part of a review I usually just ignore the blog.
The D2K Paranormal Junkies ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
Hey folks
Not angry at all -- I had no idea about the separate entry thing, and while I know the book challenge is important, I enjoy recent posts because I find things there that are posted on boards I may not see otherwise -- when you have a huge run on books, those posts either don't exist or get buried, and for me, I come here for more than the challenge reviews.
However, rules are rules, and if they have to be entered separately, then that's how it is. I guess on days where there are runs of empty entries, you just have to wait for the discussions to come back around, though I don't really think it's fair, still, to the people who did post reviews today, and those reviews get pushed down and buried by empty posts. But, again, it's not a huge deal. I was just making a suggestion...
Sam
Blog with Sam and friends at Love Is An Exploding Cigar
Guest Blog:Aug 21, Chris Green
Wow, Sam....
This blog took off fast!
FWIW, I think even a couple of sentences (a blurb or hook) is better than nothing at all.
For everyone else, I can certainly see what Sam means by all the empty reviews knocking down the rest of the reviews, blogs, and forum postings. Sometimes it's hard to find where the empty blogs started and the informative blogs ended.
As for those who leave nothing because of no time, Sadhbh is a good example of someone who reads tons of books but still leaves a review (even if it's very short) for them. I think it must be a skill to be sharpened with practice. If you put the most important part of what you think the book is about (or means to you) then that's a review! I'm also saying this for myself, because my own blogs tend to be just the opposite. Too long! Sometimes I get going and it's hard to stop *picture me blushing*. I need to shorten them a wee bit so I can have time to blog more. Anyway, I'm way behind on my own reviews. So, I'm not sure which scenario is worse. Jayne will probably feel that blogging more books, even if it's only the title, is better than getting as behind as I am. *sigh*
LOL
Oh, and Sam, I was wondered if you've considered writing any of the historical Blazes?
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
I use the favorites button too
I use the favorites button too to make sure I don't miss any of the blogs or discussions I'm really interested in.
The D2K Paranormal Junkies ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
Historicals
I actually did pick up Hope Tarr's historical today, the Blaze, but I don't think I'll be writing them. I read very little historical, but after reading the reviews on this one, I couldn't resist. :)
I use favorites, too, but I comment around the boards on lots of posts, and I find those through recent posts - many of the threads I never would have found otherwise since I simply don't have time to scan all of the boards, so recent posts solves that for me...
Sam
Blog with Sam and friends at Love Is An Exploding Cigar
Guest Blog:Aug 21, Chris Green
Hope's book.
Bound To Please is... well... bound to please. As far as historicals go, it was really a fun read. I'll be buying her others when they come out too.
I've started to pick up a few Blazes, Sam. At first I didn't think I'd like them (blame it on my puritanical upbringing), but actually, I'm starting to get into them. I'm going to order your book that I've seen several reviews on - Talking In Your Sleep. I'm going to have to order it off-site though, since I couldn't find it on Harlequin. That's one downside to the site, because they stop selling titles after a while.
Oh, and I use favorites too, but I like to skip around and find new blogs - especially those from my friends. And it's how I make new friends, too.
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain
I forget that people use the "most recent post" button as their
default. I have 4 sets of tabs that are all eHQ bookmarks: one for the forums I frequent and 3 for my favorite people's/team's blogs. My browser let's me "open all tabs" and so I will click on one -- let's say the first one -- and go get my coffee while they all open. Then, when I come back, I can see "most recent blogs" and my various favorite forums (a total of 12 screens/tabs at this time). An advantage to this is that within the forums, when I click on the number that is the "new" posts, I get to the last page with the "new" posts still marked as new. I know that isn't working for some people.
Or if I decide it's time to see who's reviewed or blogged what, I'll open one of the other three sets (go get my coffee while they open LOL) and then I can see what all my old friends have been up to. The downside, of course, is that I don't "meet" as many new people. But I do meet some either b/c I see a blog by them under "recent blogs" (someplace I check regularly) or b/c I do somewhat regularly glance at the "Book Challenge" (aka "book review") pages to see who's around or b/c I see them comment somewhere else around the community.
I think that people who have time and desire to be part of the community will start writing something in the free-form review field, but there are others who simply won't. That doesn't make the "non-reviewing reviewers" less valuable for the eHQ community and the NCFL, it just means that they're participating at a different level.
Penn
Join the 2008 Book (Reading) Challenge!!! It’s for a good cause and it’s FUN!
Come find my teammates and me at The DFWPlus Blog!
Hi I'm fairly new but I'd like to comment on this issue.
I found out about the book challenge in January but when I found out I had to write a book review I gave it a miss. Then in April I read about the race to read 10,000 books. I was feeling a little more mellow and decided to give it a go. I write a short review and it takes me a fair bit of time as I am keyboard challenged. I have a backlog of books to write reviews on but will get to it. I read a lot of books from the library and take them out from several branches so I cannot go back and get all the ones I read in the first four months of the year. I read anywhere from 3 to 6 books a week so I hope to add at least 100 books. I will read some of the latest reviews when I go on the web. There are a few sites I like to check and see what they have read . I like some of the sites that have set a rating system but have to give it some thought before I could set one up myself. Since I love reading so much I think giving books to people is a great idea.
When I get a little money I buy books, and then if any is left I buy food and clothes..-- Erasmus
Yeah, it's a pain when there
Yeah, it's a pain when there are lots of empty posts, but if you skip back a couple of pages, you can get through the empty posts fairly quickly. And it seems obvious to me if there are gadsmillion posts by the same person, they will be empty posts. Since the challenge counter only works with each book being posted in a single post, I think we can all deal with going back a couple of pages to find the discussion threads.
"Perhaps what the average member of a group is capable of doesn't limit what a given individual can accomplish." -- Boston Globe, letter to the editor
March's Member of the Month!
FF
It does appear that things are back to normal now... I think I was just grumped out because I was sitting here writing all afternoon, and in between writing intervals I like to come in and see what's happening, maybe chat a little, and it was frustrating to see nothing but empty posts for so many hours on end...but, c'est la vie, right? :)
Amanda, I'm so happy you're reading Blaze! It's steamy, but it's always first and foremost about a good story, so I hope you enjoy them!
Penn, thanks for all the info. I'm a simple person at heart, LOL, and I like the most direct route. I just scan headings and see what's there. It's really not that huge of an issue, though.
That said, it is good to have books donated, and I'll get a few more of my own up there, though I'll be ambitious in thinking I'll make it to 25 by the end of the year, but some is better than none. I do like to offer a full review, which takes time. I knew better than to formally join any challenge this year. I was part of an author challenge group last year, and it's just too hard to keep up when it comes to writing and reading. Only so many hours in the day (which is why I'm up at 3am at the moment -- have some writing things that wouldn't stop circling in my mind, so had to come down and work though I know I'll pay for this later, sigh), and I actually do try to not let popping around the net interfere with my writing too much *G*
Either way, I'm glad I learned something about the counting. Now I know and on a blitz day, I'll just ignore it and come by later...
Sam
Blog with Sam and friends at Love Is An Exploding Cigar
Guest Blog:Aug 21, Chris Green
re: a suggestion ....
The member who posted all those book reviews recently also blogged to say that she didn't have time right now to post reviews but wanted her books to count for the Challenge ... and Jayne replied that that was fine and that hopefully she'd have time to post later .... this member reads about 75 books a month ... great for the counts! .... sometimes we don't have computer time available and have to keep going to get done
I think Jayne mentioned also they are gearing up for the second shipment of books to go out in August! ... so cool!
~~ KatherineT ~~ I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it!
~~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
Hi all - taking my name in vain again I see
I've been trying to encourage people just by popping in and leaving comments even when there's no review, and even more so when there are reviews
and I've done summaries of my monthly lists (with links) just in case any of you actually do want to read all my reviews (all 495 so far
)
There's even a summary of the summaries, that you can bookmark, in case any of you reading this have read the same books and want to borrow my blurbs
I'd do more but then I wouldn't get to my four-figure total by the end of the year
Hugs
Sadhbh
Dream Team 2008 Challenge blogs