Read-a-Thon FAQ
Mar 8th 2009
What is the date of the next Read-a-thon?
Where can I sign up?
Once I sign up, what do I do next?
I can’t decide yet. The date of the Read-a-thon is too far away, I don’t know my work schedule, etc.
GIVE ME BUTTONS! Please.
What is the 24 Hour Read-a-thon?
How can I keep track of the participants?
Prizes? Did you say prizes?
What the heck is a mini-challenge? Do I have to do them?
Where do I find out about the mini-challenges during the event?
Can I host a mini-challenge?
What are the ways in which I can participate?
What is the role of a Reader?
What is the role of a Cheerleader?
May I participate in more than one way?
Do I have to stay up the whole 24 hours?
Do e-books count?
Will there be a chance to raise money/books for charity this time?
I can’t participate, but is there some small way in which I can help?
If I want to be a Prize Donor, how do I do that?
What’s this about organizational tasks?
What is the date of the next Read-a-thon?
April 10, 2010, starting at Noon GMT.
Here is a handy, simple-to-read time zone list.
You can expect a Read-a-thon every April and October.
You can sign up to be a Reader or a Cheerleader for the October 2009 read-a-thon here.
What is the 24 Hour Read-a-thon?
It’s sort of a reading challenge, only everyone participates at the same time. For 24 hours, we read books, post in our blogs about our reading, and visit other readers’ blogs. We also participate in mini-challenges throughout the day.
What the heck is a mini-challenge? Do I have to do them?
This is something that bloggers host so that Readers can take a break from their reading. You can check out the the October 2007, June 2008 and October 2008 mini-challenges by skimming through the readathon category on Dewey’s blog. Mini-challenges are optional; you can skip as many as you want or you can just spend the whole 24 hours reading if that’s what you want to do.
Where do I find out about the mini-challenges during the event?
In this blog! Just visit it throughout the day as often as you want and you’ll find mini-challenges waiting for you in the hourly posts.
Do I have to stay up the whole 24 hours?
No, although it’s more fun if if you do. Cheerleaders only need to commit to at least one hour, and Readers can either choose to stay up the entire time or take breaks as they need to. There are some prizes that you’ll only be eligible for if you participate all 24 hours.
What are the ways in which I can participate?
The five types of participants are Reader, Cheerleader, Mini-Challenge Host, Organizer and Prize Donor.
That’s right! Click to see a list of prizes for the April 2009 event.
People who sign up to be readers are committing to reading books, posting updates in their blogs, participating in mini-challenges when they choose to, and, if they need breaks, visiting the blogs of other readers and encouraging them. The most hardcore among us will stay up the entire 24 hours and do nothing but read and update, even going so far as to skip showering and eat meals while reading. However, not all of us are that hardcore, and it’s OK for you to customize this read-a-thon to meet your needs. All I ask is that you be honest in your updates, and that’s about the only rule for readers.
Updating for Readers: This should be individually customized. If you want to spend 5 or 10 minutes updating each hour or every 3 hours, that’s great. If you want to update whenever you feel like you need a break from reading, that’s great, too. If you want to just read and read for 24 hours straight and then write one big update, that’s also great. You do what works for you, OK?
Suggested format for updating: Again, customize this as you wish, but I suggest updating about what you’re reading, how many pages you’ve read since your last update, and how much time you’ve spent reading since your last update. You may want to keep a running total of time spent reading, number of books read and pages read; this could make you eligible for some prize drawings. Updates might also be your typical book reviews, once you finish something.
Readers visiting other readers: Do this if and when you’re in the mood, as often as you like.
Tips for Readers:
1. Pick shortish books. When you’re reading for such a long time, you might get really sick of the same book for hours on end. 2007 Readers recommended that you start with a short book so that you have a feeling of accomplishment when you finish it early in the read-a-thon.
2. Choose something light (children’s books, humorous books, graphic novels, books you already know well) and save those for the end when you’re tired and sick of reading.
3. Try not to pick really dense nonfiction unless you have the most enormous attention span ever.
4. If you’re going to use this time to catch up on other challenges, try to have a big variety available. You don’t know what will hold your attention, so don’t assign yourself specific books without alternates.
5. Give yourself permission to put a book aside and try something else if it’s not holding your attention.
6. Careful with caffeine! If you drink more coffee than you’re used to, you’ll be jittery at first and then crash later. Drinking something lightly caffeinated (green tea?) throughout the day seems to work better.
7. Don’t sit in the same spot/position all day! This could make your back hurt. Instead, move to different places in the house every hour or two.
8. In general, don’t be a masochist. This is supposed to be fun! And if anything about the challenge makes you start picturing us with little devil horns and wanting to strangle us, please stop and change it so that it works for you. Or, you know, go ahead and scream TO HELL WITH THIS CHALLENGE and go to sleep. We don’t want sleep deprivation making you hate your friendly read-a-thon organizers.
Suggested high-interest, keeping-you-awake books: See Eva’s giant post of suggestions she gathered from her readers.
If I want to be a Prize Donor, how do I do that?
Just email us at DeweyReadathon at gmail and let us know what you’d like to donate! We will love you forever.
What is the role of a Cheerleader?
Key points:
1. Cheerleaders choose how much time they spend on the read-a-thon, one hour minimum.
3. We need as many cheerleaders as possible, even those who can’t spend much time on it.
You can participate for one hour, or you can participate the entire 24 hours, or for any amount of time in between.
Cheerleaders will just spend whatever amount of time they can visiting the blogs of readers and encouraging everyone. The main purpose of cheerleaders is to keep Readers from feeling isolated as they spend their day reading.
We would like to have as many cheerleaders as possible, so that the Readers don’t go for any large chunk of time without an encouraging comment.
May I participate in more than one way?
If you like. It’s certainly easy enough to be a prize donor and a Cheerleader or Reader. It’s also possible to take on one of the organizational tasks and be a Cheerleader and/or Reader. There have been some people who were both Cheerleaders and Readers, and even a few who were mini-challenge Cheerleaders and Readers, but I suspect these people are secretly superheroes.
What’s this about organizational tasks?
There are several ways that you can help:
• Keep a spreadsheet of prizes donated and won as well as donors.
• Keep spreadsheet of cheerleaders/mini-challenges
• BookMooch points tracker
• Participant tracker
• Reminder
• Promoters: These people spread the word about the read-a-thon in the weeks before the event so that as many bookish people as possible find out about it. Buttons are available below.
How can I keep track of the participants?
Aerin put together a site listing all participants for the April 2009 event. Thank you, Aerin!
I can’t participate, but is there some small way in which I can help?
You would go straight onto our mental list of Most Awesome People Ever if you would promote the read-a-thon in your blog. If you scroll down, you’ll find buttons you could use. You don’t have to say much; you can just say Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon is coming up and link to this page. Or you could just put a button in your sidebar. But if you don’t really care about being on our M.A.P.E. list, you could promote the read-a-thon just because your readers might be interested!
Or you could just sort of hover in the background and, if you’re not busy on April 10th, visit a few Readers and say hi (or not). Some people might use the word “lurker” but here at Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon, we prefer the term “laconic blogpals.”
Once I sign up, what do I do next?
Keep your eye on this blog. In the days leading up to the Read-a-thon, we’ll probably post updates, last minute info, etc. The day of the read-a-thon, there will be a home base post. This is where you’ll find out about mini-challenges, prize winners, etc.
Well, sure! Also audio books, reading to the kids, etc.
Will there be a chance to raise money/books for charity this time?
During one of the early read-a-thons, some bloggers solicited donations for Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), an organization that provides children with books. If you would like to ask people to sponsor you, you might want to choose RIF or one of the BookMooch charities or some other charity. Choose whatever charity you want! We’ll post a list of suggestions at some point.
I can’t decide yet. The date of the Read-a-thon is too far away, I don’t know my work schedule, etc.
That’s OK. We’re hearing this from a lot of people, and believe me, we won’t let you forget! We’re going to keep mentioning the read-a-thon, especially the week before it starts. Just sign up if/when you decide to join us! The only problem you might encounter if you sign up at the last minute is that you may not make it onto the participants list before the event starts.
GIVE ME BUTTONS! Please.
Here you go. This first button was created to include Dewey’s name. These buttons were all made by past read-a-thon participants. You’re also free to make your own (let me know and we’ll add it here) or tweak these.
The following buttons were provided by Bitsy from Fabula: A Book Blog. Thank you, Bitsy!
31 Comments »
Read-a-thon date set! « Dewey’s Read-a-Thonon 10 Mar 2009 at 6:09 pm 1[...] Read-a-Thon FAQ [...]
24 Hour Readathon is Coming Soon… | Page Turner Reviewson 18 Mar 2009 at 11:20 am 2[...] 24 Hour-Read-A-Thon will be the weekend of April 18th/19th 2009. It will start at noon GMT time. Dewey was *always* so helpful in making sure that little-old-me [...]
Sunday Salon: Reading, Read, To Read #12 | Page Turner Reviewson 25 Mar 2009 at 12:22 pm 3[...] I also learned this past week the dates for the upcoming 24 Hour-Read-A-Thon. So consider joining that one when the time comes. (There isn’t a post to sign up for being a reader or a cheerleader yet. Those posts will come at some point. And I’ll try to let you know when they do.) Those dates are April 18/19th starting at noon GMT. [...]
Shannanon 26 Mar 2009 at 8:00 pm 4I want to participate I so enjoyed it last year. It will be harder since I have no one to watch the kids.
Dewey’s Read-a-Thon » The April 2009 Read-a-thonon 26 Mar 2009 at 8:53 pm 5[...] Read-a-Thon FAQ [...]
katrinaon 29 Mar 2009 at 12:34 am 6I’m participating this year, my first attempt!
Alyceon 03 Apr 2009 at 11:31 am 7I having been looking forward to this for a long time, and then was bummed to see that the read-a-thon and the adult band festival (that my community band performs in – it’s an all day event) are on the same day.
Imagine my surprise when I heard last night that the band festival may be cancelled because of the venue not being available (double booked). So now I get to wait and see if the rumor is true or if they find a new place to hold it on such short notice.
I guess either way I will have a fun, full day! I’m just hoping I find out soon so that I know if I can participate in the read-a-thon.
Angelicaon 06 Apr 2009 at 7:48 am 8Hi! At this stage I can’t commit to a whole 24 hour of reading but I would like to put a button on my blog of the event, can someone please tell me how to go about doing that? I’ve got a Blogger account. Thanks!
Nymethon 06 Apr 2009 at 3:18 pm 9Alyce, I hope you manage to join us!
Hi Angelica! First, you click with the right button of your mouse over whichever of the buttons you like best and save the image to your computer.
Then, on your blogger dashboard, you go to edit layout, then add a gadget, and then you select picture. You click browse, go to the directory you saved the read-a-thon button to, and upload it. Click save before you leave the edit layout page and you’re done!
Also, it’s not necessary to commit to the whole 24 hours…you’d be welcome to join us for just part of the day
Priyanka Shettyon 07 Apr 2009 at 1:20 pm 10On an average.. what is the number of books you guys can finish in a day??
fantaghiro23on 08 Apr 2009 at 6:50 pm 11Hi! I’d like to participate for the first time, though I think I’ll also have to do several errands on the 18th, so I can’t spend the entire 24 hours reading. Will that be all right?
I’d like to post a link to this event in my blog, though. It’s exactly the kind of thing I’d like to promote.:)
fantaghiro23on 08 Apr 2009 at 6:51 pm 12Oops, I just read the comment before mine.:) Well, since it’s ok to join for part of the day, then I’m in!
Trishon 09 Apr 2009 at 2:54 pm 13Hi guys! I’m making my handy dandy read-a-thon spreadsheet (because I’m an ultimate nerd in addition to being just a book nerd), and I’m wondering if GMT will be THE official time of the read-a-thon (for example, will mini-challenges, deadlines and such be announced in GMT time)?
Nymethon 10 Apr 2009 at 3:19 pm 14Trish, the way Dewey did it, and the way that I think is fairest for everyone, is to just use “Hour 1″, “Hour 2″, etc, instead of a specific time.
Priyanka Shetty, it really depends…some people read 5 or less, others 7, others 10 or more. It depends on how fast a reader you are, number of pages, font size…but the important thing is to read at your own rhythm and have fun.
fantaghiro23: Welcome aboard!
The Kool-Aid Momon 13 Apr 2009 at 9:13 pm 15hehehehehe…. I made my own button, but not sure you want to put it here
This is the first RaT I’ll be participating in 
How to Prepare for a Read-a-Thon « filling my patch of skyon 14 Apr 2009 at 8:44 am 16[...] read-a-thon Web site has wonderful tips and suggestions for us first-timers. Taking some of the reading selection tips into consideration, I have sorted [...]
Read-A-Thon (Say What?) « Bookish Adventures of BiblioMomon 16 Apr 2009 at 10:27 am 17[...] April 16, 2009 Read-A-Thon (Say What?) Posted by BiblioMom under Dewey, book, readathon, reading, reading challenge No Comments Okay, I broke down and signed up to participate in this coming weekend’s Dewey’s Read-a-Thon. [...]
Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon at Sassymonkey Readson 16 Apr 2009 at 12:13 pm 18[...] Ok, I’m doing. I’m signing up for Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-A-Thon. [...]
Melissaon 18 Apr 2009 at 3:42 am 19I’m signed up for this (#172) but I’m not on the official list of readers on the Readathon Feeds site. Is that a big deal?
Dewey’s Read-a-Thon » Welcome to the April 2009 Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon!on 18 Apr 2009 at 6:25 am 20[...] Read-a-Thon FAQ [...]
Grab a Book and Get Your Game Face On: There’s a Cookie at Stake! « filling my patch of skyon 25 Jun 2009 at 5:14 am 21[...] to stretch your book selections based on various criteria for the book’s title. The other was the 24-hour read-a-thon I completed in [...]
Dewey’s Read-a-Thon » October 2009 Read-a-thon Sign-up poston 01 Oct 2009 at 10:32 am 22[...] Read-a-Thon FAQ [...]
Adamon 07 Oct 2009 at 5:59 am 23How do I get my girlfriend to not flip out about the fact that I’ll be ignoring her for 24 hours on a weekend? It’s impossible to see her during the week, so it’s Friday night to Sunday night. Tranquilizers?
Sugandhaon 15 Oct 2009 at 1:42 am 24Is it Ok if we cant read 24 hours?? You know like if we have work to attend and all..
Dewey’s Read-a-Thon. « "Imaginary~Dreamer"on 16 Oct 2009 at 10:36 am 25[...] I’m up for a most excellent challenge. I read through all of the FAQ. Then signed myself [...]
Joëlle Anthony » Blog Archive » Better Late Than Never – Readathonon 24 Oct 2009 at 10:57 am 26[...] even though I saw tweets and twitters about this, I neglected to check it out. Today is the 24 hour readathon! I’m joining up a bit late, I should’ve started reading at 5am (which would’ve [...]
JackieSon 25 Oct 2009 at 8:59 am 27I like the tips for getting through 24 hours of reading. My tip would be to listen to a book while walking to the YMCA, then spend an hour or two with a fast-paced mystery book while walking/climbing at 3.1 mph on an incline machine or treadmill set at various levels of incline, from 3-24. That is how I keep in shape and have an excuse for reading mysteries.
I look forward to learning of the April read-a-thon date.
Best wishes.
Reading Upside Down » Blog Archive » Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon – April 2010on 06 Apr 2010 at 3:01 am 28[...] read, be a cheerleader or both. Full details are at the Readathon website which includes a detailed FAQ page answering any questions you might have. All you need to do is add your name and join in the fun. [...]
Heroines As Glue | The Heroine's Bookshelfon 06 Apr 2010 at 1:17 pm 29[...] Dewey’s Read-a-Thon: This event is just cool. For 24 hours on April 10, readers and book bloggers everywhere will [...]
The Words of a Writer » Blog Archive » My First Readathon!on 07 Apr 2010 at 5:01 am 30[...] in on the fun, you can sign up for the readathon here. Need just a bit more info? Check out their FAQ. I’ll be doing some minor prepping, such as pulling books out that are on my To Be Read pile. [...]
Bitsyon 09 Apr 2010 at 5:17 pm 31Hey, I ended up making some more read-a-thon buttons and don’t mind sharing if they aren’t too out there. Looking forward to the read-a-thon!