Getting Started


Whether this is your first time participating or you are a Bout of Books veteran, we are happy to have you with us.

While we've attempted to make this site as user friendly as possible, it can still be intimidating to try and figure out what steps you need to take. This page was created as a simple guide to the sign up process and what you can do to help spread the word about Bout of Books.

Getting started

1.  Post on your site and declare your intentions to join us. Grab the official blurb and one of the buttons below. (You can also post your goals. Here's a template for you.)

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team




2. Add your link to our sign up post. If sign up is open, you'll find the link in the sidebar.

3. Read!

That's it.

Need more?

In our ongoing attempt to make this read-a-thon as fun as possible, we've compiled a list of Read-a-thon Tips and Twitter Tips. The FAQ page provides answers to many of the common questions we've seen since Bout of Books first made its debut.


General etiquette rules for Bout of Books:

1. Read the directions carefully and follow them. If you've read directions and are still confused about what to do, we have a group of experts who have volunteered to help answer questions via Twitter. You can @ them directly or send out a general call for help using the #BoutOfBooks hashtag.
2. Respect your:
  • Hosts. BoB averages about 150 participants every readathon. This means that if there are two people answering questions, it is one person for every 75 readers. Realistically, we cannot help everyone through every step of the readathon process. It is up to the reader to help themselves first, and when something isn't working, to contact us.
  • Challenge and giveaway hosts. People use their own money to give away prizes, or take time to create a challenge. If you don't like either the challenge or the prize offered, don't enter.
  • Fellow reader. This is a community event. It is not a contest between readers. Bring morale up with encouragement, don't bring it down by comparing who has read more books.
3. HAVE FUN! This read-a-thon was envisioned as a way to meet fellow book lovers and push yourself to read more than you normally do in a week. There is no right or wrong way to approach this event and our intent has always been to be as inclusive as possible.

Now, prepare your lists and get ready to get your read on!

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