Monday, December 25, 2017

Bout of Books 21 SIGN UP!

Are you ready to SIGN UP?

THIS IS WHERE YOU SIGN UP.


Here's what you have to do:

1. Post on your site, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook account and declare your intentions to join us. It's EASY. We ask you share info to help spread the word. Please link back to us so others can find us here.

If you're posting on your blog, grab the official blurb (below) and our button (in the sidebar) and create a post. (Need an example? Check out Kelly's (incredibly simple) Bout of Books 21 post!)
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 8th and runs through Sunday, January 14th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 21 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
Want to post on Twitter? We've written a tweet for you.
 I'm participating in Bout of Books 21!


2. Add the direct link to your sign up post to the linky in this post. You have until Tuesday, January 9th at 11:59pm CST to sign up. (If the linky is closed, you're too late.)

3. On January 8th, READ!

Monday, December 18, 2017

Call for Bout of Books 21 Experts

We need YOU.


Bout of Books has attracted more participants every time we've held it. And as it grows, we're limited as to how many people we can reach and interact with.

That's where Bout of Books experts come in.

What makes a person a Bout of Books expert, you ask?
  • You've participated in AT LEAST four Bout of Books prior to Bout of Books 21
  • You love Bout of Books and want to make sure everyone knows how awesome it is
  • You're willing to commit some of your free time to helping us
  • You love connecting with fellow book lovers and cheering them on
If you're chosen as an expert, you get to visit #boutofbooks-ers' blogs and comment on their posts--tell them how awesome they are and how well they're doing. WHO DOESN'T LOVE SPREADING LOVE?!?!?

Monday, December 11, 2017

Call for Bout of Books 21 Challenge Ideas

Bout of Books 21 is January 8th through January 14th

Like us on Facebook
and follow us on Twitter & Instagram 
to join the social media fun.
 Bout of Books 21 is COMING!

We need YOUR help. This post is ONLY for people who want to help plan a challenge.

Please note: if you are chosen, you will be required to provide all pertinent information for your challenge idea before the beginning of the read-a-thon.

Challenges information
  • For Bout of Books 21, challenges will be hosted on the Bout of Books blog with credit/link to the site/person who provided the idea.
  • Challenges run for 24 hours and run from midnight CST to midnight CST.
  • There will be a limit of two challenges per day.
  • Challenge sign up will close December 18th at 11:59pm CST.

Things to keep in mind:

Preference will be given to challenges that are NOT genre specific. You will be turned down or asked to change your challenge so it's not genre specific. We want to include EVERYONE. For an idea on what we look at, visit Kelly's post on this topic: The Challenge of Challenges

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Grand Prize

Bout of Books 20 has ended but the fun doesn't stop until the Grand Prize Winner is announced!


And the Winner is...
Erin @ The Paperback Stash
Erin's winning entry came from following @creativedeeds on Twitter.
Congratulations, ERIN!
Keep your eye on your inbox, you'll be receiving an email from Bout of Books soon!

We'd like to thank everybody who signed up and participated in the read-a-thon. We're always striving to make this event the best it can be and we couldn't do that without your enthusiastic participation.

For those that are interested in helping out for the next Bout of Books, we post a call for help roughly a month prior to the start of the read-a-thon - which will be around December 11th for Bout of Books 21. Keep an eye on this blog for that announcement.

Once again, thank you to everyone who helped make Bout of Books 20 a success! We appreciate that you love books and how vocal you are about sharing it!

-Kelly and Amanda

Monday, August 28, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Wrap Up

Congratulations!
You have survived Bout of Books 20!


In this post, we invite you to link up to your overall progress for Bout of Books. You don't have to create a wrap-up post--it can be an update post with day 7's progress.

Whatever works for you, works for us.

Here are important informational nuggets you probably want to know:

Bout of Books 21 will be from January 8th to January 14th, 2018.

The Grand Prize winner will be announced TOMORROW.

Following this blog is the BEST way to stay up to date on EVERYTHING.

Since we can't reach out to everyone personally to remind them about upcoming events (though wouldn't that be awesome?), we do our best to keep this blog updated with the most current information. That means you're responsible for following us if you want to receive the latest news.

Thank you for making this event fabulous!

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Day 7

The end is in sight.
Keep reading!

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

No challenge -- squeeze in a few extra minutes of reading!

Saturday, August 26, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Day 6

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

9:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
10am CT (TZC) Twitter Chat with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

Love to hate

Who's the character you LOVE to HATE? For today's challenge, share with us one (or more!) of the characters you love to hate.

Thanks to Darcus for today's challenge.

Friday, August 25, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Day 5

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

Leave a book review

Did you know? Book reviews help other readers discover new books. For today's challenge, we encourage you to write a review of a book you've read during the readathon (or recently) and publish it where other readers make their purchasing decisions (e.g., Amazon, Goodreads, etc.). Be sure to share it with us in the comments below or on social media.

Thanks to J. Lenni Dorner for today's challenge.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Day 4

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks


Challenges

If you like this, try that . . .

Put your recommendations hat on, #boutofbooks-ers. For this challenge, pick a book, author, or trope (or whatever!) from your TBR and suggest similar books.

Example 1: If you like Sarah McLean, try Lenora Bell.

Example 2: If you like a modern day, romantic twist on Greek mythology, try Staci Hart's Hearts and Arrows series.

Thanks to Bemused Bookworm for today's challenge.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Day 3

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

Book Spine Rainbow

 Take a selection of your favorite book spines to make a rainbow! Share on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #bookspinerainbow and #boutofbooks, or share your picture in the comments below!

Thanks to Liz Whitehouse for today's challenge.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Day 2

Today is the LAST DAY to GET SIGNED UP.
Are YOU signed up PROPERLY?
Only properly signed up participants
ARE ELIGIBLE FOR PRIZES.
_________________________

Congratulations!

You survived the first day of the read-a-thon!

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks



Please note: the form for the sign up will stay open through TODAY.
It closes Wednesday at midnight (TZC)

Monday, August 21, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Day 1

Welcome to Bout of Books 20!

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CST (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CST (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks
8pm CST (TZC) Twitter Chat with @boutofbooks


Please note: the form for the sign up will stay open through TODAY and TOMORROW.
It closes Wednesday at midnight (TZC)

Monday, August 14, 2017

Bout of Books 20 Schedule

It's COMING!
Psst. Tell your friends:
Bout of Books 20 is coming!

For Bout of Books 20, all challenges will be hosted on the Bout of Books blog. Here. Right here. So keep your eyes on this site to see what's what for the day!

Challenges/Giveaways
**This is the overall list for the challenges offered during Bout of Books 20. Make sure you check the blog each day of the read-a-thon for instructions and details on how to complete the daily challenges**

Monday 8/21
Introduce yourself #insixwords

Tuesday 8/22
Synopsis rewrite

Wednesday 8/23
Book spine rainbow

Thursday 8/24
If you like this, try that . . .

Friday 8/25
Leave a book review

Saturday 8/26
Love to hate

Sunday 8/27
FREE DAY!


Twitter Chats
(chats last approximately one hour)
TZC = Time Zone Conversion

Monday: 8pm CST (TZC)
Saturday: 10am CST (TZC)

Monday, August 7, 2017

Bout of Books 20 SIGN UP!

Are you ready to SIGN UP?

THIS IS WHERE YOU SIGN UP.


Here's what you have to do:

1. Post on your site, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook account and declare your intentions to join us. It's EASY. We ask you share info to help spread the word. Please link back to us so others can find us here.

If you're posting on your blog, grab the official blurb (below) and our button (in the sidebar) and create a post. (Need an example? Check out Kelly's (incredibly simple) Bout of Books 20 post!)
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 21st and runs through Sunday, August 27th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 20 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
Want to post on Twitter? We've written a tweet for you.
 I'm participating in Bout of Books 20!


2. Add the direct link to your sign up post to the linky in this post. You have until Tuesday, August 22nd at 11:59pm CST to sign up. (If the linky is closed, you're too late.)

3. On August 21st, READ!

Monday, July 31, 2017

Call for Bout of Books 20 Experts

We need YOU.


Bout of Books has attracted more participants every time we've held it. And as it grows, we're limited as to how many people we can reach and interact with.

That's where Bout of Books experts come in.

What makes a person a Bout of Books expert, you ask?
  • You've participated in AT LEAST four Bout of Books prior to Bout of Books 20
  • You love Bout of Books and want to make sure everyone knows how awesome it is
  • You're willing to commit some of your free time to helping us
  • You love connecting with fellow book lovers and cheering them on
If you're chosen as an expert, you get to visit #boutofbooks-ers' blogs and comment on their posts--tell them how awesome they are and how well they're doing. WHO DOESN'T LOVE SPREADING LOVE?!?!?

Monday, July 24, 2017

Call for Bout of Books 20 Challenge Ideas

Bout of Books 20 is August 21st through August 27th

Like us on Facebook
and follow us on Twitter & Instagram 
to join the social media fun.
 Bout of Books 20 is COMING!

We need YOUR help. This post is ONLY for people who want to help plan a challenge.

Please note: if you are chosen, you will be required to provide all pertinent information for your challenge idea before the beginning of the read-a-thon.

Challenges information
  • For Bout of Books 20, challenges will be hosted on the Bout of Books blog with credit/link to the site/person who provided the idea.
  • Challenges run for 24 hours and run from midnight CST to midnight CST.
  • There will be a limit of two challenges per day.
  • Challenge sign up will close July 30th at 11:59pm CST.

Monday, July 17, 2017

Tips and Tricks - What about reading sprints?


This week's tips and tricks are a slight departure from what we normally talk about.

Reading sprints

We get asked about those A LOT.

Officially, Bout of Books doesn't host any reading sprints, BUT participants are more than welcome to put together an impromptu sprint using the #boutofbooks hashtag.

How do you do this?

Throw out a quick tweet on the #boutofbooks hashtag asking if anyone is interested in a sprint. Don't get any responses? Don't despair! Sometimes people see the tweets after the fact, but still end up joining in. Set a time you'll check back in and sit down and read. When time's up, come back and let everyone know how you did.

(Incidentally, for the writers out there, this is a good way to do writing sprints as well.)

Doing multiple sprints in a row -- for example, three fifteen minute sprints with a few minutes downtime between each -- gives other Bout of Books-ers a chance to see the tweets, clear their schedule, and join in.

Obviously, there are other ways sprints can be done. If you have a tried and true strategy that's worked for you, let us know!

Monday, July 3, 2017

Tips and Tricks - Using the hashtag vs using the handle


Today's topic is one that's near and dear to our hearts...

Twitter hashtag vs handle

Let's start by taking a look at what each of them do.

The #boutofbooks hashtag

Essentially, the hashtag acts as a search function. ANYONE can follow the hashtag and see any tweet tagged under it without following the individual person tweeting. Considering how many people participate in Bout of Books, this means you don't have to waste time following several hundred people just so you know what's going on.

Seriously, which would you rather do: Take an hour or two to hunt down everyone's handle so you can follow them all or just tap into that magical hashtag and see what's what in the Bout of Books world?

I'd rather spend that hour or two reading, so I'm going to go with the hashtag option.

The @boutofbooks handle

The handle directly connects you with us. As in, me and Amanda. Us. The people behind the read-a-thon.

We do enjoy interacting with everyone, but...we strongly encourage using the hashtag vs the handle for several reasons.

Reason 1:

If you start your tweets with @boutofbooks, only your followers who already follow @boutofbooks will see them. Adding #boutofbooks instead lets all your followers PLUS anyone following the hashtag see it.

You know, it's the old "You tell one friend and your friend tells one friend and then your neighbor tells one friend and suddenly everybody's talking about #boutofbooks!"

(What? I'm 100% certain that's how the saying goes!)

This is one of the key ways we get the word out about Bout of Books. Without people hashtagging and talking about the read-a-thon, we wouldn't have any participants. And if we have no participants, what's the point?

Reason 2:

If you use the @boutofbooks handle in your tweets, our notifications start to look like we're throwing a no-parents-home-for-the-weekend house party. Which sounds fun, in theory, but quickly becomes overwhelming.

Especially when we're trying to sort through them to see if we have any questions that need to be answered.

So take pity on your hosts and hashtag, hashtag, hashtag. Save the @-ing for chats or if you have any burning questions you need answered.

Hey, guys. You might have heard this before but... YOU GOT THIS!

Monday, June 19, 2017

Tips and Tricks - How to direct link


Hoo-boy! Today's post is all about how to grab a direct link so you can do your thing without any muss or fuss.

What's a direct link?

A direct link is a link that goes directly to a page or tweet, NOT your homepage. In other words, when we click this link -- Dates for Bout of Books 20 -- we want it to pull up the tweet about when Bout of Books 20 will take place. We DON'T want to end up on Bout of Books twitter homepage and have to search for the tweet.

Easy, right?

How do I find the url so I can provide a direct link?

There are several different ways to get the information you need. Pick the one that's easiest for you and go to town.

Option 1:

First off, find the status you'd like to link. I'm going to use the Bout of Books tweet I mentioned above as an example.

Next, click on the date for that tweet (or status update).

This will take you to a post that is JUST the tweet you want to link.

Highlight the url in the address bar.

Right click and copy the highlighted text. This is the link you will be adding to the linky. When someone clicks on that link, it will take them directly to the tweet we want them to see.


See? Easy.

Option 2:

As with everything in life, there is more than one way to get the desired result.

This time, we're going to click on the little arrow to the right of the date:

A pop-up screen will appear. Click "Copy link to Tweet":


If the internet gods smile upon you, you'll get a pop-up that looks something like this:

Right click on the blue highlighted area and choose "copy." The url is now happily waiting for you to paste it somewhere. (Hopefully the url section in the linky!)

Option 3:

And finally, you can also get the direct link if you right click on the date and choose "copy link address" (or some variation of that depending on the browser you're using). Like option 2, the url is now waiting for you to paste it into a lucky linky box!

No matter which option you choose, you now have the url to provide a direct link to anyone who needs it.

For blog posts, tumblr posts, etc, you can click on the title of the post in lieu of clicking on the date and get the same results.

Monday, June 5, 2017

Tips and Tricks - How to make sure you're eligible for the Grand Prize

HELLO, EVERYONE!

Over the next couple weeks, Amanda and I (I being Kelly, in case you didn't know) will be working on posting a few tips and tricks to help make your next Bout of Books absolutely fabulous.

Sounds great, Kelly, you say to yourself, but what does that MEAN?

Well, my darling Bout of Books-ers, it means we're going to touch on a few issues we've seen arise over the course of this read-a-thon. Unfortunately, a few of the issues have led to people being disqualified from winning the grand prize (among other things).

Frankly, that sucks.

So we're here to get the word out.

Are you ready?


The first subject we're going to touch on for our Tips and Tricks feature is what "Actively Participating" means and how you can make sure you're doing what you need to do.

What do we consider an active participant?

Simply put, you have to be properly signed up (aka, have a direct link in our sign-up linky) AND have at least two updates directly linked in our daily link-ups.

That's it.

THAT'S IT.

Sign up and participate on at least two different days. NOT HARD, RIGHT? Yet, invariably, we run into issues with this almost every read-a-thon.

Okay, that's great, but I missed a day on updates!

GUYS, that's fine! We're a seven day read-a-thon. You only have to update two of the seven days to be considered an active participant. TWO. Out of SEVEN.

YOU GOT THIS!

But I'm not interested in doing the challenges, why update?

The daily challenges are completely separate from the updates themselves. You can choose to include your challenge response in your update, but it's not required.

Heck, between hosting Bout of Books and reading, I don't always have the chance to get the challenges done either. But I do update every day. For me, it's a way to track what I accomplished (or didn't accomplish) and plan out what I'm going to do the next day.

Updates don't even have to be all that complex. A simple tweet saying "Today I read XX" or "Today I did XX" is enough. Grab the direct link, toss it in the daily linky and you're GOLDEN!

Remember what I said before? YOU GOT THIS!

Are updates required to participate in Bout of Books? 

No. Absolutely not. If you prefer to read, chat, and read some more without the hassle of updating, that's fine. But we have to put down some guidelines to we can administer the giveaway fairly. So there's that little "actively participating" rule.

And, in case you're wondering, yes, we do run into people who sign up and never do anything beyond that. Again, THAT'S FINE if that's the way you choose to do your Bout of Books thing. We want you to be comfortable doing it your way.

But if you want to be eligible for the Bout of Books Grand Prize, you need to sign up properly and update at least twice.

One last time... YOU GOT THIS!

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Grand Prize

Bout of Books 19 has ended but the fun doesn't stop until the Grand Prize Winner is announced!


And the Winner is...
Rachelle @ Fortified by Books
Rachelle's winning entry came from tweeting a message.
Congratulations, RACHELLE!
Keep your eye on your inbox, you'll be receiving an email from Bout of Books soon!

We'd like to thank everybody who signed up and participated in the read-a-thon. We're always striving to make this event the best it can be and we couldn't do that without your enthusiastic participation.

For those that are interested in helping out for the next Bout of Books, we post a call for help roughly a month prior to the start of the read-a-thon - which will be around July 24th for Bout of Books 20. Keep an eye on this blog for that announcement.

Once again, thank you to everyone who helped make Bout of Books 19 a success! We appreciate that you love books and how vocal you are about sharing it!

-Kelly and Amanda

Monday, May 15, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Wrap Up

Congratulations!
You have survived Bout of Books 19!


In this post, we invite you to link up to your overall progress for Bout of Books. You don't have to create a wrap-up post--it can be an update post with day 7's progress.

Whatever works for you, works for us.

Here are important informational nuggets you probably want to know:

Bout of Books 20 will be from August 21st to August 27th.

The Grand Prize winner will be announced TOMORROW.

Following this blog is the BEST way to stay up to date on EVERYTHING.

Since we can't reach out to everyone personally to remind them about upcoming events (though wouldn't that be awesome?), we do our best to keep this blog updated with the most current information. That means you're responsible for following us if you want to receive the latest news.

Thank you for making this event fabulous!

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Day 7

The end is in sight.
Keep reading!

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

No challenge -- squeeze in a few extra minutes of reading!

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Day 6

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

9:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
10am CT (TZC) Twitter Chat with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

Seasons of Books

Choose 4 books, each representing a different season. Spring, summer, winter, and autumn. What was your reason for choosing each book? Color of the cover, title, character attitude, setting, or overall theme/feeling of the work? Share your selections on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #seasonsofbooks and #boutofbooks, or share your selections in the comments below!

Thanks to Auggie for today's challenge. 

Friday, May 12, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Day 5

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

Book Spine Rainbow

 Take a selection of your favorite book spines to make a rainbow! Share on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #bookspinerainbow and #boutofbooks, or share your picture in the comments below!

Thanks to Liz Whitehouse for today's challenge.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Day 4

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks


Challenges

Character Dating Profile

Create a dating profile for your favourite literary character. Where are they from? What are they looking for? What are their likes and dislikes?

Thanks to Liz Whitehouse for today's challenge.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Day 3

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

Share Your Shelfie

Share a picture of your books/shelves/nightstand/e-library/wherever you keep your books on Twitter, Instagram, or on this post. Use the hashtags #boutofbooks and #shelfie4boutofbooks

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Day 2

Today is the LAST DAY to GET SIGNED UP.
Are YOU signed up PROPERLY?
Only properly signed up participants
ARE ELIGIBLE FOR PRIZES.
_________________________

Congratulations!

You survived the first day of the read-a-thon!

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks


Monday, May 8, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Day 1

Welcome to Bout of Books 19!

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CST (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CST (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks
8pm CST (TZC) Twitter Chat with @boutofbooks


Please note: the form for the sign up will stay open through TODAY and TOMORROW.
It closes Wednesday at midnight (TZC)

Challenges

Introduce Yourself #insixwords

The challenge is simple: introduce yourself on Twitter, Instagram, or on this post using six words, no more, no less. Use the hashtags #boutofbooks and #insixwords so we can learn all about you.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Schedule

It's COMING!
Psst. Tell your friends:
Bout of Books 19 is coming!

For Bout of Books 19, all challenges will be hosted on the Bout of Books blog. Here. Right here. So keep your eyes on this site to see what's what for the day!

Challenges/Giveaways
**This is the overall list for the challenges offered during Bout of Books 19. Make sure you check the blog each day of the read-a-thon for instructions and details on how to complete the daily challenges**

Monday 5/8
Introduce yourself #insixwords

Tuesday 5/9
Not a Font

Wednesday 5/10
Share Your Shelfie!

Thursday 5/11
Character Dating Profile

Friday 5/12
Book Spine Rainbow

Saturday 5/13
Seasons of Books

Sunday 5/14
FREE DAY!


Twitter Chats
(chats last approximately one hour)
TZC = Time Zone Conversion

Monday: 8pm CST (TZC)
Saturday: 10am CST (TZC)

Monday, April 24, 2017

Bout of Books 19 Sign-Up!

Are you ready to SIGN UP?

THIS IS WHERE YOU SIGN UP.


Here's what you have to do:

1. Post on your site, Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, YouTube, Instagram or Facebook account and declare your intentions to join us. It's EASY. We ask you share info to help spread the word. Please link back to us so others can find us here.

If you're posting on your blog, grab the official blurb (below) and our button (in the sidebar) and create a post. (Need an example? Check out Kelly's (incredibly simple) Bout of Books 19 post!)
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 8th and runs through Sunday, May 14th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 19 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team
Want to post on Twitter? We've written a tweet for you.
 I'm participating in Bout of Books 19!


2. Add the direct link to your sign up post to the linky in this post. You have until Tuesday, May 9th at 11:59pm CST to sign up. (If the linky is closed, you're too late.)

3. On May 8th, READ!

Monday, April 17, 2017

Call for Bout of Books 19 Experts

We need YOU.


Bout of Books has attracted more participants every time we've held it. And as it grows, we're limited as to how many people we can reach and interact with.

That's where Bout of Books experts come in.

What makes a person a Bout of Books expert, you ask?
  • You've participated in AT LEAST four Bout of Books prior to Bout of Books 19
  • You love Bout of Books and want to make sure everyone knows how awesome it is
  • You're willing to commit some of your free time to helping us
  • You love connecting with fellow book lovers and cheering them on
If you're chosen as an expert, you get to visit #boutofbooks-ers' blogs and comment on their posts--tell them how awesome they are and how well they're doing. WHO DOESN'T LOVE SPREADING LOVE?!?!?

We will be closing this form on April 30th. If you're interested in helping us, make sure you get on our list before then!

Monday, April 10, 2017

Call for Bout of Books 19 Challenge Ideas

Bout of Books 19 is May 8th through May 14th

Like us on Facebook
and follow us on Twitter & Instagram 
to join the social media fun.
 Bout of Books 19 is COMING!

We need YOUR help. This post is ONLY for people who want to help plan a challenge.

Please note: if you are chosen, you will be required to provide all pertinent information for your challenge idea before the beginning of the read-a-thon.

Challenges information
  • For Bout of Books 19, challenges will be hosted on the Bout of Books blog with credit/link to the site/person who provided the idea.
  • Challenges run for 24 hours and run from midnight CST to midnight CST.
  • There will be a limit of two challenges per day.
  • Challenge sign up will close April 16th  at 11:59pm CST.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Bout of Books 18 Grand Prize

Bout of Books 18 has ended but the fun doesn't stop until the Grand Prize Winner is announced!


And the Winner is...
Jenny @ juliababyjen
Jenny's winning entry came from tweeting a message.
Congratulations, JENNY!
Keep your eye on your inbox, you'll be receiving an email from Bout of Books soon!

We'd like to thank everybody who signed up and participated in the read-a-thon. We're always striving to make this event the best it can be and we couldn't do that without your enthusiastic participation.

Please note that the challenge hosts are responsible for notifying winners and announcing prizes on their own blogs for the mini-challenges.

For those that are interested in helping out for the next Bout of Books, we post a call for help roughly a month prior to the start of the read-a-thon - which will be around April 10th for Bout of Books 19. Keep an eye on this blog for that announcement.

Once again, thank you to everyone who helped make Bout of Books 18 a success! We appreciate that you love books and how vocal you are about sharing it!

-Kelly and Amanda

Monday, January 9, 2017

Bout of Books 18 Wrap Up

Congratulations!
You have survived Bout of Books 18!


In this post, we invite you to link up to your overall progress for Bout of Books. You don't have to create a wrap-up post--it can be an update post with day 7's progress.

Whatever works for you, works for us.

Here are important informational nuggets you probably want to know:

Bout of Books 19 will be from May 8th to May 14th.

The Grand Prize winner will be announced TOMORROW.

Following this blog is the BEST way to stay up to date on EVERYTHING.

Since we can't reach out to everyone personally to remind them about upcoming events (though wouldn't that be awesome?), we do our best to keep this blog updated with the most current information. That means you're responsible for following us if you want to receive the latest news.

Thank you for making this event fabulous!

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Bout of Books 18 Day 7

The end is in sight.
Keep reading!

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

No challenge -- squeeze in a few extra minutes of reading!

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Bout of Books 18 Day 6

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

9:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
10am CT (TZC) Twitter Chat with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

No challenge today! Just read!

Twitter Chat Information

TZC = Time Zone Conversion
There is a Twitter chat today at 10am CT (TZC)
The chat will be led by Kelly using @boutofbooks

The chat will last one hour. We will use the Q1/A1 system. The host asks the questions using Q1, Q2, and so on. You respond using A1, A2. EASY!

Friday, January 6, 2017

Bout of Books 18 Day 5

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

If You Like This, Try This

Since we all love recommending books, here's your chance to share the love.
Example: If you like paranormal romance with bloodthirsty vikings, try Shelly Laurenston's Call of Crows series.
Make sure you use the hashtags #BoBIfYouLikeThis and #boutofbooks on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, so we can see your recs.


Thursday, January 5, 2017

Bout of Books 18 Day 4

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks


Challenges

Book Spine Poetry

A perennial favorite is back! Go hunting through your books and unleash your inner poet! Use the titles of your chosen books to create a poem. Snap a picture of your creation and share it with the hashtags #BookSpinePoetryBoB and #boutofbooks.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Bout of Books 18 Day 3

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks

Challenges

Book to Movie

Have a book you think would make an excellent movie? Now's your chance to share it! Go as big or as simple as you want. Share fanart, casting choices, or just a book or series you think would be OUTSTANDING on the big screen. Use the hashtags #BoBBookToMovie and #boutofbooks to share your picks!

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Bout of Books 18 Day 2

Today is the LAST DAY to GET SIGNED UP.
Are YOU signed up PROPERLY?
Only properly signed up participants
ARE ELIGIBLE FOR PRIZES.
_________________________

Congratulations!

You survived the first day of the read-a-thon!

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CT (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CT (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks



Please note: the form for the sign up will stay open through TODAY.
It closes Wednesday at midnight (TZC)

Challenge

2017 in a Picture

Share your goals/plans/etc. for 2017 with your fellow #boutofbooks-ers. These could be book goals, life goals, or goals for ANYTHING you're looking to tackle in 2017. Take a picture of the books you plan on reading this year! Share a vision board of what you're trying to accomplish! Use the hashtags #BoB2017Goals and #boutofbooks and let us cheer you on!

Monday, January 2, 2017

Bout of Books 18 Day 1

Welcome to Bout of Books 18!

Here is the schedule of events for today:

TZC = Time Zone Conversion

10:30am CST (TZC) Morning Announcements with @boutofbooks
7:30pm CST (TZC) Evening Announcements with @boutofbooks
8pm CST (TZC) Twitter Chat with @boutofbooks


Please note: the form for the sign up will stay open through TODAY and TOMORROW.
It closes Wednesday at midnight (TZC)

Challenges

Introduce Yourself #insixwords

The challenge is simple: introduce yourself on Twitter, Instagram, or on this post using six words, no more, no less. Use the hashtags #boutofbooks and #insixwords so we can learn all about you.

BONUS: Share a picture of your smiling face or your bookshelves! (You can learn a lot about a person from their bookshelves!)

Twitter Chat Information

TZC = Time Zone Conversion
There is a Twitter chat today at 8pm CT (TZC)
The chat will be led by Amanda using @boutofbooks



The chat will last one hour. We will use the Q1/A1 system. The host asks the question using Q1, Q2, and so on. You respond using A1, A2. EASY