British Books Challenge 2013 - FAQ

I'm very excited to announce that I'm going to be taking over the British Books Challenge for 2013 from the lovely Kirsty at The Overflowing Library! I hope that everyone who has taken part in the past will continue to participate and it would also be fab to see some new people joining us - come on you know you want to!

So what is the British Books Challenge?

The BBC is a reading challenge that was created by Becky from The Bookette in 2011 as a way to encourage people to read more books by British authors. The challenge was taken over by Kirsty at The Overflowing Library for 2012 and this year it's my turn.

The books can be in print or out. Old or new titles. They can be from any genre and for any age range. Becky and Kirsty's blogs both focus on YA books but I read a mixture of adult and YA so you can expect to see reviews of both on my blog. Obviously it's entirely up to you if you want to read adult, YA or children's novels - or a mixture of all three!

If you sign up for the Challenge you will be aiming to read at least 12 books by British Authors (which works out to one a month). For every book you review each month you will get an entry into the draw to win a monthly prize pack. Therefore the more you read the more entries you will rack up. Towards the end of the year I hope to do some kind of special prize draw for those who have gone to the most effort over the year managing to read 50 or more British Books. As prize packs are mainly being sponsored by British publishers I'm afraid that some of the prizes will only be available for UK participants but I hope that international bloggers will still take part. I will try to host a couple of international giveaways throughout the year but it will depend on finances and whether I can afford postage costs for sending out the books.

I have to say a massive thank you first to Becky for originally creating the challenge and also to Kirsty for hosting it in 2012. They have both put in an incredible amount of work to promoting British authors and I hope I can do half as well as they did next year. Special thanks to Kirsty for letting me pretty much cut and paste her FAQ and sign up pages!

To sign up: Go to the sign up post HERE

For suggestions of British Titles to read:

1. A great resource for information about British authors of YA books is the UK-YA blog, they even have a list of the Top 100 UK-YA titles (as voted by readers of the blog) which should give you plenty of suggestions!
2. There are some great YA suggestions on Kirsty's UK-YA shelf on Goodreads HERE
3. I also have a selection of YA and Adult titles on my British Author's shelf on Goodreads HERE
4. Karen posts a monthly list of books published in the UK over at her blog Teenage Fiction for All Ages where she also highlights the titles that are by British Authors. You can read through all of her posts for 2012 HERE and the 2013 book releases can be found HERE.
5. You might also want to check out this list of UK YA titles being published in 2013 that was created on Goodreads by Clover from Fluttering Butterflies. I can't guarantee that all of the titles on this list will be by British authors because anyone can add to lists on Goodreads but I'm sure most of them will be correct, especially the ones with a lot of votes. You can view the list HERE. Clover has started a feature in 2013 where she is listing new releases by British authors each month, you can read through her posts HERE for some fantastic recommendations!
6. You can always have a look through other participant's review links on the monthly link up pages once the challenge gets started. I'll add links to each month's post below.

These links by no means include the only books that count towards the challenge but hopefully they'll help you get started.

Don't forget to post links to your reviews each month for your chance to win prizes:

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

Frequently asked Questions:

I post reviews on more than one blog. Can they count towards my challenge total?

Yes.

I am an international entrant and sometimes I do not have time to write my reviews in English. Can I write them in my native language?

Of course. It would be helpful if there was a little summary in English so that I can comment but as long as you make sure the book's title is translated somewhere on your post then it is fine. I'm delighted that international bloggers are going to help promote British authors.

Do Irish authors count towards my challenge total?

No. Ireland is not part of the UK. The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Authors who live in any of these locations can count towards the challenge.

How about authors who were say born in America (insert any other country here) but are currently living in the UK?

Yes, we are using the following criteria to decide whether an author can count towards the challenge:

• Authors who were born in the UK, live in the UK and are published in the UK
• Authors who were born overseas but are CURRENTLY living in the UK and their books were/are being published in the UK first
• Authors who were born in the UK are currently living overseas but their books are being published in the UK first

I know it can be tricky to work this out so if you are not sure contact me and I'll see what I can do to help

I do not have a blog but I would love to take part. Is there a way that I can take part?

If you have an account on Goodreads or another book review website then you can still enter the challenge. Sign up by linking to your profile page and make sure you link directly to your reviews each month to be eligible to win the monthly prize packs.

I am a publicist promoting a book by a British author (or indeed a British author). Can I promote my book via the British Books Challenge?

Yes. If you would like to donate prizes to the monthly prize packs that would be fantastic. Please contact me by email to discuss.

Can I count books that I have already counted on other challenges?

I don't see why not..

I have a question that you haven't answered here. How can I contact you?

The best way to contact me is by email, I will reply to all emails as quickly as possible but sometimes life gets in the way so please bear with me if it takes me a couple of days to respond.
I do have a twitter account (@sarahsreviews) but I don't spend much time on there so it will probably take much longer for me to notice your tweet and get back to you.