Sunday, June 1, 2008

Mini Challenge Idea

Here are some Mini-Challenge Ideas that were used in the October 2007 Read-a-thon:


  • All you have to do to enter the contest and have a chance to win a copy of Matrimony (autographed, of course) is post in your blog, emailing the blurb to Henkin, about the book. When you post your contest entry in your blog, it’d be great if you’d also tell your readers about the contest. I know, I know, that’ll just give you more competition, but this is a really great book and I’d like to spread the word about it.
    Henkin’s email address ...
  • Go to Wikipedia and look up the place where your book is set. If it’s a fictional setting, that’s ok, too! Post five interesting facts about that place in your blog. Leave a comment letting me know. I will draw one name from among those who participate, at noon my time, which is in four hours. If that person uses bookmooch, he or she gets one of my points. If that person does not use bookmooch, he or she gets to pick a bookmooch charity to have me donate the point.
  • This hour, we have two Readers of the Hour. These are readers that I would like everyone — cheerleaders, Readers taking breaks, any other willing visitor, etc. — to visit. Don’t forget to leave them comments! After you visit, post a short blurb in your blog saying what those two readers are up to, and comment here letting me know you’ve done that. I will draw a name from those who have participated, and the winner gets a Future Book from me. What this means is that in the future, any book I review that is NOT a library book, you get to ask for it, and it’s yours! You don’t have to be a Read-a-thon Reader or Cheerleader to win! This mini-challenge is only open for Hour 3, which ends at 5pm GMT.
  • Sarah’s a translator, and she would like readers to stop what they’re reading and start reading a book in another language! If you don’t have any books in other languages in your house, then visit Sarah’s post for a list of online books you could try reading. I know it’s hard, but be brave! Maybe even try reading something in a language you don’t know at all. What words do you recognize? Can you tell what’s going on? The reward for this challenging challenge is enticing! One participant (randomly chosen) will win a $20 Amazon gift certificate, donated by Sarah.
  • Take a break from reading and post a little bit about what you are reading. Some of you might know that I'm a librarian. One of the things I'm interested in professionally is reader's advisory. So, post a little bit about what you are reading and who you think might enjoy the book. Tell us what book is similar to what you are reading or which other author is similar to the author of your book.
  • To participate, take a break from whatever you’re reading and find a short story to read. Then review the story in your blog. On Monday, head on over to Book-a-rama and post the link to your story review on Chris’ Short Story Monday post. No Read-a-thon prize this time, sorry! Your prize is getting to be part of the coolness that is Short Story Monday!
  • This hour’s mini-challenge is to stop reading and write a letter to the author of the book you’re currently reading, and post it in your blog. If you decide to send the letter later, that’s up to you! If you participate in this mini-challenge, leave me a comment and your name will be put into a drawing for a Future Book. I know I keep saying this, but that means that any time I review a book that interests you in the future, you get to ask for it, and if it’s not a library book, it’s yours! This challenge is open until Hour 14.
  • This hour’s mini-challenge: Stop! Go outside and take a walk! The prize is that you will be glad you did.
  • This hour’s mini-challenge is to fill out and post in your blog my mid-event survey. Leave a comment letting me know you’ve taken the survey, and your name will be put into a drawing to win a Kajeet cell phone and a $20 calling card, donated by Mom Central. Kajeet phones are designed for kids. If you don’t have kids of your own, you may still know one who would just love getting this phone as a surprise from you.
  • Booklogged wants you to imagine that you’re hosting a book group at your home to discuss one of the books you’ve read for the read-a-thon. What would you serve? Go check out the details!
  • The mini-challenge this hour is one I’ve been looking forward to. I have a slide show of authors, and whoever can name the most authors wins 3 books from the list (under the collage). There are 12 authors total. Hint: 11 of these photos have been posted in my blog before, and all 12 authors have been mentioned here. This mini-challenge ends at Hour 20. Who will still be awake then? I hope I will be!
  • This hour’s mini-challenge is to visit the Readers of the Hour again. Then post a blurb on your blog about what they’re up to. Then come here and leave me a comment letting me know you participated. I will draw the name of one participant, who will win a Future Book. I think we all know what that is by now, right? The drawing will be Hour 21.
  • This hour’s mini-challenge is going to connect us to 24 Hour Comics Day, which is what originally inspired me to host the read-a-thon. My husband is participating in that, and he offered way back when I thought of this to do a mini-challenge. The prize is his original comic, the one he’s been working on all day. I’d tell you what it’s about, but he isn’t quite sure yet. He doesn’t want you to spend any more than half an hour on this mini-challenge. Here are his instructions:My challenge to everyone (all of you, even those not reading or cheerleading or anything) is as follows:
    Write a quick, 3-panel comic either related to reading or related to comics. Simple as that. Related to reading is broad, and can encompass a biographical snippet of an author, ruminations on what it means to read, the language of language, anything. Related to comics is similarly broad, covering, as it does, the relationship between written language and thought as it relates to perceptions of time.
  • This hour’s mini-challenge is to find any two readers who are still up and reading, and to write a blurb in your blog about what they’re up to. The prize, which will be given to a random participant, is a Future Book. Don’t forget to leave a comment letting me know you participated! This mini-challenge is open until Hour 22.
  • This hour’s mini-challenge is to write a limerick or haiku about a character you read about today (if you’re a reader) or about any other aspect of the Read-a-thon (if you’re a cheerleader). I’ll draw a name from among participants who leave a comment here letting me know they’ve participated. According to Eva’s list, which she’s trying to keep up-to-date and accurate, there are only twelve potential competitors for this mini-challenge. The prize: 2 Bookmooch points, donated by Superfast Reader. If you have a Bookmooch account, Superfast Reader will give you one point for yourself and one to donate to a Bookmooch charity. If you don’t have an account, if you send your address to me, I’ll forward it to Superfast Reader, and she can order you whatever Bookmooch book you want from the site, by putting your address into the Send To box, instead of her own. The drawing for this prize will be held when the Read-a-thon ends.
  • This hour’s mini-challenge is again to visit at least two of the (currently) 14 readers still up and then post in your blog about what they’re up to. This is the last mini-challenge of this type, though there is still one mini-challenge left to go! The drawing prize, again, is a Future Book. I just hope all the Future Book winners won’t fight over the same book. This mini-challenge is open to Cheerleaders, too, or anyone, really, and the drawing will be held at the end of the Read-a-thon.
  • This hour’s mini-challenge is to find images of the covers of all the books you’ve read, whether that’s one or ten, and post them in your blog. You can do that however you like; make a collage or list them or post a librarything widget or whatever you want. Be creative! I will draw the name of one participant in this mini-challenge and that person wins two Bookmooch points. If you have a bookmooch account, I’ll transfer them to you, and if you don’t, I’ll let you choose one of the Bookmooch charities to donate them to.

Here are some other Ideas that Dewey had last year:

  • You could ask them to post photos of themselves reading.
  • You could ask them to draw a picture having to do with the book they're reading and scan it in.
  • You could come up with some questions about how the read-a-thon is going for them so far and ask them to answer them in their next update.
  • You could ask them to find images of all the books they've read so far and post those.
  • You could ask them to list any problems they've encountered with trying to read uninterrupted.

Here are some other ideas:

  • Post about their favorite book as a child or teenager
  • Read a short story and post about it
  • A Meme at the beginning of the Read-a-thon that asks people about their goals and hopes; what books are they planning on reading, how long do they think they can stay up

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