2015 Prequel & Sequel Reading Challenge

You can sign up at: Novel Heartbeat

Guidelines

1. The challenge runs from January 1st to December 31st.
2. Any books started before Jan. 1 will not count.
3. All books in a series count for points (see below)
4. Novellas count, either prequels or sequels (i.e. #0.5, #1.5, #2.5, etc).
5. Books can be of any publication date. They don’t have to be released in 2015.
6. In order to get 10 points for a completed series, there must be at least 3 full-length books in the series.
7. You can still get sequel points for a duology, you just can’t get the 10 bonus points for finishing it.
8. Sign-ups will be open until December 1st, 2015.
9. To join, add the URL of your challenge post to the linky widget. (If you’d like to wait, it’s ok to use your blog URL and send us your link as soon you get the post up)
10. At the end of each quarter (every three months), we will post a linky for you to add your sequel reviews to.  The linky will rotate between our blogs on alternate quarters, so you can link up at Novel Heartbeat at the end of March and September, and over at Writer Grrl Reads at the end of June and December. If you have a ton of reviews for the quarter, you can always link to wherever you’re keeping track of your progress. This will make it much easier for us – not only is it less posting, but it will be easier to keep track of how many points everyone has.
11. We will try to do some giveaways throughout the year for participants (as long as we can afford it), as well as some mini-challenges and read-alongs … so stay tuned for further details!
12. There will be a giveaway at the end of the year for all participants who completed the challenge!

The Point System

For each prequel and sequel read this year, points will be awarded as follows:

• 1 point for each prequel or sequel novella read and reviewed
• 2 points for each full-length sequel read and reviewed
• 10 points for completing and reviewing a full series (doesn’t require novellas)*†
• **You do not get points for the first book in a series

To get points, you must review the book/novella somewhere. If you want to earn points, please link up your reviews at the end of each month, and enter the number of points earned (we will give examples in the linky).  Each point earned is an entry into the giveaway at the end of the year for all participants who completed the challenge.  So, the more sequels you read, the better your chances of winning the giveaway!  Plus, we are also considering one prize for the “overacheiver award” — the person who gets the most points!

*The 10 bonus points is for finishing a full series. That means that all books must be published (unless you got an advance reader copy early). i.e. If you are completely caught up on a series, and the next book is not releasing until 2016 (and you do not have an advance reader copy), that does not count toward the 10 bonus points.

†If you started the series before 2015, you can still get the bonus points for finishing it if you reviewed the other books in the series at some point. For example: You read The Hunger Games in 2014, but read Catching Fire and Mockingjay in 2015 – you would get 2 points for both sequels and 10 bonus points for finishing the series (14 points total). You don’t have to start the series in 2015 to get the bonus points.

10-25 points: Newbie

25-50 points: Amateur

51-75 points: Advanced

76-100 points: Professional

101+ points: Veteran

So let this year be the year that we stop whining about how many sequels are sitting on our TBRs or cluttering up our shelves! Take control of your reading destinies and sign up to read with us!

Books read: