BOOKTUBE-A-THON 2014!

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BOOKTUBE-A-THON 2014

July 14th 2014 - July 21st 2014

July is here, the summer break and holiday season is upon us and yet another Booktube-A-Thon is just around the corner.

What is a Booktube-A-Thon, you ask?

Booktube-A-Thon is a yearly readathon taking place in July, organized and hosted by the Booktube community and open for everyone's participation.

But what is a readathon?

A readathon is an event that takes place over a pre-determined period of time where a community of people band together and attempt to read as much as possible and/or dedicate the majority of their free time to reading in the alloted timeframe. Readathons commonly range between a day and a week in duration (though sometimes they can last much longer than that). Unlike a read-a-long, the readathon isn't centered around the same reading material. You don't have to be reading the same books as everyone else. In fact, you can read anything you like. The readathon connects readers not through a choice of book, but through a time frame in which all readers participating in it will be reading as much as possible - and all at (virtually) the same time. Think of it as a knitathon - you don't have to be knitting the same thing as everyone else, you're just doing it at the same time as everyone else. (Was knitathon a bad parallel? Am I the only one who knows about knitathons? Moving on.)

Why Booktube-A-Thon?

Readathons have different names, depending on when they take place or who is hosting them. Booktube-A-Thon is hosted by the Booktube community. The Booktube community is a "book-related section" of Youtube, where videos and entire channels are dedicated exclusively to books and reading. To have the Booktubers organize a readathon essentially means that, apart from connecting with the hosts on social media, you'll also be able to watch daily videos on Youtube dedicated to this readathon, where various Booktubers will encourage you to read on, to stay motivated and to participate in various giveaways and challenges along the way.

Who are the hosts?

Firstly, you need to know that the Booktube-A-Thon has its official Youtube channel. You may find it by following this link [here] or by searching for "Booktube-A-Thon" on Youtube. All Booktube-A-Thon related events will be taking place on that channel. Each day, a different host will be in charge of the channel (as well as the Booktube-A-Thon Twitter page). The hosts, their channels and their order of hosting is listed below.

This year, like the last, the primary Booktube-A-Thon host is Ariel (ArielBissett).

Day 1 (Monday, July 14th, 2014) - Ariel (ArielBissett)

Day 2 (Tuesday, July 15th 2014) - Catriona (LittleBookOwl)

Day 3 (Wednesday, July 16th 2014) - Jesse (jessethereader)

Day 4 (Thursday, July 17th 2014) - Raeleen (padfootandprongs07)

Day 5 (Friday, July 18th 2014) - Christine (polandbananasBOOKS)

Day 6 (Saturday, July 19th 2014) - Kat (Katytastic)

Day 7 (Sunday, July 20th 2014) - Ariel again (ArielBissett)

What exactly are these hosts in charge of?

As already stated, the hosts will be in charge of the official Booktube-A-Thon YouTube channel and the official Booktube-A-Thon Twitter channel. And what they will be doing on their allotted day will be a wide variety of events, games and challenges intended to keep you motivated and to keep the Booktube-A-Thon entertaining and interactive all throughout the week.

Twitter sprints. It's exactly as it sounds. Every day, on the official Twitter page, two Twitter sprints will be organized. Each of the sprint will be 3 hours long, from 10AM-2PM EST, and from 10PM-2AM EST. This means that there will be a Twitter sprint every 12 hours. The goal in scheduling them in such way is to allow for everyone, regardless of the time zone, to be awake and reading-ready for at least one of them each day. "EST" stands for "Eastern Standard Time", which is the time zone of the East Coast of the United States and Canada, as well as some of the islands (the Cayman Islands, Nunavut - Southampton Island, etc.) If you're unsure how far away your time zone is from EST, please follow this [link] and compare.

Giveaways. That's right. There will be giveaways! No read-a-thon is quite complete without a bunch of caffeinated readers manically competing for prizes. This year, the Booktube-A-Thon event is sponsored by TheBookDepository, which is famous for its free worldwide shipping, and all giveaways will therefore be international. Giveaways will be announced on the Booktube-A-Thon Twitter page, so keep checking their Twitter periodically, or subscribe to their channel, to make sure you're up-to-date.

What are the terms of participation?

There are none! There is no specified criteria that you have to fulfill in order to participate in the Booktube-A-Thon. The only things you'll really need are books and/or a reading device, a willingness to set time apart for reading, and hopefully an internet connection to be able to get the full Booktube-A-Thon experience.

So I can read anything I want?

Yes! The beauty of readathons in general is that you set your own TBR (to-be-read) pile! You can choose to read one book all week, or you can set yourself a goal of twelve books. Graphic novels count! Audiobooks count! You may choose to read five historical fiction / fantasy novels while someone else is reading manga. There are no restrictions.

There are, however, official Booktube-A-Thon challenges. These challenges are a non-obligatory part of the readathon, but something that narrows the choice of reading material slightly, and makes it more challenging (as the name suggests), for those who choose to partake in them. So you don't have to participate in the challenges in order to participate in the Booktube-A-Thon... but it's just so much more fun if you do. (Plus, you get to exclaim "Challenge accepted!" numerous times, and let's face it: everyone enjoys saying that.)

So before you start picking out the books that you intend to read during the Booktube-A-Thon, take a minute to consider the challenges and perhaps tailor your TBR in such a way that you meet some of those criteria.

Booktube-A-Thon 2014 Reading Challenges

First and foremost - there are no winners where the challenges are concerned. There is nothing to be won, but the sheer delight in knowing that you've completed a challenge

1. Read a book with pictures in it

Anything you can think of - it applies. A book with drawings in it counts. A book with photographs in it counts. A graphic novel counts. Manga counts. A comic book counts. As long as one of the books on your Booktube-A-Thon TBR has pictures in it, you're accepting this challenge.

2. Start and finish a series

It doesn't matter how long the series is, or how long each book in said series is. It can be a duology, it can be a trilogy, it can be a 7-book series. As long as you're starting, reading and finishing the whole thing during the readathon, it counts.

3. Read a book with red on the cover

Random? Yes. Challenging? Possibly! The book can have a cover that's entirely red, or have a red detail on it, as long as the color red is to be found on the cover, it counts.

4. Read a book that somebody else picks out for you

... Thus making your Booktube-A-Thon TBR slightly less "controlable". The point of this challenge is to read something that you might not normally pick out for yourself. However, the whole point of the readathon is to make the participant motivated and eager to read. So if you find yourself uncomfortable at the idea of giving someone else complete control over that one book you'll be reading for this challenge, you're allowed to present them with a selection (that you've chosen beforehand) and have them pick one of those books for you to read. Or you can select several books and have a friend/colleague/girlfriend/boyfriend/stranger/dog/passer-by pick a number for you. Whichever book from that pile corresponds to that number is the book you should read if you wish to complete this challenge. However, if you're uncomfortable with whichever book was picked out for you, it's perfectly okay to ask someone to pick out another one instead. Remember that the point of a readathon is to willingly read as much as possible, and not to have to force yourself into it.

5. Read a book in the genre that you've read the least this year

The beauty of this challenge is that we as a society like to box things into genres. Books are no exception. As a result, you have so many genres to choose from that (just like with the previous challenge) you don't have to force yourself to read a genre you dislike - just one you've been neglecting. You haven't read the classics at all this year, but you also don't feel like reading one now? That's okay. Think of another genre you've been "light on" this year, and choose that one. Poetry? Horror? Murder/mystery? Children's fiction? Non-fiction? Anything goes.

6. Read and watch a book-to-movie adaptation

That's right. This year, all manner of visual media is included. From picture books and graphic novels, to run-of-the-mill letters-on-pages, to book-to-movie adaptation. The crux of this challenge is to read a book that's been turned into a movie, and then sit down and watch said movie. It's as simple as that.

7. Read 7 books total and/or an average of 300 pages per day

This is an either-or type thing. You can choose to read seven small books, or to read two 1100-paged volumes.

Booktube-A-Thon 2014 Video Challenges

Because this is Booktube, you can rest assured that video challenges will be included. These challenges are for anyone capable/willing/comfortable with making and posting videos pertaining to the challenges on YouTube, regardless of whether or not you're a Booktuber yourself. Each day a different challenge is set that you have to capture on video.

Day 1 - Top 3 books you've read because of booktube

Day 2 - Find the items (in your surroundings) that correspond to 3 items on covers of your books

Day 3 - Draw a better cover for a book whose cover you don't like

Day 4 - Write a short story which includes all the words from 3 book titles (at random)

It can be anywhere from several sentences to several pages long

Day 5 - Show a rainbow of your favorite books

The spines/covers of these books have to cover the rainbow color pallette, so they have to include red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple

Day 6 - Find 5 items from one of the books you've read during the Booktube-A-Thon

Day 7 - Show everyone where you've read during the Booktube-A-Thon

Are there perks to participating?

Apart from the glory alone and devoting a week to reading as many books as possible, and apart from the giveaways, there is another perk! As we already mentioned above, this year's Booktube-A-Thon is sponsored by BookDepository, an international bookseller with free worldwide shipping. Apart from sponsoring giveaways, what BookDepository has also done is allow the hosts to select 100 books which will be 10% discounted for the duration of the Booktube-A-Thon. The full list of titles can be found [here]. If you choose to purchase any of those titles for the duration of the giveaway, you will be allowed to type in "BOOKTUBEATHON" into the "promotional code" box and have said title(s) discounted by 10%. This discount will be active only during the Booktube-A-Thon, so if you wish to do any online book shopping, that will be the perfect time.

I still have questions!

If we haven't answered any of your questions/inquiries/dilemmas, there is a good chance that Ariel Bissett has answered them in the Q&A video below. In case you still have questions, feel free to post a comment below, visit our Twitter page, Tweet to use by using our handle @HonestBookclub, visit our Facebook or Instagram page, or post a comment in one of the Booktube-A-Thon related videos.

On behalf of TheHonestBookclub, we wish you happy reading! ♥