Challenge Month 2021Hi everyone! Today I am super excited as we kick off our Seventh Annual Reading Challenge Month! I love this event so much because I have found so many great books and I love the chance to push myself a little bit outside my reading comfort zone. Reading Challenge Month has always been our biggest event of the year and I can not wait to do it again. Today is the official kick off and in this post I will have everything you need to know to participate.

First off, just in case any of you have missed my lead up posts, here is a mini recap: The month of September (well, technically Sept 5-Oct 2) is going to be Reading Challenge Month. Each week will have a different challenge theme and the folks here at Joyfully Jay will be reviewing a variety of books that fit that challenge. Readers can play along by commenting on our Challenge Month review posts, and/or by reading their own challenge books and writing mini reviews. You can find more information about the event here in these three posts:

Ok, so now is time for the nitty gritty. How exactly is this going to work? And let’s not forget, how can you all enter to win the fabulous prizes?

1. Comment on the Challenge Month review posts

Each week, we will be running a bunch of reviews that fit that week’s challenge theme (usually around 7-9). Each post will be marked in a few ways. First, you will see the Reading Challenge Month badge on all posts (like the one on this post). You will also see a tag at the very end of the post that says “Reading Challenge Month 2021.” And finally, each week on Sunday, I will publish a list of all the books we are reviewing that week that fit the challenge (look for Week 1: New-to-Me Author Week later today). Or you can click here to see all the posts with a Reading Challenge Month tag at any time.

All you need to do to earn an entry is leave a relevant comment on a Challenge Month review post. It doesn’t have to be a big deal, I’d just like to see more than “please enter me.” You can enter one time for every Challenge Month review post that week. (Of course, you are welcome and encouraged to chat in the comments with the reviewer and other readers, but only one comment will count for entry.) That means that if you comment on every Challenge post that week, you can earn around 7-9 entries for that week’s prize.

2. Read along with that week’s challenge and tell us about it

You can also play along by taking the challenge yourself and reading a book that fits the weekly theme! It can be any book that fits; it doesn’t have to be the same books we are reading, or even a romance. Have fun with it. The idea is to challenge yourself a bit and try something you may not have picked up otherwise. In past years, I have found several books I adored, along with some new go-to authors from this event.

Each Friday, there will be a Weekly Wrap Up post. That is where you will enter if you have read along that week. You just need to leave a comment with a mini review of your book. Don’t panic! I am not looking for anything fancy here. Just tell us what you read, who wrote it, and what you thought. If you want to tell us why you chose it, that is great too. This doesn’t need to be a full-length review. A short paragraph is fine. Everyone who reads along and leaves a mini review will earn 10 contest entries.

 

Ok, so got it? Leave comments on challenge reviews for one entry each, leave a mini review of a book on Friday and get 10 more entries. The weekly contests will all stay open until the Saturday night at midnight ET of that week so you have some time to leave your reviews and comments. Then I will pick a winner for each week on Sunday after the contest closes from all who entered that week. Huge thanks to JMS Books, Carina Press, and Tantor Audio for donating the fabulous weekly prizes this year, and to the incredible authors that donated books as well! (check out all the prizes here)

Then, at the end of the month, we will select a Grand Prize winner from all the entries earned over the four weeks. Big thanks to NineStar Press for donating our grand prize — a waterproof Kindle Paperwhite loaded with 50 NineStar Press books!

So those are the basics, but read below to get the official and detailed rules. I hope that this all made sense, but if I missed anything or if things are unclear, please let me know. You can also check out our posts from past years to see more about how things worked. And be sure to check in later today for the official kick off of our first weekly theme: New-to-Me Author Week!

Official Reading Challenge Month Rules

  • Leave a relevant comment on any Reading Challenge Month review post to earn one contest entry for that week. You can enter one time per review post.
  • Leave a mini review on our Friday Wrap Up posts for the read along book you read to earn 10 entries for that week.
  • The weekly contests will all stay open until the Saturday night following the Friday wrap up and close at 11:59 pm ET (so basically each weekly contest runs Monday-Saturday). A winner (or winners) will be chosen each week from the entries earned that week.
  • At the end of the month, we will select a grand prize winner from all the entries earned over the entire event.
  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest, you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as a contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize. Winner’s name and email address may be provided to the person/organization donating the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Duplicate entries will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.