The End of the Fall 2014 Challenge

[Kristina Simon]

There's less than a week to go in the Fall Challenge, so there are some things you need to do NOW!

1. Post any tasks that you have already completed - NOW. A long, impressive list posted at the last minute may seem cool, but it creates many potential problems for you and for the moderators. If your tasks are not posted completely and correctly by midnight on November 30, you don’t get credit for them, no matter why they didn’t get posted.
You may have trouble with GR, with the internet or with your computer - things happen.

If you post tasks at the last minute, problems may not be identified in time for you to deal with them and get credit for the task. Sometimes the problem is that you forgot to include required information, but if you don’t post until the last day, there may not be time for me to identify the problem and you to fix it before midnight.

If you post a long list on the last day, I may not have time to review your post before midnight. In that case, you won’t have a chance to correct any problems.

Remember that to get credit for a task, it must be posted with all necessary requirements in the post and the books must fit the task. If you have any doubts about a book that you’re planning to read at the last minute, you should get it approved in the help thread (and include that information in your post) to avoid any last minute disappointments.

2. If you’re planning on reading any books that only exist in e-book form, make sure NOW that they’ve been approved for length. Check the spreadsheet linked in post 1 of the ebook approval thread first, and if your book hasn’t already been approved, post in the approval thread NOW, so that Dlmrose will have time to do the research and give you the green light. To be safe, you should request approval by the end of the day on the 29th at the latest (and sooner would be better!) If your book is marginal on page length, you should make sure that it’s fully approved, not just conditionally approved, before you rely on it to fulfill a task.

3. Check your readerboard totals for points, GR authors and Big Books NOW. If they don’t agree with your records, first make sure that you check the post through which the readerboards have been updated, keeping in mind that they all aren’t necessarily updated through the same post number. Then check your math, check to see if you have messages in the ?/problems thread, check to make sure that you’ve actually posted the tasks that you think you have – GR has been known to eat messages! If checking all of those things doesn’t resolve the discrepancy, post in the ?/problems thread right away, giving as much info as possible so that we can try to resolve it.

If a problem was noted with one of your postings, be sure that you reposted the task in the regular posting thread - an edit to the old post, or a note in the ?/problems thread amending the post is not sufficient.

4. From here on out, the best thing would be for you to post tasks as you finish them, rather than holding them to post a bunch at a time. And, please, before you post, read the task requirements! If something says REQUIRED, you must include it. Read through the task requirements one last time before you post, to make sure that your book actually works for the task and that you’ve included everything. Also, check each book to make sure the genre "children's" does not appear on the book's main page. If it does, you must include information from AR Bookfinder as spelled out in the Rules of the Challenge: Effective Fall 2014.

Let's try to have a smooth, problem free, end to the Fall Challenge!

[Melissa]

Thanks mods for all your hard work!! Happy US Turkey Day!

[♞ Pat]

You mods are fantastic!

I'm only 1 task away from the finish - the 50 pointer - and I won't be posting it tomorrow. :-)

Happy T-giving!

[Erika]

This was my first round in this group and I LOVED it! I honestly was a bit obsessed...lol. Thank you to the amazing mods who have created and maintained such a well run and fun group. I will definitely be back for the winter challenge, and I plan on finishing it! I will be very close this season, but will be just short.

Happy Thanksgiving to the US group members.

[Trish]

Melissa wrote: "Thanks mods for all your hard work!! Happy US Turkey Day!"

Seconded! As another first timer, thanks for all the work you do.

At least I got halfway through!

[Nicola]

My first time too. I didn't finish this one and I don't think I'll be finishing the next one either as it's much longer than this one was; I am reading from the 1001 lists and so a lot of my books aren't exactly easy reading. This challenge for me is about keeping my interest levels up - it's great fun finding a good mixture of books to slot into the various challenges.

Thanks for all your hard work!

[Margie]

This was my first time as well, and I was a month late joining in this challenge. I enjoyed it so much and have read more wonderful books that I would have imagined. Looking forward to the Winter Challenge. Thanks to the moderators!! Y'all do a great job!!

[Christine]

This was my first SRC challenge also, and I am amazed at what a fabulous job all the mods do of keeping this complex challenge so organized and well-run! I am not even close to completing the challenge, but that's okay. I will be challenging myself to beat my Fall score for the Winter Challenge.

Thanks to all the mods for your hard work!

[Mindi]

This was my first time doing the Challenge. Big thank you to the mods, you guys do a great job and a lot of work!

[Annapoorni]

My first challenge too. Was such an eye opener!!!

Great work from the mods.

[Trish]

Annapoorni wrote: "My first challenge too. Was such an eye opener!!!

Great work from the mods."

Wow, a first timer and you managed to finish it in time for the 30-point tasks! I'm impressed.

[Annapoorni]

Trish wrote: "Annapoorni wrote: "My first challenge too. Was such an eye opener!!!

Great work from the mods."

Wow, a first timer and you managed to finish it in time for the 30-point tasks! I'm impressed."

thanks. i removed the goodreads notifications from my facebook; didn't want my friends to 'throw the book' at me!!

[Trish]

Annapoorni wrote: "thanks. i removed the goodreads notifications from my facebook; didn't want my friends to 'throw the book' at me!!

:-)

[Pia]

I just wanted to thank all the mods for the amazing work they pun into the challenge. I can't begin to imagine the patience, time and love they put into it.
And also thank you to my fellow readers, as I've got tons of good book recommendations from you!