Change in nominations process

[[deleted user]]

Dear all

You may be aware of the discussions going on about the change in nominations process. Our aim is to increase participation in group reads and make sure the nomination process is not such a rush so more people can participate.

After lengthy discussion we have come up with a plan for the nominations process.

Nominations will open on the 20th of each month and will run for 5 days. During this time anybody can either nominate or second a book. The 6 books with the most second votes at the end of the 5 day nomination period will go into the poll. Each person can either nominate one book or second one book. There are no limits to the number of seconds a book can receive.

The poll will run until the last day of the month and the winner will be announced the following day. This will leave a month for people to get hold of the book in preparation for the read.

The first nomination using this method will be for the July fiction read. To clarify, nominations will open on the 20th May and will close on the 25th May. The poll will run until the 31st May and the winner will be announced on the 1st June. We will send reminders, so don't worry!

Fiction will continue monthly (although this is with some discretion as we may allocate 2 months for a particularly long book). Non-fiction and classics reads will continue to be bi-monthly.

Please only nominate, second or vote for a book you will read with the group if it should win. Please also check that your chose nomination hasn't been a group read in the past. You can do this by looking at the group bookshelf, contact one of the moderators or post on 'Ask the Moderators' thread.

As the group has grown it has become more difficult to be as relaxed as we had previously been which is why we have decided to have more regular dates for nominations and polls.

We would welcome any comments or opinions and I will leave this thread open for that for a few days but I will close it after the nominations process for July fiction opens. We will always welcome comments on the 'Ask the Moderators' thread or you can message us.

Thanks

Heather (on behalf of all the AAB moderators)

[Chrissie]

Heather, thank you for the clear instructions.

My only additional comment would be that this statement: "Please consider when nominating, seconding or voting if you definitely want to join in the read as the aim is to increase participation." could be more explicit. For example, one could say:

Please only nominate, second or vote for a book you will read with the group if it should win.

************************

I personally appreciate that all group reads will be handled in the same manner.

[Pink]

Heather, I think this sounds great. All groups do things differently, but what's most important is to have a clear procedure for nominating and seconding each month, so that we can all be involved in the process. Thanks to all the mods for taking the time to discuss and tweak things for the better, as usual you all do a fantastic job :)

[Gill]

Sounds good. Maybe for newish members explain where to check if a book has been read previously?

[Free]

Trying to become more involved with the group. But feeling very confused as to how to go about things if anyone has any advice it would be very appreciated. Thank you

[Greg]

Reina wrote: "Trying to become more involved with the group. But feeling very confused as to how to go about things if anyone has any advice it would be very appreciated. Thank you"

Hi Reina!

There are monthly reads every month that we read together as a group. If you want to read any of those books and discuss them with us, we would be excited to have you join!

This month, our fiction read is Cloud Atlas and the discussion thread is here.

This month, our classic read is Mrs. Dalloway and the discussion thread is here

This month, our non-fiction read is Paris, Paris: Journey into the City of Light and the discussion thread is here.

We also have seasonal plays. This season, our seasonal play is Uncle Vanya and the discussion thread is here

If you are a poetry lover, I'd do a happy dance if you wanted to read any poetry by our seasonal poet Denise Levertov and comment here. She's one of my favorite poets but hasn't generated a huge amount of discussion yet. :(

If none of those appeal to you, feel free to request a buddy read of any book you like here. If you post, anyone else who wants to read that book will reply.

There are also periodic recommendation swaps where you can recommend a book to one other member, and another member will recommend a book to you. Then after you finish, you share what you thought of the book you were recommended. Keep an eye out for the next swap here.

Beyond that, join us to chat in the numerous other threads such as 'General Chat', 'What are you doing right now?', and the 'What are you reading?' thread here.

I'm sure I've missed something, but that at least gives you some ideas. This group is a friendly bunch! Don't be afraid to dive in anywhere and happy reading!!