Wendi at Wendi’s Book Corner hosts this weekly meme which explores features of LibraryThing.  This week she says:  … I happened to stumble upon this great page within the site that has some great information on it about LT Authors, becoming a LT Author, and how readers can use the section to learn about their [...]]]>

Wendi at Wendi’s Book Corner hosts this weekly meme which explores features of LibraryThing.  This week she says:  … I happened to stumble upon this great page within the site that has some great information on it about LT Authors, becoming a LT Author, and how readers can use the section to learn about their favorite authors, the books they read and what inspires them.

Did you know that there are 1497 authors participating in LT Authors? If you haven’t checked it out, head over for a moment and see if you can find out something new about an author! If you don’t have time to go snooping, have you ever looked at the LT Author page before? Did you know that it is for authors and readers alike? Have you ever looked up a favorite or new author on LT to see what they read and if they have left any comments or reviews themselves? Have you ever told an author about LT Authors and encouraged them to check the site out?

My answer:  I think the LT Author program is interesting; well, it was more interesting when LT required authors to list at least 50 books (presumedly from their libraries) when joining.  It was a neat glimpse into the private space of an author, to see what was on their bookshelves.  LibraryThing recently dropped that requirement, perhaps to appeal to more authors.

One thing I’ve learned is that LT will leave a message on my profile page when an Author Chat is scheduled with one of the authors listed in my library.  I’ve been alerted to, and participated in, chats with Joyce Hinnefeld and Christopher Weeks through this program.  This is what led me to change the way I enter books into my LT library.  I used to list them only after they’ve been read, but then I’d miss the opportunity for a Chat alert.  Now I catalog books as they come into the house.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t promote the LibraryThing Author Challenge I’m hosting.  Take a look at the LibraryThing Authors that are already in your library, and see if you’d like to join us.  Not sure whose books you have?  Go to your profile page, and look in the right sidebar, under “Member Connections” … there’s a section for LibraryThing Authors (look here on my Profile page, it’s the second green box).

Who’s on your LT Author list?

Yay, you’ve joined the LibraryThing Author Challenge 2009!  Now what?

Leave a comment below for each LT Author book you review on your blog this year, linking back to your review post.

If you particpate in an LT Author Chat and blog about it, you can link that post in these comments, too.

Random surprises will be awarded [...]]]>

Yay, you’ve joined the LibraryThing Author Challenge 2009!  Now what?

Leave a comment below for each LT Author book you review on your blog this year, linking back to your review post.

If you particpate in an LT Author Chat and blog about it, you can link that post in these comments, too.

Random surprises will be awarded from this review pool throughout the year.

Questions?  Leave it in the Comments, or “Contact Me” (above).

Update: The challenge period has ended; this post is closed to comments.

What is a LibraryThing author?  Simply put, “an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.”  Their libraries are marked with this round logo.

How do you find out which LT Authors are already in your library, [...]]]> Last fall I ran a 3-month LibraryThing Author Challenge, and will be doing it again, running the entire year of 2009.

What is a LibraryThing author?  Simply put, “an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.”  Their libraries are marked with this round logo.

How do you find out which LT Authors are already in your library, maybe languishing on the TBR stack?  Just go to your LibraryThing profile (here’s mine) and look in the right-hand column.  In the Member Connections box your LibraryThing Authors are listed underneath Friends and Interesting Libraries. 

Here are the guidelines for the challenge:

1. The LibraryThing Author Challenge 2009 runs from January 1 – December 31, 2009
2. Join anytime now through 2009; last day to post reviews is December 31, 2009
3. Make a list of  5 LT Authors and books that you’d like to read (keeping in mind that the list of possible authors is always growing, so your wish list may change)
4. Crossovers with other Challenges are allowed
5. Post your reviews on your blog and on LibraryThing
6. Leave a comment on my LT Author Challenge 2009 Reviews post with a link to your review on your blog. 

Now, a few housekeeping items:

1. This is only the second Challenge I’ve put together – please let me know if I’ve left out any details!
2. If you participate in an LT Author Chat and write a blog post about it (linking to my LT Author Challenge 2009 Reviews post), you’ll be put in a pool for random surprises during the year.
3. Throughout the year I will pull names from the LT Author Challenge 2009 Reviews links for fun surprises.
4. At the end of the Challenge I’ll give a bookstore gift card (your choice: IndieBound, Borders, Barnes & Noble or Amazon) to one random winner, pulled from the pool of participants who have read and reviewed at least 5 LT Author books.

Here are a handful of LT books/authors that may be in your TBR stack, to give you ideas:

• Aberrations by Penelope Przekop
• Love Walked In and Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos
• Transported by Tim Jones
• The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea  and Months and Seasons by Christopher Meeks
• In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld
• Guernica by Dave Boling
• The 19th Wife, The Danish Girl and Pasadena by David Ebershoff
• Paper Towns by John Green
• *** these are listed off the top of my head; as I wrote above, I’m having a hard time pulling the info from LT this afternoon ***

So, jump on!  Join in!  Leave a comment below if you’d like to play along, or if you have any questions about the challenge!

My LT Author Challenge ended last Sunday, and the results are in!

We had fewer participants than I had hoped, only 4 including myself    But, we still had fun

Lenore at Presenting Lenore read and reviewed Guernica and Paper Towns.

Sandra at Fresh Ink Books read and reviewed In Hovering Flight, Months and Seasons , Midwife [...]]]>

My LT Author Challenge ended last Sunday, and the results are in!

We had fewer participants than I had hoped, only 4 including myself    But, we still had fun

Lenore at Presenting Lenore read and reviewed Guernica and Paper Towns.

Sandra at Fresh Ink Books read and reviewed In Hovering Flight, Months and Seasons , Midwife of the Blue Ridge, and Guernica.

Avis at She Reads and Reads read and reviewed The 19th Wife and Love Walked In.

I read and reviewed Guernica and In Hovering Flight.

I gave each participant one entry for each book, with a bonus of five entries to Lenore, as the promised “thank you” for Daniel’s adorable logo.  I loaded all the entries into random.org and (drum roll, please), it came up with Sandra’s name for the winner of the $20 book store gift card!  Congratulations, Sandra!  Please contact me with you mailing address and bookstore choice (amazon, Barnes & Noble or IndieBound).

Thanks for playing, everyone!  And for those who didn’t play along … what can I do to entice you next time?  I’m thinking of running this again in the spring.

Many thanks to Lenore at Presenting Lenore and her husband, Daniel!  Daniel is a published illustrator who agreed to create a graphic for her (and me! and all of us!) for the LT Author Challenge.  Is that Emmy reading a book written by a LibraryThing Author?!

Here’s the list of books I hope to read and review [...]]]>

Many thanks to Lenore at Presenting Lenore and her husband, Daniel!  Daniel is a published illustrator who agreed to create a graphic for her (and me! and all of us!) for the LT Author Challenge.  Is that Emmy reading a book written by a LibraryThing Author?!

Here’s the list of books I hope to read and review for the challenge:

• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
• Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif
• Transported by Tim Jones
• Guernica: A Novel by Dave Bolin
• Janeology by Karen Harrington
• The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea by Christopher Meeks

That’s two LT Author books a month, in addition to my “regular” schedule for reviewing, book groups, etc.  I think I’m up for the challenge!

Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif begins as a coming of age story told through the eyes of Sarah Richardson, a kind spirited young girl whose father is a biology [...]]]> Many thanks to Karen Harrington at Scobberlotch (and author of Janeology!).  Karen recently posted a review and giveaway of the book Whale Song, here’s an excerpt:

Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif begins as a coming of age story told through the eyes of Sarah Richardson, a kind spirited young girl whose father is a biology professor who also studies killer whales.

I wasn’t even sure how to find out the answer to this question (I learn more about LT each week with these questions!), but it’s [...]]]> Last week during the weekly Tuesday Thingers question, the Boston Bibliophile asked us who our LibraryThing authors are.  What is a LibraryThing author?  Simply put, “an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.”

I wasn’t even sure how to find out the answer to this question (I learn more about LT each week with these questions!), but it’s straightforward, just go to your LibraryThing profile (here’s mine) and look in the right-hand column.  In the Member Connections box your LibraryThing Authors are listed underneath Friends and Interesting Libraries.

After reading several dozen responses to the Tuesday Thingers question, I realized that my paltry two authors paled in comparison to some of your lists!  I decided to start a Challenge to increase my author listings, and invite you to join me.  Here are the guidelines:

1. The LibraryThing Author Challenge runs from September 1 – November 30, 2008 (a full three months!)
2. Make a list of LT Authors and books that you’d like to read (keeping in mind that the list of possible authors is always growing, so your wish list may change)
3. Crossovers with other Challenges are allowed
4. Post your reviews on your blog and on LibraryThing
5. Leave a comment on this post with a link to your blog post about this Challenge

Now, a few housekeeping items:

1. This is the first Challenge I’ve put together – please let me know if I’ve left out any details!
2. At the end of the Challenge I’ll give a $20 gift card (your choice: IndieBound, Borders, Barnes & Noble or Amazon) to one random winner; one entry per LT Author book completed according to the above guidelines
3. I’m not heavily technical – if one of you is willing to create a logo that we can all use for the LibraryThing Author Challenge I’ll give you 5 entries into the gift card drawing as a “thank you!”  *** update 9/2/08 – we have a graphic (see above) … thanks, Lenore and Daniel! ***

I jotted down a quick list, and will add to it over the next week as I review all the great postings from this past week:

• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
• Aberrations by Penelope Przekop
• Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos