I’m so very excited to announce that in 2018 I will be continuing to host the British Books Challenge!
*gives a big fan fare and dances in excitement*
#BritishBooksChallenge18
I have participated in this particular reading challenge for the past three years and I’m so excited to now be hosting it again for a second year running. I am hugely passionate about reading and supporting British authors and I really do hope that you will join me in this very special reading challenge starting in the new year.
Find my year in Books and Challenges 2015 here
Or my year in Books and Challenges 2016 here
And also my year in Books and Challenges 2017 here
I was super excited to be have been asked to host again and I have to say a massive thank you first to Becky for originally creating the challenge, to Sarah for hosting from 2013-2014, Michelle for hosting in 2015 and getting me signed up to my first ever bookish challenge and to Kirsty for hosting it firstly in 2012 and then in 2016 . All four of these amazing women have put in an incredible amount of work towards promoting British authors and I hope to continue their good work. Special thanks to Michelle for letting me pretty much cut and paste most of her sign up pages!
And as always a massive thank you to Rhys from Thirst For Fiction for designing the British Books Challenge blog button!
I have some exciting plans for the challenge throughout the year all of which are detailed below…..
Including a special prize draw prize for signing up to the challenge!
So what is the British Books Challenge?
The British Books Challenge is a reading challenge that will be running here on Tales Of Yesterday between 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018 and the main focus of the challenge is reading and reviewing books by British authors.
This challenge is available for all bloggers and/or booktubers who review books on their blogs, YouTube channels or readers who review on other websites such as Goodreads.
If you sign up for the challenge you will be aiming to read at least 12 books by British authors (which works out to one a month).
For every book you review each month you will get an entry into the draw to win a monthly prize pack (assuming that you’ve left all appropriate links on the monthly link page!). Therefore the more you review the more chances you have at winning that month’s prize(s).
Also see the Author Of The Month and Debut Of The Month section for ways to gain extra entries each month!
Please note that entries must have been read and reviewed in the month that you are entering your link/entry.
There may also be some kind of special prize draw at the end of the year for those challenge participants who have gone to the most effort over the year and reviewing 50 or more books by British authors.
As prize packs are mainly being sponsored by British publishers I’m afraid that some of the prizes will only be available for UK participants but I hope that international bloggers will still take part. Please be aware that you will need to provide me with an address which may sometimes be passed on to a publicist in order for your prize to be sent out.
In terms of what books would count towards the challenge – the books can be in print or out. Old or new titles. They can be from any genre and for any age range. In previous years Becky, Michelle and Kirsty focused mostly on young adult books on their respective blogs, and Sarah’s reviews for the challenge spanned many genres and age ranges. The primary focus on Tales Of Yesterday will be on YA and MG with a few adult books in the mix too, however feel free to read any books by British authors and have those books count towards the challenge: children’s books, middle grade, young adult, new adult, or adult fiction or non-fiction – whatever you feel like reading by any British Authors.
If you are looking for any suggestions of UKYA or MG Authors/books then check out the below with thanks to Jim Dean, Debbie, Cora, Caroni Clarke and Kirsty….
YA and MG releases 2018
UKYA 2018
UKYA LGBTQIA+
Feminist UKYA
Historical UKYA
#BritishBooksChallenge18
Monthly Prize Packs
I am absolutely delighted to tell you I have had a huge amount of support and encouragement in the planning of this challenge from UK publishers and authors.
These wonderful publishers / authors have agreed to provide British bookish goodies for prize packs which can be won by the challenge entrants.
Watch out for the link up post on the 1st of each month for details of what you could win.
#BritishBooksChallenge18
If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge giveaways please contact me by email.
Author Of The Month
Each month I will be featuring an Author Of The Month!
This will normally be an author I am a huge fan of and who’s books I think you would love.
I will announce each author of the month on the monthly sign up posts on the 1st of every month.
I will be aiming to spotlight the author and their books on the post too along with any reviews and a special posts I have featured on my blog by the author themselves.
And that’s not all…..
If you read, review and link up any books by the author of the month (in the same month that they are author of the month only) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw. So a double entry for one review!
If the author has multiple books and you read them all you will gain a double entry for each review of each book.
#BritishBooksChallenge18
If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their titles through the British Books Challenge author of the month then please contact me by email.
Debut Of The Month
Each month I will also be featuring a Debut Of The Month!
This will normally be a book I will be reading myself throughout that month that I am hugely excited about!
I will announce each debut of the month on the monthly sign up posts on the 1st of every month.
I will be aiming to spotlight the author too along with any reviews and a special posts I have featured on my blog by the author themselves.
And that’s not all…..
If you read, review and link up a review of the book chosen as debut of the month (in the same month that the book is debut of the month) then that one review will get you an extra entry into the monthly prize pack draw. So a double entry for one review!
#BritishBooksChallenge18
If you are a publisher who publishes books by British authors or British author who would be interesting in promoting their debut through the British Books Challenge debut of the month then please contact me by email.
About Signing Up
This year I have decided to run another sign up giveaway! So signing up for the challenge will gain you entry into this special prize draw (more details about this prize below).
To sign up for the challenge…..
Write a blog post or page on your blog or upload a video to your YouTube channel linking back to this one.
In that post/page/video compile a list of titles by British authors that you hope to read and review during 2018. If you are not yet sure, just add one or two and update as and when you read titles with hyperlinks to your review. A bit like I’ve done here
Insert the British Books Challenge button onto your blog’s side bar. To do this save the button onto your computer, then go to add gadget on your sidebar to put the picture on your blog adding a hyperlink to it of the url address for this post. For Youtubers, please include the graphic within your video.
Fill out the Mr.Linky form below. Do make sure the link you add goes directly to your sign up post and has your blog/channel name as the title. Links to anything other than sign up posts will be deleted and only people who have created a sign up post will be eligible to win the monthly prize pack each month and be entered for a chance to win the sign up prize. This is very important step!
And finally, as you review the books on your blog/YT channel, update the monthly review pages, which will go live on the 1st of every month, with a link to your review. Every link up you add will be an entry into that month’s prize pack (please note that some of the prizes may be donated by publishers only willing to send to the UK).
Links to any books by Author Of The Month or links to reviews for Debut Of The Month will be eligible for a double entry into the prize draw within the month that they are Author Of The Month / Debut Of The Month only.
#BritishBooksChallenge18
It’s Good To Talk!
Share your reviews on social media using the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge18
Lets get chatting and celebrating all of the brilliant British books and authors that we have and all of the wonderful British books that we are reading!
Always remember – never tweet an author into a negative review and be constructive.
As well as following the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge18 I would also suggest following my blog using your preferred feed subscription (by email by filling in the subscription box at the top of my blog , BlogLovin’ etc) in order to keep up with the latest news and posts regarding this challenge throughout 2018!
Or keep up to date on my challenge page for 2018 here
FAQ
What books would you suggest that I read for the British Books challenge?
I will be writing many a blog post throughout 2018 to give you any and all recommendations and of course we will have our Author Of The Month and Debut Of The Month to get you started.
Here is a link to my own British Books Challenge 2018 page which will detail which books I have been reading and reviewing for the challenge or any books I am hoping to read in 2018 by British authors.
I will also let you know on each monthly sign up page which books I have been reading and enjoying the month before.
I also have various guest posts, Q&A’s, spotlight posts and of course reviews throughout my blog so do check them out through the index here
If you’re on Twitter, following the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge18 – a place where people can also share what they are reading by British Authors.
You can always have a look through other participant’s review links on the monthly link up pages once the challenge gets started. I’ll add links to each month’s post below.
If you love UKYA check out this fab spreadsheet by Debbie and Jim that give you lists of UKYA books – here
These links by no means include the only books that count towards the challenge but hopefully they’ll help you get started.
Don’t forget to post links to your reviews each month for your chance to win prizes:
How did the British Books Challenge come about?
The BBC is a reading challenge that was created by Becky from The Bookette in 2011 as a way to encourage people to read more books by British authors. The challenge was taken over by Kirsty at The Overflowing Library for 2012 and again this year in 2016, was hosted by Sarah at Feeling Fictional between 2013 to 2014, Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies throughout 2015 and was hosted by me, Chelley at Tales Of Yesterday in 2017 and again this year in 2018.
I post reviews on more than one blog. Can they count towards my challenge total?
Yes.
I am an international entrant and sometimes I do not have time to write my reviews in English. Can I write them in my native language?
Of course. It would be helpful if there was a little summary in English so that I can comment but as long as you make sure the book’s title is translated somewhere on your post then it is fine. I’m delighted that international bloggers are going to help promote British authors.
Do you need to read the book and review the book in the same month?
Yes. The idea of the British Books Challenge is to read 12 books by British Authors throughout the year (this is only 1 per month but please feel free to read and review more) so reading a book and reviewing in the same month gains you a valid entry into the prize draw.
It doesn’t matter if it is a re-read of a book you haven’t reviewed before as long as the review is created and posted within the same month you are linking up for.
Any archive reviews from previous years / months will not be eligible for the monthly prize draw.
Can I count books that I have already counted on other challenges in 2018?
I don’t see why not.
I’ve read and reviewed a book by the Author Of The Month or the Debut Of The Month how do I gain my extra entry?
You still link up your review as normal on the monthly link up page and I will do the rest. Any linked reviews to either author of the month or debut of the month will gain an extra entry into the prize draw at the end of the month.
Do Irish authors count towards my challenge total?
No. Ireland is not part of the UK. The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Authors who live in any of these four locations can count towards the challenge.
How about authors who were say born in America (insert any other country here) but are currently living in the UK?
Yes, we are using the following criteria to decide whether an author can count towards the challenge:
- Authors who were born in the UK, live in the UK and are published in the UK
- Authors who were born overseas but are CURRENTLY living in the UK and his/her books were/are being published in the UK first
- Authors who were born in the UK are currently living overseas but his/her books are being published in the UK first
Top examples of authors born in other countries but who currently reside and are published in the UK and count as being ‘British authors’ include Patrick Ness, Meg Rosoff, Moira Young, Laura Lam, CJ Daugherty etc. We love these authors and we claim them as our own!
I know it can be tricky to work out if X author counts towards this challenge so if you are not sure about a particular author, please do contact me and I’ll see what I can do to help!
I do not have a blog but I would love to take part. Is there a way that I can take part?
If you have an account on Goodreads or another book review website you may still join the challenge. Sign up by linking to your profile page and make sure you link directly to your reviews each month to be eligible to win the monthly prize packs.
How will I know if the monthly prize pack is International?
I will always specify clearly the terms and conditions of winning the prize pack on the monthly link up page.
As the prize packs are often kindly donated and sent to the winners by the publishers it is up to the publisher if the giveaway is international or not.
When will I know if I have won a prize pack and what do I do if I win?
The winner of the monthly prize pack will be notified on the link up post for the following months British Books Challenge.
The winner will then have 14 days to contact me via email with their address and must be happy for me to pass this onto the relevant publisher.
Once your prize is received please let me know so I can tick you off my list and feel free to share any pictures of your prize on social media using the hashtag #BritishBooksChallenge18
It’s not January anymore and I’ve only just seen this challenge – can I still sign up?
Yes! Of Course! The more the merrier! Follow the steps above for a sign up post then start linking your reviews in the monthly link up post for the month you are starting the challenge.
I am a publicist promoting a book by a British author (or indeed a British author). Can I promote my book via the British Books Challenge?
Yes. If you would like to donate prizes to the monthly prize packs that would be fantastic. Please contact me via email to discuss this further. I really do appreciate the generosity of publishers and authors who have donated books as prizes in the past and I hope that this continues in the future!
I have a question that you haven’t answered here. How can I contact you?
The best way to contact me is by email, I will reply to all emails as quickly as possible but sometimes life gets in the way so please bear with me if it takes me a couple of days to respond.
I do have a twitter account ( @ChelleyToy ) and always love to hear all of your thoughts/comments regarding the #BritishBooksChallenge18 and any books you are reading for the challenge there, however, for queries regarding the challenge email is still your best bet towards hearing back from me.
#BritishBooksChallenge18
Looking for the monthly link up posts? Click on the months below
Please note these will be updated as each link post goes live on the 1st of every month
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
#BritishBooksChallenge18 Sign Up
I am treating one lucky sign up winner to start off their New Year in the best bookish way possible with a Waterstones gift card of £15!
To enter –
Write a blog post or page on your blog or upload a video to your YouTube channel linking back to this one.
In that post/page/video compile a list of titles by British authors that you hope to read and review during 2018. If you are not yet sure, just add one or two and update as and when you read titles with hyperlinks to your review. A bit like I’ve done here
Insert the British Books Challenge button onto your blog’s side bar. To do this save the button onto your computer, then go to add gadget on your sidebar to put the picture on your blog adding a hyperlink to it of the url address for this post. For Youtubers, please include the graphic within your video.
Fill out the Mr.Linky form below. Do make sure the link you add goes directly to your sign up post and has your blog/channel name as the title. Links to anything other than sign up posts will be deleted and only people who have created a sign up post will be eligible to win the monthly prize pack each month and be entered for a chance to win the sign up prize. This is very important step!
UK/IRE entrants only for the prize draw but anyone can still sign up for the challenge.
Ends 31st December 2017
Please note that the winner will need to provide me with an address to send their prize too and will need to be signed up to the challenge on or before the 31st December 2017 to be eligible to win.
Thanks for signing up for the British Books Challenge 2018!
Name – Please add your name and blog / YouTube channel e.g Chelley Toy – Tales Of Yesterday
URL – Please add a direct link to your British Books Challenge sign up post here
