Sunday, October 21, 2007

Post-readathon report

With ten minutes to go, I'm writing my final report for Dewey's 24-hour Read-a-Thon.
Reading total: 4 hours 53 minutes, 189 pages
Plus: 14 posts and 12 mini-challenges
Plus: lost track of how many readers I cheered
Hours awake for cheering and reading: all 24


And now I'll answer Dewey's Post-Read-a-Thon Survey. She said, "On Monday evening I’ll draw a name from the participants, and the winner will receive this Godiva chocolate cat."


1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
About 4-5:00 a.m. my time ... because I was getting loopy.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Any light reading, and NO small print.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
First, plan or type out the mini-challenges ahead of time so they can be posted on the hour. Second, be consistent in numbering the hours, maybe by explaining ahead of time that Hour 1 starts in the first minute and Hour 24 means you have one more hour to go. Third, be aware of the Daylight Saving Time where you live, perhaps with a countdown like: "One day + 15 hours before we start, so make your plans accordingly."

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Dewey.

5. How many books did you read?
Part of one ... I was a cheerleader first and foremost.

6. What were the names of the books you read?
Angels of a Lower Flight, which I was already reading.

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Not that one! I enjoyed The Reincarnationist, the book I won, because now I'm looking forward to reading it.

8. Which did you enjoy least?
The one I was reading.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
Make a plan beforehand who you'll visit first, then next. I jumped around, trying not to visit only the readers at the top of the list, but then I ended up missing some of them, I think.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Very likely, but next time as a reader. I'd still have to see what others were doing during the day.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was wondering if you turned into a pumpkin at midnight. I read this post at midnight. You must be spellbound by now, after all that reading.

Bonnie, you were right about the car wash, but the task was to say what it was like not what it is.

I'd like to say you win a free car wash. Maybe a virtual one or maybe it will rain and you'll get a natural carwash.

Dewey said...

I'm glad you had such a good time! Are you planning to submit anything for the Estella's Revenge feature?

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Colleen, it actually rained here! Not a sprinkle, not a few raindrops, but real rain! We are behind something like 16 inches this year with very dry trees and plants, so rain is good. Unfortunately, I was out driving in it all over town and our drivers were busy crashing into each other ... maybe they've forgotten how to drive in the rain?

Dewey, I don't think so. It's a lot harder to bounce back from a 24-hour stint of something when you are my age, I've discovered.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for being a cheerleader Bonnie! You still got in a lot of reading. I was a reader only but only read about 5 hours. I didn't expect to visit so many blogs but it was so much fun. I wanted to see how everyone was doing with their read-a-thon!

Bookfool said...

Bonnie,

I've been trying to figure out how to add you as a buddy at Nano and I think I've discovered why I'm having so much trouble. They take down the "author search" feature during times of high traffic and the site is sluggish, right now, so I assume that means there's a lot of traffic. I'll try again, later.