Dewey’s Read-a-Thon!

It’s that time again. :) Time to stock up on short books, yummy snacks, and as much caffeine as possible. Time for my favourite event ever, during which I’ve met bloggers that are now close friends. And time to appreciate how amazing Dewey was and how much she gave to all of us. That’s right: it’s Dewey’s Read-a-thon, now taking sign-ups for the event which beings October 24th at 5 AM PST (and for those Americans groaning, at least we’re not on the other side of the international dateline!).

I’ve participated in every read-a-thon but one. That one was the third one, it took place in October of last year. Dewey e-mailed me asking if I’d like to help run it, and I said yes, but then my health went a bit downhill, and I was worried that doing this would make me go into a full-blown flare-up. And since I was in grad school, I couldn’t afford that, so I had to e-mail her a bit later and tell her I couldn’t do it. She was understanding, as usual. But then that turned out to be her final read-a-thon. And I have always regretted that.

There is a reason I’m telling you all this. The fourth read-a-thon, the first without Dewey, was run by three marvelous women who had helped Dewey in the past: Hannah, Nymeth, and Trish. I had a great time, and I thought they were amazing for taking on all that work, and I was secretly happily I could just be a participant.

Famous last words. Earlier this week, they invited me to join them! And of course I said yes. With four people, we’ll each be taking a 6 hour shift, so for the other 18 hours I still plan on being a reader and cheerleader. And with any luck I’ll be able to fit in a leetle bit of that during my shift itself! ;)

I think it’s obvious that I love the read-a-thon. Before the last one, I gave you ten reasons to join in the fun. But in this post, I’m going to convince you to be a cheerleader! As part of the committee, cheerleading has fallen to me, and this time it’s going to be organised. That’s because I’ve been a cheerleader for two of my three read-a-thons (the first time, I was nervous about biting too much off, but then I ended up being an ‘unofficial’ cheerleader anyway). And both times, I’ve been voted one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders. I say that not to brag, but so that you know that you can be a reader and a great cheerleader. But to be honest, last time I felt a little overwhelmed as a cheerleader! Since I skipped read-a-thon #3, I jumped from the relatively small pool of readers in read-a-thon #2 (where I could visit each of them every three hours) to the huge pool in read-a-thon #4 (where I quickly realised I wouldn’t be able to visit them nearly as often!)! As a type-A person, I wanted to be visiting EVERYONE on a regular basis, and I was so frustrated! Since the read-a-thon is so much bigger than it used to be, I’m creating a system so that cheerleaders will have manageable ‘chunks’ of readers to visit, and those chunks will shift so that you get to visit everyone during the read-a-thon. :) So if you were a cheerleader last time, and felt a bit stressed out, I promise it’ll be different!

It’s ironic that I first talked about the downside of cheerleading in a post where I want to get cheerleaders! But I wanted to address that and let former cheerleaders know that they’ll have a bit more of a ‘support system’ this go round. :) Now I can talk about all the awesome things of being a cheerleader!!!

Number one is that you get a great connection with all different kinds of readers! The *best* feeling when you’re a reader is to see comments on your update post. It doesn’t even matter what the comment says, whether it specifically talks about the post or if it’s just “You’re doing great! Keep it up!”. And readers visit the people who leave comments. I think part of why I get so many hits and comments as a reader is that I’m also a cheerleader, so I’m bouncing around the read-a-thoners and they come by to see what I’m up to! If you’re just a cheerleader, you’ll still get visits! (And if you have a post up, comments too.) And some people will like your blog so much they subscribe. And then you have new blogging friends!

As a dual cheerleader/reader, I loved getting a break from the books. If I didn’t feel like reading, I could just go visit blogs! And I didn’t feel at all guilty about it, because I was a cheerleader too. :) During the hours when I really wanted to read, I just didn’t cheerlead for a bit-doing both roles doesn’t mean you have to spend equal time on them! You can favour whichever one you want, and that might shift throughout the twenty-four hours.

If you want to participate in the read-a-thon, but you know you don’t have 24 hours, cheerleading is the way to go! You can cheerlead when you get the time throughout the day (or night!). And you’re eligible for prize drawings and participating in the mini-challenges. :)

I guess I’m being a bit incoherent, but there’s a reason that I’ve always signed up to be a cheerleader as well as a reader: it’s more fun!!! As a cheerleader, you get to see what all the different readers are up to. Every comment you make will be appreciated, and the readers will love you! You can get creative with it-using pictures or vlogs or funny songs or cheers on your own blog as well! And remember how volunteering makes you happier than anything else? In the read-a-thon, while being a reader is all about you, being a cheerleader is all about the community. For me, the event is much more meaningful because I cheerlead. And I think it will be more meaningful for you as well.

Hopefully, I’ve convinced you to sign up as a cheerleader. If you have any questions or concerns, you can either ask them here, or at the read-a-thon site, or e-mail me (astripedarmchairATgmailDOTcom). If you’ve been a cheerleader in the past, I encourage to comment or write a post about your experience! Oh, and Maree of Just Add Books was tweeting about the read-a-thon and said “Have laptop, will cheerlead.” I said that was a great motto, and Nymeth said there should be a button! So I got to work on it and made one! :) Feel free to use it on your own blog as soon as you’ve signed up to be a cheerleader!!! I’ll be putting it in my sidebar until after the read-a-thon.