Welcome! Are you new to the Cannonball Read, or trying it again after signing up and not posting reviews? We want to make sure you have a great #CBR9, so we asked some experienced Cannonballers for advice.
Don’t feel like an outsider! We all love books together!! – Melina
Read what you like and review in your style. Don’t be embarrassed by what you like to read, and and don’t get too hung up about being witty and insightful.
Add pictures and gifs! Tell us what the book meant to you, because we love learning about each other. Don’t torture yourself by reading a book you hate, unless you feel you have a hate review inside just waiting to come out.
terrible books make the most fun reviews.
— Data "This is my Costume" Angel (@DataAngel) December 29, 2016
You can also review a book you did not finish as long as you’ve got at least 250 words to tell us why you couldn’t finish it.
Cannonballers agree that it is best to write the review as soon after reading as possible, but that isn’t always in the cards. If you are having a hard time with a review, walk away from it and read something else. A lot of Cannonballers make notes while they are reading. That can help you come back to a review you walked away from, or if life got in the way. Personally, I like to get a draft review going on WordPress when I’m about half way through a book so that when I’m done I can get straight to the putting words to my feelings.
Embrace your habits. Be who you are. Don't get bogged down in the shoulds, go for the wants. Comment and post and have fun.
— Katie Humphreys (@faintingviolet) December 29, 2016
Be a part of the community! Join the Facebook Cannonball Read Book Chat group. Comment on reviews. Join us on Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr. Half the fun of Cannonball is connecting with other book lovers. Through commenting on other reviews, commenting on Pajiba Love and participating on social media, you will connect with other Cannonballers. Some beautiful friendships have been born this way. Maybe you’ll find a book twin, or maybe you’ll explore a genre or author you wouldn’t have before. Who knows? The Facebook group is a great place to get to know and ask questions of fellow Cannonballers and share information. If you need support, don’t be afraid to ask for it. On the other public accounts, we promote reviews and have had a lot of cool interactions with authors.
Read the FAQ. The accumulated experience of 8 previous Cannonballs are reflected in the FAQ. When in doubt – start there. MsWas has created a great resource for us. And if you have a question that’s not covered there, reach out to MsWas and ask. That’s how FAQs get made!
Remember that CBR is supposed to be fun. Don’t let it become like homework, or that thing that is burdening you with shame. There are ways to participate and help raise money without forcing yourself to write reviews you aren’t feeling. Visit the site – site traffic increases ad revenue. Make comments on reviews, and buy things from Amazon via the site. If you are on social media, sharing reviews drives traffic to the site, which helps us raise money for cancer research. Share your reviews. Share reviews you particularly like. When you share on social media, be sure to tag Cannonball Read and use the hashtag #CBR9. Those of us who help run the social media accounts will see that and share or retweet your post.
Did I miss something? Share your advice in the comments.
Thanks to alwaysanswerb, Malin, Katie71483, ingres77, faintingviolet, kdm, denesteak, HasenKlub, scootsa1000, Siege, melanir, KatSings, Jenny S, Scarlett.Speaks, llp, , Melina, Sara Habein, thatstrangewoman, Ellepkay, DataAngel, mathildehoeg Berry Straw, and always MsWas.
This is wonderful. Thanks for putting it together!
I came for the pun, but stayed for the Ravi gif. Thanks for putting this together! Joining CBR was a great decision a few years ago, but an even better one was starting to comment and get involved. My best advice is don’t be afraid of folks. We’re surprisingly friendly for being a gang of introverts (am I projecting? Probably a lot…). But really read and write reviews, and then read other reviews. CBRers have fantastic taste, and I’ve found so many books this way.
I don’t think you are projecting. A lot of us are introverts.
For sure. I communicate way more on this page than I do anywhere else
Same, although it has made me chattier on Facebook as well.
Yes, my off-line friends are all bragging about “disconnecting” and not being on Facebook as much, and I’m like, “But I have friends there too”
I talk to my real life friends on FB more than I talk to them in real life. Introverts Unite! in the comfort of our own homes.
You’re not projecting. I’m the weird extrovert in a crowd of introverts (which is how it goes down in my profession, too). :)
This is great! I have a book I need to review. I’ll make a note on my phone to do that this weekend.
I’m living for that Neil Gaiman gif.
Also, I missed this! Thank you for putting it together.
I would add, don’t be afraid to get a little personal, because oftentimes those ones where we get weird are my favorite ones. But mostly don’t wait to write reviews, for serious, because that is a terrible predicament. Review backlog sits on your soul and farts clouds of methane awfulness.
I will never have your gift for words.
Ha, thanks?
It is a compliment!
Soul farts! XD
I feel like “soul farts” is a phrase that should be used more, but I’m not sure how . . .
I love everything about this.
This is awesome! I’m so happy to be a part of it all. I’m on my 3rd Cannonball, and I’ve definitely learned a few things. I like mswas’ advice to get the review started before you finish the book. I get all the “hard” stuff out of the way first, like the Amazon link, the title, adding in the book cover, etc. That way, when I’m done, I just word vomit out my review!
Another thing that I’ve found helpful is for shorter books. I’ve actually “live-reviewed” one or two books. I’ll have my post open in edit mode, and as I’m reading, if something strikes me, I add it in. That way I don’t forget anything I think is important in a short book.
Also, I love the camaraderie that is CBR. When I hit my FIRST CANNONBALL right at the end of last year, I got so many congrats comments. It was awesome. I’m planning on spending more time reading other people’s reviews and commenting on them. It feels good :)
This is an awesome list. I can’t say enough good things about the PARTICIPATING bit. As a forever lurker I enjoyed myself. But then I started participating, and the joy comes back at you tenfold. Just jump in!
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was coming back here this year. I fail at social media – I have no time or inclination for FB, Instagram or any of that – I post my reviews here and leave it at that. I wasn’t sure if my little two cents worth was generating any worthwhile traffic, but MsWas kindly pointed out that every little bit helps. In the end, I decided to give it another go anyway and I’ll see how this year pans out.
There are plenty of Cannonballers who leave it at writing reviews. There is nothing wrong with that. I remember reading and enjoying your reviews last year, so I look forward to seeing them again this year.
Emmalita, thank you for taking the time to put together this post. You are so good at gifs.
I envy all the reviewers that have the time to seek out gifs and use them so excellently in reviews. I just have to rely on my rambling verbosity instead.
The gifs alone took 3 days. ?
Were that my rambling verbosity your rambling verbosity, I wouldn’t need gifs.
First timer here… .
Thanks for this post, and for being so welcoming. :)
Welcome!
Welcome <3 the more the merrier!
This is all excellent advice – it finally pushed me to finish my reviews before those books get too far behind me. Also, that whale gif might be my new favourite thing.
Sweet. I love this!
If you are reading on a kindle, bookmark the pages that are notable so that you can reference them in your review.
You can do that in Audible now, too, and leave yourself a note.
I copy passages I think I want to talk about or quote into my notes app on my tablet.
If I’m reading a real life book with paper pages, I take pictures on my phone of the parts I want to talk about. Helps me to remember what I wanted to write about once I see certain passages again.
I do that, too!
That is genius! Usually I shred napkins or notepaper as little bookmarks and then they fall out and I can’t remember what I marked and it’s all just a littery mess.
Nice wrap up on how best to review!
I think about my review in three paragraphs: the “hook” paragraph, the summary paragraph, and the analysis paragraph (which I often expand into two or three paragraphs if I have a lot to say). I think MsWas was the one to suggest this style, and I’ve found constant success with this format.
That’s a great system! I am not so organized.
I like this! I think I may start thinking this way, I know some of my reviews are pretty disorganized.
I also tend to go light on the summary. I generally don’t want to know too much going into a book, so I try not to give too much away when describing the plot. I think that’s been the hardest thing for me in writing these reviews, finding the line between “a good description” and “spelling out the whole damn book.”
Thanks, this is really helpful! :)
I just found out about this challenge a couple of days ago from a friend, and since I read 35 books last year (just 1 book short of my 36 goal), I thought I’d take the motivation, and so far I really love it here!
I signed up for a half-cannonball, but I really hope I can reach a full one.
Welcome aboard! Please don’t hesistate to ask any questions. Good luck!
Welcome! I’m glad you found this helpful. I’m looking forward to reading your reviews. ?