So we finally got the Grand Master Reading Challenge launched and we figure there will be plenty of questions so fire away.  We'll be tweaking the interface and making other improvements as we go along and I'll post the details here as well.

As always, we love to get feedback so let us know what you like and don't like so we can keep improving!

The authors you add to your list display in alphabetical order so it does not matter in what order or when you add them.  The books, as you mark them, will display in the order you mark them which should be the order in which you read them.  They'll move to the front of the list and push the remaining authors over.  Your A. E. van Vogt book will appear first in the list once you tag it.

Take a look at Emil's list.  He has marked 2 books already and you can see that Silverberg comes before le Guin because that's the order he tagged them in rather than alpha by author or title.

The columns roughly represent months in the challenge so you'll be able to see the review links for the month straight down the page.  I say "roughly" because you can tag multiple books in a month if you want just as Emil has done.  I'd hold off on posting multiple reviews in the same month though so you can have more chances to win.

DrNefario - 2012-01-13 7:41 AM Just to clarify, we shouldn't mark the books for the challenge until after we've read them? I know what many of them will be already (and by coincidence I'm in the middle of Isaac Asimov's Foundation right now), but I don't want to be jumping the gun.

That's right.  Mark them as read after you read them and that will activate the GMRC checkbox so you apply that book to your challenge.

We're going to do an update shortly so that when you mark a book as "Reading" it'll show in the challenge tracker page as a faded book cover in place of the author pic.  That way other people can see which book you're reading by each author.  You'll be able to tag all the books you intend to read and they'll show in the list.  Standby for that update.

Yes, we do have some graphics for use on your blog.  On the GMRC page click the "Click Here for Challenge Details" button under the big GMRC badge.  It'll slide open to reveal details and a couple smaller badges.

I guess since you did not find them I should make them more obvious. 

Thanks in advance for the link!  We're hoping to get a few more folks on board.  The good thing about the GMRC is that with only 12 books you can join late in the year and still catch up.

Just FYI:  We updated the interface for the GMRC page so that the novels you tag as "Reading" will show now in place of the author pics for each author.  So for example if you look at my list you'll see a faded I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream in place of Harlan Ellison's picture because I'm reading it now.

This way you can see what people are reading for each author as they tag them on the novel page.  You don't have to wait until they're done reading you just have to wait until they tag them as Reading.

I hope that makes sense.  Check it out and let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks, ILikeMaps!  Great to have you here.  That's what the reading challenge is for.  Giving folks that little push.  To me the Grand Masters is a list of authors that I can't believe I haven't read yet.  I've been reading SF/F for 30+ years and somehow never got around to some of these giants.

Don't sweat the reviews too much.  Just tell us what you liked and didn't like.  It's an interesting exercise getting you thoughts down on paper.  I know I tend to struggle a bit in that regard.  I just resolve to write my best and not worry about trying to hang with the big dogs.

Hey DD,

You can read and review any book by any of the Grand Master authors at any time.  The best reviews will get featured in the blog without regard to that book having already been featured.  A good review is a good review.  In fact, we just had a great review of Way Station from jfrantz in the blog and I've got another one from Allie to post tomorrow for the same book.  Two takes on the same title is pretty cool I think.

The books don't have to be award winners or noms either.  They don't even have to be books in our database.  If you find one you want to read for the challenge let us know and we'll add it so you can tag it.  We've done that several times already.