Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Hi all,
So, over the past several months, I've been tweaking the nomination process to try to avoid overwhelming polls that have 30+ options to choose from, as well as to try to ensure that we select the book that the most people want to read.

We've done dual round polls, where everything nominated is on the poll and we vote once to determine the top 3, and then those 3 results go into a second poll to determine the winner. This option is OK, but the first poll can still be a doozy.

We've also tried nomination seconding, which I think has been the better option, since it generates a lot of discussion and interest in the group read, but can still result in a LOT of results, and I usually have to end the nominations early because we get so many nominations so fast - which I always feel is a bit unfair and arbitrary, if I'm honest. I don't like doing that, but it's hard to gauge how long a nomination period should go vs how many nominations we get - especially with a group as large and active as ours is.

So, my solution is to cap the nominations at 10. Another group that I'm a member of does this (though they cap at 7) and I think it will work for us as well, so I'm shamelessly borrowing their method. The group, to give credit where due, is the SciFi & Fantasy Book Club.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's how nominations will work going forward (starting with November 2015):

Nominations must be seconded to get on the poll, as usual. Each person is allowed one nomination AND one second.

Previously, as long as the book was seconded one time, it would go on the poll. Going forward, EVERY second will be counted, and the books with the most seconds will go onto the poll, up to 10 books total.

For example:
The Thorn Birds - 7 seconds
The Winter King - 6 seconds
North and South - 3 seconds
{Books 4-9} - 2 seconds each
The Blood of Flowers - 1 second
-----------Cut off------------
Memoirs of a Geisha - 1 second

Determining what gets on the poll: Books will be added based on the quantity of seconds. If there is a tie regarding the number of seconds a book has, the book which was seconded first will win. So, in my example, The Blood of Flowers would have been seconded before Memoirs of a Geisha and made the cut-off. If another person seconds Memoirs, then they'd switch places. The order of nomination does not matter.

Timeframe: Nominations will now be posted on the 14th of the month (1.5 months before the group read), and will run for a full 7 days. We'll no longer have varying nomination period lengths, since the poll is set at 10 books and can't get out of hand anymore. Everyone gets the full 7 days to register their nomination and seconds. :)

Polls will be posted on the 22nd of the month and run for another 7 days for everyone to register their vote.

The group read will start on the 1st day of the month.

Here's the timeline:
September 14th: November nominations begin.
September 21st: Nominations end.
September 22nd: Poll Opens.
September 29th: Poll Closes.
November 1st: Group Read begins.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nomination Rules:
Please check to make sure that we have not already read the book you're nominating. You can check this thread: /topic/show/...
Or the group bookshelf: /group/books...

No self-nominations (unless specifically allowed by the monthly theme).

Please include (and preferably link to) the title and the author in text, not cover images. Book cover images without a text title will not be counted. Nominations without book AND author will not be counted.

If nominating a book in a series: Books must be read in order of publication.
If the GR series page is ordered by story chronology, it is acceptable to nominate books other than the first in the series, as long as the publication order is followed.

Example: A book that is 3rd in a series but was published in 2000 will be eligible over book 1 published in 2005.

Unless otherwise specified, books must be Historical Fiction or Period fiction. Nonfiction, Historical Fantasy, Alternate History and other subgenres are eligible when specified by theme only.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please let me know if you have questions about how this will work. It's clear to me, but I'm used to it from my other group, and I've been thinking about it for a bit, so if you have questions, just ask. :)

Sounds great to me :)

I like this

Let's try it.

I'm also in favor of this new process for nominating books for monthly reads. Thanks, Becky!

I like this way of doing things, my only concern would be the amount of time between poll closing and the new group read starting. It's not really a whole lot of time for members to get their hands on copies of the new group read.

Gretchen wrote: "I like this way of doing things, my only concern would be the amount of time between poll closing and the new group read starting. It's not really a whole lot of time for members to get their hands..."

It's about the same as what we have now, which is a month.

Oh....hey.....October comes between September and November. I totally know how to read and use a calendar.

Gretchen wrote: "Oh....hey.....October comes between September and November. I totally know how to read and use a calendar."

Okay... I wasn't implying that you couldn't. I was just saying that that aspect did not change with the new process.

I've been in groups where books are chosen 2 months out, and it seems that people generally lose interest or they read the book and have moved on before the discussion. I think the timeframe we have is a good one, but I'm open to feedback too.

It's ok. My sarcasm doesn't translate well through my keyboard. I required an excessive amount of caffeine to function minimally today.

Ahhh, OK. I drank a few beers last night and my brain was like "Is she insulted? I didn't mean that!! :("

Glad that was just a misunderstanding! :)

This nomination process sounds great Becky. I often do feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of books to choose from (I want to read them all!)

Okay, so I'm a newbie at this. Yes, I want to nominate a book.
1)Click on add book/author at top of this text box; 2) complete field for 'book' tab in pop-up window; 3)click 'add' when the cover and title image appear - and a string of coding appears?? Can you please help?
Carol

Just click post and the book should show up in your posted comment. :)

Carol wrote: "Okay, so I'm a newbie at this. Yes, I want to nominate a book.
1)Click on add book/author at top of this text box; 2) complete field for 'book' tab in pop-up window; 3)click 'add' when the cover a..."

Yup, just click post after that. :)

Laurie wrote: "Behind the Forgotten Front, A WWII Novel
Please include this book by Barbara Hawkins on your nominations list. Laurie"

Laurie, this thread is not for nominations.

Becky wrote: "Gretchen wrote: "Oh....hey.....October comes between September and November. I totally know how to read and use a calendar."

Okay... I wasn't implying that you couldn't. I was just saying that tha..."

Loved tha, Gretchen and took it for what it was for. You can laugh now, Carol. I'm about done.

Is it too late to participate in this group read?

Ilana wrote: "Is it too late to participate in this group read?"

I'm pretty sure you can participate at any time! :-)

Are we changing our group reads to every other month?

Sounds good Becky!

This is a very efficient way. Impressive :)

Sounds good to me!

Sounds good and fair.

Sounds good to me. I hope I'll be able to participate more this year!

Sounds great to me.

I have a question. After participating in a few nom threads I have decided it is easier for me to simply second a nom. But since I am not going to nominate, can I second 2 different books?

CindySlowReader#Vaccinated! wrote: "I have a question. After participating in a few nom threads I have decided it is easier for me to simply second a nom. But since I am not going to nominate, can I second 2 different books?"

No, each person gets one nomination and one second. You can choose to use both or only one of them, but they aren't interchangeable or combinable.

ok thanks for reply :)

Medicus by Ruth Downie as my nomination: 1st in series.

Jane, this thread is not for nominations. You need to repost in the correct thread for your nomination to count.

This sounds like a good idea!

Where is the thread to nominate the next book?

It’s in the Nominations section, here: /topic/show/....