#TheReadingQuest Sign Up

Hello Adventurers,

Welcome to #TheReadingQuest! I invite you to join me on a reading adventure based entirely on a video-game quest. In this challenge, you’ll be embarking on a journey to conquer your TBR pile through a series of stages. You’ll read new stories, gain experience, and level up a character of your choosing.

The quest will take place between Sunday 13th August to Sunday 10th September, 2017. All adventurers are encouraged to register their interest in the sign up form below, which will be open from now until Sunday 13th August. SIGN UP IS NOW CLOSED. FEEL FREE TO READ ALONG FOR FUN, HOWEVER IF YOUR CORRECT LINK IS NOT IN THE INLINKZ LIST YOU WILL NOT BE ELIGIBILE FOR THE PRIZES. No exceptions. 

I want to give a huge thank you to CW of Read, Think, Ponder. She is the amazing artist behind all of the character illustration you’ll see within this post. You can find her on Instagram, Twitter, and her stunning blog! Please go give her all your love, because I cannot think of anyone more deserving of unadulterated adoration!

The basic mechanics of the reading challenge is simple: it’s based on a bingo board (termed The Quest Board for our purposes), each square on the board represents a stage (or reading prompt) you must complete. There is one crucial variation, the path you take on the bingo board is entirely dependent on your chosen Character Class.

For the Character Class selection, you have the following 4 Options:

KNIGHT: These players are warriors skilled in direct combat. On their quest, they are will fight their way through the First Across path. The stages within this path are inspired by action and weaponry.

BARD: While the bards may not engage in direct combat, they make up for it with their intimate knowledge of songs and stories. They will travel through the Fifth Down path on the quest board, reading famed tales and singing lost songs.

ROGUE: These adventurers have absolute mastery over stealth and speed, and they slip in and out of the quest through the Fifth Across path. They celebrate underappreciated books and half-forgotten stories.

MAGE: As wielders of spells and witchcraft, these players will conjure and summon their way through the First Down path on the quest. Their tomes contain magic and whispers of alternate lands.

Along with the separate Character Class quest levels (Purple Squares), the centre of the Quest Board is a conglomeration of Side Quests (Blue Squares)! Complete these challenges to earn extra points and bonus experience for your character.

You can find the full Quest Board below:

Note: Once you pick a character, you must stay on their path (or the side quests) before you can proceed to another character. E.g. If I am a Knight, I cannot do the Bard’s ‘Fairy Tale Retelling’ prompt until I’ve completed all 5 of the stages for the Knight.

If you do complete your first chosen character’s quest before the quest period is over, you can follow a new character path for additional points.

You only need to read one book for each of the four corner stages on the quest board (e.g. I can read Want by Cindy Pon for the ‘Book With One Word Title’ prompt and it will count towards both the Mage and the Rogue path).

As with all my previous reading challenge, this Quest comes with an additional competitive element. Keeping scores and leveling up is entirely optional, but if you want to be eligible for the prizes, you should be keeping scores.

EXPERIENCE POINTS

• All characters will start off with 10 Experience Points (EXP), and each book (in any format: physical, eBook, or audiobook) they complete for the Quest Board will add another +10 EXP. The exception are graphic novels/manga, which will give +5 EXP.
• The exception is for books written by marginalised authors. These books will earn your characters bonus EXP.  For each book completed for the Quest, you will gain +20 EXP.
• Adventurers who complete their character’s quest before the challenge period will earn a +50 EXP. You will earn an additional +30 EXP for any additional character quest you complete after that.
• Because I am not interested in employing polynomials or convoluted equations for a reading challenge, I’m going to go ahead and say your character will level up with every +50 EXP. They all start at Level 1.

HEALTH POINTS

• All characters begin with 10 Health Points (HP). Every 10 pages you read during the Quest will give you +1HP. The exception are graphic novels/manga, which will give you +1HP every 20 pages.
• Tweeting on #TheReadingQuest hashtag (with meaningful tweets about your current reads, roleplay with your current character, book recommendations) will earn you +1HP each. You can have a maximum of +20HP from Social Media interactions
• Photos of your #TheReadingQuest books or TBR pile will earn you 1HPeach. This contributes towards the maximum of +20HP from Social Media interactions mentioned above.
• We will catalogue the points at the end via a masterpost, and find out who The Quest Champion is! This requires all participants interested in the prizes to link up in the Masterpost at the conclusion of the Quest!
• For funsies, you can create and customise your own character ID card:

Download the PSD to create your own (requires Photoshop)
OR
Blank Base Image + Character Artwork (you can edit text into it using Canva/PicMonkey)

Some people are having issues downloading the blank base image so here’s the picture for it:

NOTE: The fonts I used are Westminster Gotisch, Blackwood Castle, and IM Fell, all available for free personal use via 1001fonts.com.

• As mentioned above, the character art are created by CW of Read, Think, Ponder. CW is such an amazing artist, I cannot thank her enough for her beautiful work!
  Please do not use her art for any purposes outside of this reading challenge, unless you are given her express permission. Please credit her with a link back to your blog in your sign up post.

The Quest Champions will be awarded with treasures as befitting of their status. They will be the adventurers with the most EXP and HP at the end of the quest.

OVERALL CHAMPION (Highest Level + HP)

• FIRST PLACE: A Pre-order of a 2017 or 2018 book of your choice, up to $30AUD in value.

AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION

• FIRST PLACE: Dymocks is kindly donating a prize to our Aussie champion! More details to come.

More Prizes to be confirmed. If you’re an author or publisher who are interested in donating a prize to this event, please contact me via email: readatmidnighreviews@gmail.com

Please just add your links to your sign up post/TBR for #TheReadingQuest to the link aggregate below, and you’ll automatically be eligible to enter the Quest. The following information should be included in your sign up form:

• Your chosen character class, and the books you intend to read for the Quest Period (you can change these as the quest progresses, I am usually flexible on this rule).
• A link back to this post.
• Credit CW of Read, Think, Ponder for the artwork within the post.

The sign up form will be active until Sunday 13th August, 2017.

Here’s some curly questions I usually get asked when I organise one of these.

1. Do I have to read the books in order of the Quest Board?
As long as you stay within your character’s predetermined path (cursed destiny!) you can complete those particular stages in whatever order you like. E.g. for the Mage you could finish the One Word Title book before reading the Alternate World book.

2. Can I use the same book for two or more of the Quest Board’s Stages?
No. Rereads also do NOT count. You must use a unique book for each of the square.

3. I am participating in another reading challenge, can I use the same books for both?
Of course, as long as it matches the prompts listed. Check with me if you are unsure, but I know ARC August and Tome Topple are running within the same month, and they should mesh well with this challenge.

4. How do I count Health Points for audiobooks?
Every 20 minutes will give you +1HP. Completion of the audiobook gives +10 EXP, unless it’s written by an #ownvoices author, in which case it’s +20 EXP

5. I can’t figure out which book to read for xx stage, can you help me?
Gladly! I’ll be posting recommendations on twitter for the more difficult stages – and I’ll be providing resources so that other adventurers can help you on your way. Keep posted by following #TheReadingQuest hashtag on twitter.

6. Do I need a blog to join your #TheReadingQuest?
You can join as long as you have a place to document your reading journey. Be it blog, booktube, tumblr etc…

7.  Can I start a book before August 13th, or use a half-finished book for the challenges? No, the book must be started on August 13th, no rereads or half completed books.

8. What is a marginalised author? An author who identifies with one or more of the following marginalised identities: race, ethnic, cultural, disability, religious, mental illness, LGBTQIA+, Native or Indigenous.

9. Can I repeat any of the challenges once I’ve finished? No.

10. I want to join in but I don’t have a book blog or booktube account, can I use my Twitter/Instagram? No. I find it very hard of keep track of things on Twitter and Instagram – but you can join by posting a Sign Up thread in the #TheReadingQuest Discussion Board on Goodreads!
If you have any other questions, please comment or contact me via twitter.