New Author Challenge 2012

New Author Challenge 2012 It’s the fourth year for the New Author Challenge and I’m hoping everyone is still enjoying this reading challenge.  Last year I attempted to do more mini-challenges and wasn’t that successful. So this year I’m not going to promise that I’ll be more consistent with them, but I will say that I am going to attempt to do a few during 2012. So we’ll see if I can’t do better this year.

For those new to the New Author Challenge, the whole idea started when I first started book blogging. I didn’t know that many authors in my favored genre, so I went looking.  I gave myself a goal of finding 50 new authors and ended up reading 56 the first year I did this.  I loved finding these new worlds and cultures, so I want to help others find new ones as well.  Since 2007, I’ve tried over 100 different authors I may not have tried otherwise and I have found some great authors.

The idea behind this is to find new authors that you’ve never tried before, not necessarily ones that are debuting.  They can be in your genre of choice or be brave and try something new.  You never know what you’re going to like until you try it.  If you’re looking for some suggestions, you can check out the Author page here at Literary Escapism or the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Challenge pages.  With over 1000 reviews posted, I’m sure there will be something there for everyone.

Here are the guidelines:

  1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.
  2. Since this is an author challenge, there is no restriction on choosing your novels. They can definitely be from other challenges. However, the authors must be new to you and, preferably from novels.  Anthologies are a great way to try someone new, but only a third of your new authors can be from anthologies.
  3. I want this to be an easy challenge, so you can pick to do either 15, 25 or 50 new authors.  It all depends on how fast you read and how adventurous you want to be.  For me, I want to say I’m going to do another 50 new authors, but with two kids, I didn’t made my goal in 2011, so I’m going to be smarter and say 25.  If you reach your goal halfway through the year, don’t stop.  Any new author you try can be added to Mr. Linky.  We all want to know about your new experience.
  4. After reading your new author, write your review and then come back here and add your link to Mr. Linky.  Make sure you include your name and the author, but adding the title is completely up to you.
  5. Bloggers or Non-Bloggers alike are welcome. You don’t have to have a site to participate. You can link up via Facebook, GoodReads or even Amazon if you’d like.

Once you reach your goal, you don’t have to stop.  Any new author you try, go ahead and head back here and add it to the list.  Introduce us all to whoever you find.  Afterall, there’s no reason to stop trying new authors, right?

Grab the Button! NAC2012.500×323 | NAC2012.300×196 | NAC2012.200×131
Disclaimer: Artwork used for the button is Puget Sound on the Pacific Coast by Albert Bierstadt (1870).

Reviews & Participants:

26 Comments

  1. i am so excited. i can’t wait for the new year to start.
    i’m totally betting on 25 and more to come.
    it’s my first time joining and i really think you’re idea is great :)

  2. It’s also my first challenge; I’ve been wanting to do them, but grad school gets in the way. I’m dissertating this year, and believe it or not, that is actually a slowdown in pace! So I’m hoping to get more books read. I’m starting at only 15; if I can get that done, then I’ll either join another challenge or up the level on this one. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s new authors!

    • Yes. Any form of books counts (ebooks, print or audiobooks) as long as the author is new to you. If you’ve read an author’s print series and try their digital or audio series, that does not count.

      Short stories also count, they just can’t be the majority of your new authors.

  3. I’m in for 25 new authors in 2012. First time I’ve been in this challenge, my 3rd year of reading challenges (I’m addicted now).

  4. Given that I’ve already decided to do at least two other reading challenges next year (and some of my favourite authors have books due out) I’ve played it safe and gone for 15 new authors.

  5. Hello there!
    This will be my first year participating in reading challenges (except for the GoodReads one) and this one looks pretty awesome. I’m looking forward to doing it :)

  6. Happy to join this challenge and see how many new authors I can tackle! I’ll have a go at 20 new authors and, hopefully, should be changing to a higher number later on. Excited for this challenge! Thanks for hosting :)

  7. I am so very happy to join your challenge! I have been an avid reader for a long time now, and have just decided to create my own book blog too! It is going to be so much fun discovering newbies along the way! Thanks for hosting! and Happy Holidays :) ~ margie

  8. This’ll be my third year taking part in the challenge. I’ve discovered some amazing new authors over the last couple of years & look forward to finding more in 2012.

    I’m going to aim for 100 new to me authors in 2012, in 2010 I tried 104 & in 2011 I tried 114 so hopefully I can do it again next year :o)

  9. This is my first time signing up for this challenge. What a great idea it is! My Goodreads target for 2012 will be 50 books, so I’m setting a New Authors goal of 25, as that seems reasonable. Thanks for running this!

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