Welcome back!

Hope y'all had a good holiday season and a happy New Year!

So, guess what happens Sunday?
Guess.
GUESS! 

ARCYCLING! IT STARTS AGAIN!




Yup, welcome back to gifs. Nope, that wasn't just a 2012 thing. We've hit over 450 followers with my stick figures and bizarre humor, so we're gonna keep that going of course.

Anyway, back to the point (is there ever one?). Let's go over a few easy peasy reminders for how breaks work.

Yes, so we've been off the last two weeks, but as far as ARCycling is concerned, those 2 weeks never happened.
So, on December 16th, did you:
- Get two books? Great. You're on Time Out for the next two weeks.
- Get one book? Cool. This Sunday is your last chance to get another book before Time Out.
- Were on Time Week Time Out Week 1 when break started. You got one more week of Time Out.
- Were free and clear when break started. Well, by golly, you're free and clear now!

Now, for some more fun news!
Slowly, but surely I've been watching my Review Archive number rise and this makes me a happy pig-tailed girl. So I said to myself, "Kyle," (no, JK, but if you get this very small 90s TV show reference, let's be best friends) "Jennifer, how can you reward people who have been awesome AND encourage more peeps to get reviews in?"

Sending out gifts would be uh, expensive, besides what do I even have? Bookmarks? No. Boring. But then I thought of something. And when we reach 100 reviews in the Review Archive, Jennifer might just have a giveaway to only those reviewers on the Review Archive. And it might just be one entry per review.  Which might mean that if you've submitted 10 reviews, you get 10 entries. Which might mean you have a 1 in 10 chance of winning. Which might be awesome. Jennifer might not know the exact prize right now, but it might involve a big randomized box of books/ ARCs to the winner. Might.
So, chew over that might-be situation.

And for those of you who are sitting on books to be reviewed, chew on that as well. And don't mind me as I have Fry stare at you...

Two Week Time Out Made Easy

There has been a lot of questions about Two Week Time Out lately. We understand that it's hard to grasp, so I've decided to explain it clearly on a post. For now on if people ask, they'll just be directed to this post. While our initial explanation seems to cause mass confusion, my in-depth one seems to be understandable. We hope this clears up any confusion for you with all of the possible scenarios.

So...say we're starting this in the first week of a month. Here's how every possible ARCycling scenario can work out:

2 books in Week 1

• Awesome! You got two books in one week! You are now banned for week two and week three (two weeks for the time out) and you can request again week four.  

1 book in Week 1 and 1 book in Week 2

• Woo! Look at you! You still got two books, but this time it was over the course of two weeks! You are on time out for week three and week four and can request again in the metaphorical week five, meaning week one of next month. Enjoy the books!

1 Book in Week 1 and no book in Week 2

• Bummer! You didn't get your second book in week two, but your time out has still begun. Once you get book one, you have one week to get book two. No matter what, time out starts during week two, book or no book. So you are banned week three and week four and you can request again in the metaphorical week five, meaning week one of the next month. Why is this? Well, this is the only way we can keep track of things. We've giving you the opportunity to grab two books, and it is up to you to make it happen. There is only so much we can do in the name of fairness without driving ourselves insane with dates that are hard to follow.

Well, I got one book in week 1 and didn't get a book in week 2, but I want a book in week 3 because you said we can get 2 books!

• Believe it or not, we hear this a lot, so I want to qualify this. This excuse will never work out for you. Yes, you do get the chance to get 2 books, but this is 2 books in the same week or consecutive weeks. You are misunderstanding our rules. If we let you jump around weeks, the dates will get too confusing for us. We'll start missing dates, letting others take several books when they shouldn't by sheer accident, and we'll go slightly insane because we can no longer simply keep track of things. This system is tolerable for us and fair to you. So, please, be happy with it. We're getting you books! Enjoy them! 

I'm on temporary ban because I got too many books and didn't review any of them, but I've reviewed them all now, so when can I request again?

• Good question! Once we have all the reviews tweeted or e-mailed to us, you can request at the next session and then you will go back into any of the two week time out scenarios mentioned above instead of your temporary overall suspension. Review the books and you won't have to go to temporary suspension round two! 

I genuinely hope that two week time out is more comprehensible for everyone. Most people had trouble grasping bullet points three and four. If there are any remaining questions or things that you believe that we have yet to discuss, please tell us and we'll add it. Don't hesitate to e-mail us if you don't understand one of these points. We want to explain this to you so that you can keep track of your requests for yourself now instead of having to check up with us every week. For now on, all requests about suspensions will simply be responded to with this link.

Christmas break and coal in stockings.

Let's start with the coal in stockings thing. It's the less fun and more mandatory part of this post.

I've been over this before and for some of you Requesters, this ain't an issue. But for others *eyes the masses of the internet*, more of an issue. ARCycling was started to pass around REVIEW BOOKS for more REVIEW. So far we've really mastered the 'pass around REVIEW BOOKS' part. Less so on the 'for more REVIEW' part. Comprende?

Now for some easy math. I think this was covered in like elementary school? Percentages? Let's take the total number of books we had ARCycled up until two weeks ago (11/25) which 356 books. Now I don't keep exact dates of when reviews come in, but let's be nice to ourselves and say that we had 63 then (we didn't). So 63 reviews for 356 books. Even before I do the division, it looks bad, yeah? And rounding in the more optimistic numbers, that's 18%.

18%!!!! 

That's pretty bad over several months of being up. I mean, I have nothing to compare it to, but I'd LIKE for it be closer to 50%. I mean yeesh.

So, like any good company, we've come up with something to hopefully counteract this. Requesters, if you've gotten 5 or more books from ARCycling and haven't reviewed one, you're going to be temporarily banned until all of the reviews pop up. But this is easy to counteract! Review the books! I personally don't care if you say the book was such crap it isn't worth mopping a Taco Bell bathroom floor with! I'm a non-partial party here. I earn no money or popularity off these reviews. I just like reviews! That being said I know the "I don't like writing negative reviews" or "I pointed a gun to my own head and still couldn't finish it" or "I haven't gotten it yet", etc reasons. The 5:1 ratio still exists is time limitless. Especially the not gotten it. No worries if you haven't gotten it yet.

Ideally, we'd like for you to review every title you get. Even if it takes a while. Or you hire your baby sister to write something (though intelligible writing is always good for both you and me!). When you hit your 5:1 ratio, Lili will email you, wagging her finger and letting you know this is just a temporary ban! Temporary! This will also be added to the rules page for Requesters!
If this review ratio doesn't get better, we'll lower the ratio to 3:1. So there. If you regularly submit reviews, you're in no danger!

 Now for festive things!!

So, if you are still in school, you know the beauty that is getting away from responsibility of work, etc. for a few glorious weeks and doing festive things. Then you grow up, get slammed into the real world and have to work and festivity is only something you see other people doing.
Or at least, that's my life.

In order to recapture that a little bit, we'll be closing ARCycling for the Sunday before Christmas and the Sunday before New Years. I know this has been mentioned before, but this is a little more of an official post on it.

That information again: ARCycling will be closed December 23 and 30th.

Now here's the very, very, very, very important thing to keep in mind: the closing does NOT count towards Two Week Time Out. TWTO only works when there are, you know, books moving. If no books move, nothing moves. SO, if you get 2 books on December 16th (last session before closing), you will be freed from Two Time Out on January 20th.

Make sense? Yeah? Okay, now for some random cat images!









And finally, for the festive season...

ARCycling Secret Santa Update!

Hey, everyone! Just wanted to tell you that Friday is when the ARCycling Secret Santa Donation form is closing. If you still want to participate, now's the time to do so! Enter here.

Those who agree to participate should expect an e-mail around December 14th with where to send their books and should be prepared to get them out ASAP so that they can arrive in time for the holidays. I also want to point something out: those of you who donate older books, you are most likely getting older books in return. Those who donate ARCs, you are most likely getting ARCs in return. We're trying to go for equality with this.

Remember, ARCycling is closed during the Sundays that span over Christmas and New Years. This is the replacement of ARCycling those 2 weeks. All time out's are temporarily frozen that week. If you are put on time out during the last ARCycling session before the holidays (December 16) you are not off of time out until January 20th since your time out spans the 6th and the 13th.

Don't be afraid to ask any other questions for both Santa and the temporary ARCycling shut down for the holidays!

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the technology.

*Oh my gods, none of you even get that reference do you?

So, you've all seen my Hunger Games post, right? If not, here. You're welcome. Who doesn't love an adapted internet meme? Anyway, that would happen WEEKLY. And it was madness. Seriously, if it hadn't been a security breach, I would have screenshot that inbox and you guys could SEE the 45 emails in 15 seconds. No kidding. And all for the same book that went to fastest Tribute in .02 seconds.

Now let me set the scene for how Jennifer came up with a new idea. (It's kinda funny.)
I was going in for a medical procedure (nothing major) and I needed to be put under anesthesia, which means no food for 8 hours, but I did 12 hours. And I had just woken up and I was very, very hungry and there was no coffee in my hands, which a bad deal always. And I was talking to my dad (who was driving me) about ARCycling. Yes. To my dad. About ARCycling. Y'all are in my life more than I care to admit.

Anyway, moving on, I was saying something about it (I don't even remember what!), but I said the word 'form'. And then I had one of those staring-off-into-the-distance epiphanies, but really I was staring at a stoplight and my words entirely trailed off and I had a dumb look on my face as I tried to think 'Would that work? Could I make that work?'

It was followed by a short 'yes' as my brain supplied supplement rules, etc.
Then followed by a 'JENNIFER. WHY HAVE YOU NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE?!??!?!?! FAIL.'

Then I madly tweeted Lili, hoping that all of the medical stuff wouldn't somehow leak this absolutely vital idea from my scattered brain. (I'm a writer, this happens far too much - so I record ideas when they happen.)

Anyway, once I was coherent enough, I spelled this idea out. Here's what is in, in my favorite bullet point format.

• NO MORE EMAILS FOR REQUESTS.
• Emails, tweets, messenger pigeons and Iris messages will not accepted. If you got the last reference, let's be friends.
• Form now!
• Still first come, first served. 
• But now with by-the-second timestamps. This helps YOU. BELIEVE ME.
• You can request up to your TOP 5 books from the List.
• Unfortunately, past that, you're gonna be a little SOL. Sorry. But we don't want any copy and pasting of the List because that's just ridiculous, guys.
• You will ONLY get an email, if you get the book. Therefore, no email confirmation = no book.
• I really hated writing the "sorry, you've requested like, 8 books and didn't get a single one" emails, so this eliminates that.
• Email confirmations will still happen as soon as you get the book. Or a minute after. You know, they do take a few seconds to write.
• They will be short and sweet. Probably titled something like "ARCycling confirmation" and will be coming from the ARCycling email.
• If 15-20 minutes goes by and you don't get an confirmation email, you probably didn't get anything you requested. *sadface*
• And because I know you guys like to prep your emails and speed type the titles, the form will go up before the List does by about 15 minutes.
• AND TO MAKE IT EVEN EASIER, the form submission will be on the same page as the List. Below it, most likely. So just ONE PAGE for all of you.

Just a little note on how the top 5 requests will work. Let's give you an example! You request the following: Every Day, Future of Us, The Innocents, Rockoholic, and Fever.
But by the time you submitted, Every Day, Future of Us were gone.
So you'd get The Innocents and Rockoholic.
*This is an example of someone not on Two Week Time Out or only having the option of getting one book.

And for poops and giggles, this is a sample of what the form will look like. If you can read it. Don't try to fill this out. It's an image, it won't go anywhere.

 The form will be remade every week and have a new theme. Honestly, I expect to use every single one of Google Docs form themes because they are ridiculous and so am I.
Anyway, so who's excited?! I am!! I am a lot! Mainly because I don't have to go OH MAH GODS, EMAILS every week now!

So a few happy dance gifs to end this horridly long post? I think so.


 

And here's just a confusing one for you...


So, thoughts on this?!
Now before you go all 'BAH. NEW SYSTEM?!' on me, let me reiterate how much easier this will be on us. It will. It takes HOURS (no, really) to go through the emails and this will all but eliminate that. This will make us happy. Which is something you want. You want books and for us to be happy. *nods*

ARCycling Secret Santa!

So, Jennifer and I were originally planning to close ARCycling over the Sundays the evolved around the holiday break because, face it, it’s the holidays. But I wanted to be able to celebrate the holidays with our lovely followers somehow, so we came up with ARCycling Secret Santa! Essentially, all you have to do is this... fill out the form below with your address, the books you’re contributing, and your preferred genres. For every book you donate, you’ll get a book in the mail as a gift. Say you donate 4 books, you’ll get 4 back!

By filling out the form below, you are agreeing to

• Ship the book(s) wherever your Secret Santa lives within the US
• Ship the book(s) ASAP within receiving your destination so that the books can arrive around Christmas

Unfortunately, we have to keep this open to US only. Please be aware that this does not count as an ARCycling week and this is there simply to ensure that everyone can get a book for the holidays! So no one will go on Two Week Time Out for this! If you’re already on time out while this occurs, these do not count as part of your time out and your time out will resume once we are back from the break. Also, know that we’ll do our best to get you a book that we think fits your description of genres. We really want you to enjoy what you get. You can link me to your review archive or Goodreads in the genres question if you want a better chance at getting a book on your TBR shelf.

ARCycling will be closed December 23rd and December 30th. These dates do not count towards time outs. All destination e-mails will be sent out December 14th and 15th so that the books can arrive before or around Christmas. Individuals who commit to this and do not follow through with their commitment will not be looked upon favorably during future ARCycling sessions.

Do you want to participate in Secret Santa? ;)

Also, keep in mind that we are still looking for regular donations for ARCycling weekly as well. These do not count towards our weekly sessions that are still open for the first half of December and will pick back up again in January.

An Index to the Giant Giveaway

Yes, I realize this giveaway is like, SO TREMENDOUSLY GIANT that it's hard to even comprehend it all. So I'm making it easy.

Here are the links to ALL of the giveaways.

• Things That Go Bump In the Night Prize Pack
• Middle Grade Prize Pack
• Series Bundles Prize Pack - for CANADA ONLY.
• Chick Lit Prize Pack
• Big Subjects Prize Pack
• Fairies and Angels Prize Pack
• 18+ Prize Pack
• All Male Prize Pack
• Contemporary Prize Pack
• Paranormal Prize Pack
• Randomized Prize Pack

And I realized I *COULD* have put in all the books that are in each giveaway, but... eh. Laziness. But yeah, your one stop shopathon for all the giveaways.

AND don't forget to check out the SIGNED, INTERNATIONAL Dear Teen Me giveaway below!!