Category: Letterhead

Since 2011, it’s been our goal at Book Riot to bring you coverage of books and reading that is as diverse as books and readers are and to evolve alongside our community.

Readers who have been around for a while have seen this newsletter through several evolutions, and we’re excited to share our latest glow-up. Starting Monday, October 2, this email will be called Best of Book Riot, and it will come to you through Substack.

As readers, you won’t need to do anything. We’ll move everyone over to Substack, and our emails will still land in your inbox just like always. The exciting part is that the move allows us to give these daily emails a more personal touch. Each day’s featured stories will be chosen by a Book Riot editor, and you won’t just get links to the web. We’ll be able to include highlights from our podcasts, newsletters, and more! Variety is the spice.

The newsletter will remain free, though we may expand to offer paid bonus content and community features in the future.

Thank you for reading the Riot Rundown. We’ll see you next week in our new form!

Hello fellow book nerds!

I have some exciting news about Our Queerest Shelves. We’re introducing a subscription level, where you’ll get even more queer book content!

The subscription is $6 a month, and bonus content will be once a week. I’ll be experimenting with new formats. That could include more queer book lists on a theme, but also possibly podcasts, videos, essays, opportunities for community engagement, queer BookTok round ups — I’ll keep you on your toes! And I’ll also be looking for feedback from subscribers on what you’d like to see more of. I’m really excited for the chance to do something different, and your subscriptions make it possible for this to be my Real Life Job: yelling about queer books on the internet! (Okay, yes, I do other things too, but this is the best part.)

Don’t worry! You don’t have to subscribe to get the same content you’ve been getting all along from Our Queerest Shelves. You’ll still get two emails every week with new releases, recommendations, and links from the rest of the queer bookternet.

We’re always looking for new ways to improve our book coverage, and subscription newsletters open up so many possibilities that don’t rely on a constantly-changing algorithm. Instead, we can reach our audience directly, and you can support us directly, if you like what we do. After trying out a few options, we’re now going to be sending these newsletters through Substack, which enables us to have a subscription option.

You don’t have to do anything on your end to keep getting OQS in your inbox; it will just be coming from a different source, and it hopefully will look a little snazzier.

I hope you enjoy the next evolution of Our Queerest Shelves!

Hey literary activists! 

We’re making a little change to this newsletter, thanks to its growing popularity and usefulness. Instead of receiving your newsletter every other week, you’ll be getting it every week on Friday. Grab your beverage of choice and keep up with the latest in all things getting involved and making meaningful change in the world of books. Be it the curated list of book bans or a guide to how to get involved in your local library’s Friends group, the content you have come to love will remain — you’ll just be getting it more frequently.

To facilitate the change and to ensure that the newsletter reaches the widest audience possible, we’re also moving over to Substack. You don’t need to do anything. You will automatically be subscribed there. This change is especially exciting, as it will make the information within the newsletter easier for people to discover and share.

No need to worry, though: we will not be putting this newsletter behind a paywall. If you’ve read the weekly book censorship roundups, you know that one of the reasons book bans are thriving is because so much of the information about what is happening is thrown behind a paywall. We believe in open access to information you need to make change in your community and to stay aware of what is happening. Instead, we will offer all subscribers the option to support the newsletter simply because you value it.

We’ll start sending Literary Activism every week starting June 23.

Keep fighting the good fight, and we’ll see you over on Substack soon.

Hello again, Insider friends!

Last week’s Friends & Family sharing was really fun, and you’re now welcome to tell your bookish internet pals about TBR. Please invite them check out mytbr.co/friendsandfam and use the tag #getTBR if you’re so inclined.

You’re also welcome to share the image below or forward this email to your favorite readerly friends. Thanks, as always, for rocking with us!

 

For as long as Book Riot has been around, we’ve heard from diehard book nerds who dream of getting truly personalized book recommendations. Today, we are thrilled to introduce TBR (Tailored Book Recommendations) to offer you just that!

We’re opening the doors to Insiders first because 1) early access to new Book Riot stuff is one of the perks of being an Insider, and 2) as with any brand-new internet thing, glitches and bugs can pop up, and we know you’ll help us squash them. Please keep this beta special by not sharing it on social or outside the BR community.

We’re excited to hear your feedback and make TBR as rad as it can possibly be, and we’ll let you know when it’s cool to tell the world. For now, come on in and check it out.

 

News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2017
Contact: Jeff O’Neal
jeff@riotnewmedia.com

ANNOTATED A NEW BOOK RIOT PODCAST AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD NOW

Telling stories about books, reading, and language, the first season presented by Hachette Book Group kicks off today with “Is it 1984 yet?”

Image: Annotated logo

(Brooklyn, NY) – Annotated, a podcast telling stories about books, reading, and language became available for download today. “Is it 1984 yet?” will kick off the six-episode season, telling the backstory of George Orwell’s 1984, with future episodes touching on indie bookselling, the world’s most glamorous librarian, and the court case that changed the way the First Amendment was applied to literature. Jeff O’Neal and Rebecca Joines Schinsky host the podcast with episodes written by award-winning musical theatre bookwriter and lyricist Jeremy Desmon. Sound editing and design is by Kyle O’Neal.

“This podcast is different from the news, recommendations, and genre podcasts Book Riot produces,” said Book Riot Executive Editor Jeff O’Neal. “These episodes are short audio documentaries about the richness of books that readers of all stripes can appreciate.”

The first episode, “Is it 1984 yet?” traces the recent rise of the not-new 1984 to the number one spot on Amazon’s best-selling books list. Jeff and Rebecca explore the backstory of 1984, from how it became stock high school reading to its CIA-supported appearance on the silver screen, to how, seemingly, a January 22nd news interview thrust it back into our collective consciousness as the example of a political nightmare.

Listeners may subscribe to Annotated for free on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or via RSS through their podcatcher of choice. The first episode releases today, June 29, with future episodes releasing every two weeks on Thursday.

Annotated is presented by Hachette Book Group.

About Riot New Media Group, Inc:
Riot New Media Group, founded in 2011, creates communities dedicated to the idea that content around fandoms should be just as diverse as the fans are. So sometimes we are serious and sometimes we’re silly. Some of our contributors are pros. Many of them aren’t. We like a good list just as much as we like a good review, and we believe that there are smart, funny, and informative things to say about both. RNMG reaches 11MM monthly unique visitors through Book Riot, Book Riot Comics, and the Riot Ad Network.

Annotated: bookriot.com/annotated
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/bookriot
On Twitter: @BookRiot
On Instagram: @BookRiot
On Tumblr: bookriot.tumblr.com

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We’re delighted to announce the launch of our newest podcast, Annotated, coming to your ears as of today! Presented by Hachette Book Group, Annotated is an audio documentary series about books, reading, and language. We’re kicking things off with a deep dive into George Orwell’s 1984: how it became stock high school reading, its CIA-supported appearance on the silver screen, its current resurgence, and more. Check it out at bookriot.com/annotated or search for Annotated in Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your podcatcher of choice.

News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 2017
Contact: Jenn Northington
jenn@riotnewmedia.com

BOOK RIOT ANNOUNCES INSIDERS, AN EXCLUSIVE NEW SUBSCRIBER PROGRAM
Subscriptions are now available with behind-the-scenes access, extras, deals, and more

(Brooklyn, NY) – Book Riot announced on Wednesday their new Insiders program, which will allow subscribers exclusive access to features including a curated new releases calendar, a subscribers-only forum, a podcast dedicated to the Read Harder challenge, a glimpse at operations behind-the-scene, and special deals to the Book Riot store.

“This is a project we’ve had on our minds for some time, and we’re delighted to launch it,” said editorial operations manager Jenn Northington. “Our community is full of incredible people, and we’re excited to have another way for them to interact with us and each other, as well as get some great perks!”

The perks in question are organized around common feature requests from Book Riot’s readers. For example, while there is already a thriving Goodreads group for the 2017 Read Harder Challenge, which encourages participants to step outside their usual reading comfort zones, the dedicated podcast will provide curated picks from Book Riot contributors Josh Corman and S. Zainab Williams. The New Releases Index will give subscribers an interactive, customizable way to track upcoming books, and the subscribers-only forum will give Insiders a place to compare reading notes, chat with Book Riot staff and contributors, and get personalized book recommendations.

“Book Riot is what it is today because of the passionate community of book lovers who have come together online and in person to celebrate the power of reading,” said Rebecca Schinsky, executive director of product and e-commerce. “We’re always looking for new ways to connect with readers–and to connect readers with each other–and Book Riot Insiders allows us to do that while also providing new content, tools, and digital gathering places to enrich readers’ lives.”

Readers can subscribe starting at $3 per month or $29 per year; the full list of levels and features is available at https://insiders.bookriot.com.

About Riot New Media Group, Inc:
Riot New Media Group, founded in 2011, creates communities dedicated to the idea that content around fandoms should be just as diverse as the fans are. So sometimes we are serious and sometimes we’re silly. Some of our contributors are pros. Many of them aren’t. We like a good list just as much as we like a good review, and we believe that there are smart, funny, and informative things to say about both. RNMG reaches 12MM monthly unique visitors through Book Riot, Book Riot Comics, and the Riot Ad Network.

Book Riot Insiders: insiders.bookriot.com
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/bookriot
On Twitter: @BookRiot
On Instagram: @BookRiot
On Tumblr: bookriot.tumblr.com

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Ready, set, book club!

We’ve been hard at work figuring out how to make our Read Harder Book Groups more accessible and flexible since the demand for new groups far outstrips our ability to provide a contributor to host them, as some of you know first-hand. After a lot of thought and brainstorming, we’re turning over hosting and group logistics to YOU.

We’ve updated our site to provide resources for those who run (or want to start!) a group; you can also submit your group to be listed, if it’s open to the public. And we’ve launched In The Club, a book-group focused newsletter with resources and recommendations to keep your group well-met and well-read.

So here’s your step-by-step manual for joining the book group scene:

1. Download our Book Group in a Box guide.
2. Sign up for our In the Club newsletter.
3. Check the listings on the Book Group Resources page and join (or organize!) a group in your area.
4. READ ALL THE BOOKS.

Looking for a way to play with Bookstagram (aka: Instagram of the book variety)? Then we’ve got a month-long challenge for you!

To take part, just snap a photo relating to the day’s topic and share on Instagram and/or Litsy with the hashtag #RiotGrams. Do as many prompts as you want to this month or do just a few. If you haven’t started, you can hop in with today’s prompt or go back and do a bunch of prompts at once.

The rules are simple and the fun is yours to have.

Stuck on any of the prompts? Maybe some of these suggestions can help.

Once you share, check out the other photos under the hash tag and find yourself loads and loads of new bookish friends. Simple enough!