What is the timeline for the yearly "3 favorite reads of the year program"? – Shepherd For Authors

On October 1st

The form will open for submissions so you can submit your 3 favorite reads.

I will also email the authors to notify them. Sign up here to be notified on October 1st every year.

This online form will ask for your 3 favorite books you read between October 1st of the previous year and September 30th of the current year (no matter when that book was published). Here is an explanation for why I am making the "best books of the year" dates between October 1st of the previous year and September 30th of the current year.

When will your page be published?

It will be published as soon as our team gets all the books on your list set.

As soon as your list is published, we will email you the link and information :).

I hope that in 2025, we can expand our book database to millions and make this process easier. For now, our team has to manually add each book (with some help from a book API). We still manually source every high-definition book cover on the website (publishers only provide a super small image via our API partner).

When will the totals be unveiled publicly?

When we reach 100 published submissions, the total page will go live.

As an author, when should I submit a list?

I recommend you publish your list by November 15th and share it with your fans a few times between then and Christmas. This is a great way to gently remind your fans about your book, which is featured alongside your picks. Plus, it is a great way to share other authors you love and help the entire book-buying ecosystem.

When does Ben do big promotion pushes?

I wait until November to start more significant promotional pushes. I want to help authors catch the Christmas book-buying frenzy and help readers find books they love.

I am working to make this a big media event that celebrates books, authors, and reading! We do most of the marketing between mid-November and December 21st, as that is the most significant period of book buying all year.

Previous year's stats:

- 2023: We had 253,000+ visitors to this year's campaign (179,000+ between Nov to Jan).

- 2024: Pending...

When is the last day you take submissions?

This is the last day we will take submissions for your 3 favorite reads made between October 1st of the previous year and August 31st of the current year.