Save Our Cozies Readathon

Saturday – July 16th, 2016

Hosted by Franz Chapman and Bree Herron

I am reposting, but I originally found this on "Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book" Blog. There are several of my favorite cozy mysteries on the cancellation list, and no doubt some of yours. This readathon is our way of influencing the publishers and showing our support to the authors.

Purpose of the Readathon:

Due to mergers among publishing companies, several beloved cozy mystery series have either been cancelled or are in danger of being cancelled. Depending upon an individual author’s contract, he or she may not even be able to self-publish or take the series to a new publisher. The Save Our Cozies Readathon seeks to:

Raise the reading public’s awareness of this issue across a range of social media platforms.
Introduce the reading public to these series.
Encourage publishers to rethink their decision to cancel cozy mystery series.
Create and support a community of readers and authors.
Read lots of quality, fun cozy mystery books!

Series canceled (verified list)

Penguin Random House

Avery Aames – Cheese Shop mysteries

Beverly Allen – Bridal Bouquet Shop Mysteries (not renewed) Now writing Vintage Toyshop Mysteries for Crooked Lane as Barbara Early.

Janet Bolin – Threadville Mysteries

Melissa Bourbon –Magical Dressmaking Mysteries. Is thinking of self publishing but not anytime soon. Source: Author’s FB page.

Jacklyn Brady – Piece of Cake mysteries

Lucy Burdette – Key West Food Critic series

Amanda Carmack – Kate Haywood Elizabethan mysteries

Maia Chance – Fairy Tale Fatal Mysteries

Erika Chase – Ashton Corners Mysteries

Peg Cochran – Gourmet DeLite Mysteries

Laura DiSilverio – Mall Cop Mysteries

Monica Ferris – Betsy Devonshire Needlework series. Is shopping for new publisher and has plans for future books.

Christy Fifield – Haunted Souvenir Mysteries. Owns rights, plans to self-publish.

Shelley Freydont – Celebration Bay Mysteries

Eva Gates – Lighthouse Library Mysteries

Rosie Genova – Italian Kitchen Mysteries

Victoria Hamilton – Vintage Kitchen Mysteries (she is continuing the series with another publisher, ebook only.)

Mary Ellen Hughes – Pickled and Preserved Mysteries

Annie Knox – Pet Boutique Mysteries

Elizabeth Lee (Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli) Nut Shop Mystery Series

Meg London – Sweet Nothings Lingerie Mysteries

Molly MacRae — Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries (plans to continue the series)

Leigh Perry – Family Skeleton Mysteries – Shopping for a new publisher.

Cate Price – Deadly Notions Mysteries

Paige Shelton – Farmer’s Market Mysteries and Country Cooking School Mysteries

Christine Wenger – Comfort Foods Mysteries (NAL, which was merged into Berkley); is considering self-publishing.

FIVE STAR (Gale Cengage)

Five Star has dropped their entire mystery lineup.

Nancy Cohen – Bad Hair Day Mysteries

Maggie Toussaint – Dreamwalker Mysteries

Susan Van Kirk- Endurance Mysteries

Limitless Publishing

A E H Veenman – Marjorie Gardens Mysteries

Kensington

Anna Loan-Wilsey – Hattie Davish Mysteries

Macmillan / St. Martin’s Press

D.E. Ireland – Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins Mysteries (switching publishers)

Start Times

We will be starting at Midnight Friday July 15th and run through Midnight Saturday July 16th EDT. For the sake of challenges and hourly activites, we will all start at the same time. Therefore, when it is Midnight July 15th in EDT, it will be 9:00 PM July 15th in Los Angeles, California.

Go here to find your time zone start time:

Save Our Cozies Readathon Event Time Announcer

FAQ

What is a cozy?

A sub-genre of mystery or crime fiction in which the violence is downplayed or happens “off screen”. The books tend to focus on non-professional crime solvers and contain little or no sex or foul language. For a complete definition visit the excellent Cozy-Mystery.com at http://www.cozy-mystery.com/Definition-of-a-Cozy-Mystery.html

What is an online cozy readathon?

An online readathon is an online 24 hour event that brings together a community of readers and authors to participate in all things cozy. This includes reading, posting frequently on social media, visiting author’s websites, posting reviews, visiting book blogger’s websites, and/or participating in fun challenges/activities. The amount and type of participation is up to the individual.

How do I participate?

The Cozy fans can participate through any or all of the following:

Sign up to participate on this Wordpress website using your online social media home – be it Facebook, Tumblr,Twitter,Goodreads, etc. and your role, author, reader, cheerleader, admin. (you are not limited to using just one social media account, I just want a main one where I can find you).
The starting time of the readathon will be midnight on July 15th EST or 12:01 AM on July 16th as the time zone calculator is set up. Everyone will start at the same time. Use the time zone page to determine when to start for you time zone. This is so everyone will be at the same point at the same time. Participants can join in for any amount of time from 1 hour to all 24.
Every hour there will be an activity of the hour that you can choose to participate in.
When not reading or participating in activities, you can visit participating author’s and/or book blogger’s websites. The lists of participants will appear on the signup page as people join.
Respond to other participants’ posts on social media to encourage them.
Check in with the Save Our Cozies Readathon web page and/or Facebook group.
Post your reading progress/ activity on your social media of choice, if hashtags are applicable use #saveourcozies #readathon
Post cozy reviews on your medium of choice. I believe authors’ prefer Amazon and/or Goodreads
Donating prizes for challenges/activities – (can be as simple as bookmarks)
Work admin duties – I hope for us to have a presence on several social media platforms, we already have a Facebook groupthanks to Shelly Toler Franz. I will open a WordPress webpage for handling all sign up and linking needed for the readathon. I will link the web page to a Twitter account. I can also form a Goodreads group. I don’t personally use Tumblr,Booklikes,Librarything, or many others, so if someone uses those platforms I’d appreciate it if they would volunteer to admin there. There will be closing down duties as well. Books or pages read by everyone and participants will need to be tallied. Thank yous will need to go out, etc.

Authors can participate by:

See 1 – 9 above (Authors are fans, too. Right?)
Posting on his or her own webpage.
Hosting challenges or activities.
Setting up interviews with book bloggers to be posted during the challenge
Setting up a Q&A session on Twitter during the readathon. (usually this is done by collecting questions from readers over the couple weeks leading up to the readathon and then tweeting them with answers during the event.)

Donated Prizes

Each hourly event will have a winner and if we have enough prizes there will be other categories to win in as well (most pages read, most books listened to, most activities participated in, etc.)

Terrie Farley Moran – Signed set of all 3 Read ‘Em and Eat Mysteries and a mousepad
Tina Chapman AKA Franz Chapman AKA AngryGreyCatReads – Signed copies of Written Off and The Question of the Unfamilar Husband both by E.J. Copperman
Anonymous reader- pillow or totebag with Save Our Cozies Readathon
Molly MacRae – 2 copies of Last Wool and Testament
Maggie Toussaint – 3 Kindle books of Bubba Done It
Eva Gates AKA Vicki Delany – Reading Up a Storm plus bookmarks
Anna Loan-Wilsey – A Deceptive Homecoming or A March to Remember
Janet Bolin – Your choice of a Threadville Mystery
Marty Wingate – Audio book of The Red Book of Primrose House
Erika Chase – Signed copy of Law and Author
Susan Van Kirk – Three May Keep A Secret plus bookmarks
Victoria Hamilton – No Mallets Intended and White Colander Crime plus bookmarks
Nancy J. Cohen – 1 signed copy of Shear Murder and 2 ebooks of Permed to Death plus bookmarks
Laura Disilverio – 1 signed copy each of The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco and The Readaholics and the Poirot Puzzle
Denise Swanson – audio books of Murder of an Open Bookand Between a Book and a Hard Place.
Kathleen Bridge- 2 print copies of Hearse and Gardens (mailed directly through Amazon not available for International winners – US only)
Cate Price – An autographed copy of A Dollhouse to Die For
Edith Maxwell – 2 signed hardcover books Farmed and Dangerous & Murder Most Fowl
Susannah Hardy/Sadie Hartwell – 1 copy each of Yarned and Dangerous, Olive and Let Die, & Feta Attraction
Barbara Early/Beverly Allen – 1 signed copy of Floral Depravity
Diane Vallere – 2 copies of Crushed Velvet in a choice of format, either ebook or print
Mary Ellen Hughes – 1 signed copy of License to Dill
Sandra Bretting – 2 copies of Murder at Morningside
Jenny Kales – 3 ebooks of On the Chopping Block
Daryl Wood Gerber – choice of anyone of the first 4 Cookbook Nook series books.
Anna Lee – an assortment of 6 cozy mystery books and bookmarks
Ellen Byron – a hardcover copy of Plantation Shudders and a fun bag of swag
Nancy Herriman – 2 signed copies of No Comfort for the Lostand 1 signed copy of No Pity for the Dead
Toni LoTempio/T.C. Lotempio – signed copies of Meow if it’s Murder and Claws for Alarm
Krista Davis – 1 copy of The Diva Serves High Tea and 1 copy of Murder Most Howl
Tracy Weber – choice of books from the Downward Dog Mystery Series, a mug, and signed bookmarks
Sofie Kelly AKA Sofie Ryan- 2 copies of Faux Paw and 3 copies of A Whisker of Trouble
Nancy Lynn Jarvis – 1 copy of A Neighborly Killing
Carol J. Perry – 3 copies of Tails You Lose
Marla Cooper – choice of hardback or ebook of Terror in Taffeta
Leslie Budewitz – a winner’s choice of either Assault and Pepper or Guilty as Cinnamon
Brian Kavanagh – a kindle copy of each of the books in theBelinda Lawrence series.
Lisa Q. Mathews – 3 ebook prizes in winners’ choice of Cardiac Arrest or Permanently Booked along with bookmarks and pens.
C. Michele Dorsey – 1 hardback copy of No Virgin Island

Participant Signups – Over 200 people have already signed up!

You can sign up in a couple different ways.

1 – CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE READATHON BLOG –

In the comment box, tell me:

Name – What you would like to be known as during the readathon
Reader and/or Author
Blog address (Optional)
Online home – any social media site(s) that you want to use for the readathon (facebook, tumblr, twitter, Goodreads, etc.) Please provide a link so we can find your posts/activity during the readathon

2 – Email the above information to saveourcoziesreadathon@gmail.com. Please enter Readathon in the subject line.

3 – Message Fanficfan44 on Goodreads.com

Once you are done you can see other participants here.