Dawid Piaskowski

Thursday used to be 'the day' on BookLikes. Each week, we have been releasing a new feature for our users that was in a great matter based on the feedback you had provided. This has helped the platform to evolve over these past few years. THANK YOU for all the time and effort you have given in!

As a result of numerous heated discussions and some serious brainstorming, here at the BL hub, we have decided that there will no longer be any more, let them rest in peace, Thursday releases. Instead, we are moving on towards bigger & better, simply more efficient service.

However, changes like that need research and serious thinking through (blackboard drawing, shouting, loads and loads of coffee drinking, coding, but yes, planning first) and that means keeping up with new releases every Thursday will not be possible. This time, we want to introduce a simultaneous uplift to the whole platform. 

This does not mean an overnight revolution and will take good few months to deliver. We now must put all the efforts into making what we got more compatible and focus on the User Experience.

We want more of Your support

It must be some sort of a true connection (and sorry everybody, but this is a little creepy, isn't it?), a few days ago our users have started a think tank amongst them selves that would tackle their user experience issues on BookLikes.

This is a truly amazing initiative and you made us want to work harder and do things better. This is a true power of the feedback we have been always talking about! We will be using your discussions and ideas to improve some of the main BookLikes features.

Expect us to lurk through stuff you write in your discussions over the improvement and throw some (possibly weird) questions, from time to time.

The fact that, we will now concentrate on this major refurbishment does not mean we won't assist in bug fixing and user support. We are here to amend any errors that might occur (or already had). You know how to contact us, also the bug discussion is being checked on a daily basis, so report any problems same as usual.

We're feeling super excited today and now we can highlight it with our brand new emotion status :-D

Really good book is the one that provokes thinking and emotions. After all that's the best thing in reading: feeling and living several lives at a time, , don't you think? On the other hand, you may want to express sadness or disappointment if the book did not fulfill your expectations. Well, go for it! Don't keep your thoughts and emotions to yourself -- show how you feel about your reading experiences and share your feelings with your friends!

To choose the emotion status for your post start writing any kind of post, and answer the questions: How do you feel about this? 

Click the smiley face to see all emotion statuses, and click the one that fits your mood and corresponds to your post and book(s) attached. 

The emotion status will be added to your post and highlighted on Dashboard giving your followers a clue how a given book made you feel. 

How cool is that!?!

Btw, if you're thinking Hey, I'd like to add emotion status not only to posts but also to books, we would say you read in our minds. Just wait and see what's coming next :-)

P.S. If you've recently experienced some issues with the commenting system or issues with the buttons on the upper right corner on the blog pages, we just wanted to let you know that our team is working hard to sort everything out. If you notice anything disturbing, please mail kate@booklikes.com -- we'll help and keep you updated about work progress.

Nearly 900 affiliate programs are now being used by book bloggers on BookLikes! If you'd like to join and get paid for what you've read & reviewed, here's your chance. Oh, and no worries, you don't have to be all techie-techie, we show you how to get it all set. :-)

If you already cooperate with a bookstore, e.g. Amazon, Powell's, Book Depository or other (for current bookstores see your Settings) you can connect your affiliate IDs with BookLikes account, and get 100% of the commission set by the seller. We are regularly trying to add more sellers, too.

Now, don't worry if you're not familiar with affiliate programs. Getting started is easy and only  requires a few clicks. We'll be happy to provide you with a quick know-how in this topic. For your convenience and ours, we'll use affiliate ID and associate ID interchangeably in the following post. 

Please have a look at step-by-step guidebook of how to use affiliate programs on BookLikes.

3 steps to start earning on your book blog on BookLikes:

1. Add your affiliate IDs and connect your BookLikes account 

with your associate IDs

     a. If you're already cooperating with bookstores, add your affiliate IDs in Settings/Affiliate Programs. 

     b. If you're not cooperating with bookstores, visit the bookstores webpages where you can find more information on how to become an affiliate partner. The process is very simple and does not require technical knowledge. You'll be asked to provide your personal data as well as your blog's information, and then your unique Associates ID will be generated.

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Please have in mind, that each bookstore requires a unique Associates ID, including different Amazon sites in different countries. Amazon's FAQ page says: 

For those Associates who want to link to other Amazon sites, you can also join the Associates Programs on those sites. They are separate programs from the Amazon.com program, and you must sign up on each individual site to participate. (click for more information) 

When your IDs are ready, you're all set to connect your BookLikes blog and your Associates IDs in Settings/Affiliate Programs on BookLikes.

You don’t have to stick to one program, you can choose several to increase your profit rate. Copy the IDs and paste them in the appropriate affiliate program spots in your Settings. Remember to Save your Settings on BookLikes. 

2. Start shelving and reviewing on BookLikes

When you connect your associate IDs with your BookLikes account in Settings, all books that you put on your shelf and add to your texts and reviews on your BookLikes webpage will use your affiliate ID. 

This means that, whenever someone clicks the book from your virtual bookshelf or a book review and buys it, you'll get 100% of the commission set by a particular bookstore. Remember that the percentage of a profit is set by a given bookstore and can vary, depending on the affiliate program you're using. 

Affiliate programs selected by you are highlighted with your avatar in the book windows on your blog and your virtual bookshelf.

3. Track your links and measure your profit

Each bookstore will provide you with a panel where you'll be able to track your IDs, look through detailed reports about link performance, and check how much revenue did you make. 

What's important, is the fact that on BookLikes the blogger gets 100% of the commission set by the seller. Yay! 

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Win-win 

Combine your passion for books and blogging with the affiliate programme and generate a revenue. Competent and valuable reviews, not just opinionated pieces, are what really do bring readers to your profile and consequently generate your profile.

With all that been said, it's totally justified to make a statement: "Yes, I will read all day!", don't you think? 

Now all you have to do is read, review and blog. 

P.S. Now you can :-)

In case of any questions concerning affiliate programs or any other matter, please don't hesitate to contact us. We're here to help :)

It's good to redecorate your space around you from time to time. Following your requests and suggestions we've decided to retouch the reblog option to make it transparent and even more comfortable to use with a brand new comment section and reblog history spot. Have a look at the most recent changes and ... reblog :)

The new comment window makes it clear who is the author of the comment and from whom the text is reblogged. The new reblog format frizzes the original text and doesn't allow making any changes or edits to the original text.

The reblogged post can be published instantly and re-shared on your social media and other blogs (if synchronized). 

Your comment will be highlighted and placed above the reblogged text. The information from whom the text is reblogged in published just below, and it is linked to the blog where the post has been published previously. 

Regardless of the reblog sequence, whether you're reblogging the original post or a reblog of a reblogged post, each reader and blogger on BookLikes can check the reblog history by clicking show activity just below the post where the author of the original post and particular posts are included. 

Other important facts include changes on BookLikes book pages: the reblogged reviews will not be presented on the book pages in the community reviews section, consequently the rating from the reblogs won't be included to the overall book rating.

Important for customized blogs

New reblog look is visible for everyone on Dashboard, for you on your admin blog (click upper menu -> Blog), and on public pages which use BookLikes' blog themes. If you're using other themes from BookLikes Theme Store (free or paid) or if you customized  the HTML code of your BookLikes webpage, the retouched reblog look won't be visible on your public blog -- don't worry, though, the information about the reblog will be still visible on your blog but in old version. To update your HTML, please have a look at the documentation (Themes Docs in the footnote) and recent changes concerning templates (click).

For all that users using BookLikes->Wordpress sync.

BL is a safe place.

One of the biggest book fairs will take place 14-16 April in London and BookLikes is going to be there, so can you.

We got 10 special invitations to share with our users. No Facebook contest, no weird questions - we’d simply like to take you with us to The London Book Fair!

As the number of the invites is limited, only 10 first BookLikes users to ask for one in a commentary section below this post will get the free pass.

This year, London Book Fairs moved to Kensington Olympia. New iconic venue in the very heart of the UK's capital, as well as, more than 25,000 professional visitors from more than 124 countries can really excite.

Here you can meet anyone who is involved within the creative industry. A lot of visitors are authors, talent scouts, editors, designers, digital gurus, all walk the floor, meeting, talking, observing, discovering. The London Book Fair is known to be one of the biggest events in the industry.

Are you from London or visiting in April between 14-16? Let us know you’d like an invitation to The London Book Fair now. Ohh… come by to say hello once you’re there, we’re at stand 3A27.

Can’t wait to see you in London!

Ways To Ask Someone to Be Your Bookish Valentine

“Is love an art? Then it requires knowledge and effort.” 
― Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving

Valentine’s Day may be the most bookish of holidays. Think about it. What other holiday encourages people memorize Byron, compare each other to a summer’s day, or sweat over the syntax of a note scrawled on a Pokemon themed card pack from CVS? (Who wouldn’t want to spend the Eevee-ning with you?)

February 14th gained its modern day romantic roots from the Father of English Literature during the High Middle Ages. Geoffrey Chaucer didn't only tell bawdy tales and write poetry about mating birds, but also encouraged a bit of courtly love that evolved into the flowers, chocolates, and little notes we're all familiar with today.

So, if the above quote is to be believed, where better to gain knowledge and bond with someone special than over a book? Stories not only help us discover ourselves, but learn a little about each other. Who hasn’t evaluated a potential love interest based on a furtive glance at their bookshelf? 

In honor of its literary roots, here are some ways to ask that special someone to be your bookish Valentine. 

Slip a note into the book they’re reading

Simple but effective. Be sly. Ask to see the book that they’re reading and use some sleight of hand to slip in a little note with check boxes for “yes,” “no,” or “maybe.” If you’re in a pinch, place the note into your own book, feign illiteracy, and ask them to read a passage you’re “struggling” with. 

If you really want to be smooth, make copies of your note and put them in all of your books. Then ask your potential Valentine to pick one, any one. It’s like a magic trick that never fails to amaze. 

Carve out an old book to hold chocolates

How dare ye desecrate a sacred tome?! All is fair in love and homemade V-day gifts.

Hollow out those pages in the name of romance and confectionery delights. Combined with the previous suggestion, your special someone can start collecting the whole romantic series.

Note on the photo: Don’t be a jerk and use a library book.

Make a dozen paper roses from pages of their favorite novel

A bit of personal handiwork never goes unappreciated on Valentine’s Day. Download a pattern from the internet, quick draw that glue gun from its holster, and get crafting. 

Again, you have my permission to desecrate a book in the name of love. Just, don’t destroy THEIR copy.

Track down their favorite author and ask them to sign a book with a special V-Day message

This one takes a bit of long-term planning and a whole lot of luck, but if it works, you have a bona-fide Valentine’s Day miracle sure to get you a peck on the cheek. Just make sure the note the author leaves doesn’t sound like THEY’RE asking out your prospective Valentine’s Day companion. Things might get a bit awkward.

Are they a fan of detective novels? Give them a series of clues to find their way to their femme/homme fatale

Just, take it easy on the red herrings. An easy riddle to lead them to the location of their secret admirer works wonder. Maybe circle words on a page to get your riddle across. Avoid the whole letters-cut-from-a-magazine approach since it might send the wrong sort of message.

K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) so they can solve the mystery and reward you with a real smooch.

Dress like a character from their favorite romance novel cover and serenade them at their window (e.g., Fabio singing Mmmmm Bop)

For this you’re going to need:

1. A low cut shirt (this applies to both men and women)

2. High velocity fan

3. Long hair or a wig to flow in the wind created by aforementioned fan

4. Musical instrument/boombox

5. An ocean of confidence and no shame whatsoever It’s also imperative you pick the right song. If they don’t like it, you may end up like Fabio and get hit in the face with a high velocity goose.

A long coat and ghetto blaster are your last resort. Castle backdrop is optional.

With a little courage, knowledge, and effort, you’ll tumble into that romantic ravine with your Valentine whispering “As you wish.”

If they say “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die,” no amount of paper roses and dewey decimal sorted chocolates is going to save you.

In case you missed the best books lists we're reminding some of the Top Books Lists created by BookLikes book bloggers. Let's see which book were the most popular among BookLikes' book bloggers in 2014.

Best Books of 2014! by Char's Horror Corner

First the authors that each had two books on my list:

The Cormorant and Wakening the Crow by Stephen Gregory. This was my favorite author discovery of the year and The Cormorant my favorite book.  Mr. Gregory is an author of stunning prose and originality. I will faithfully purchase whatever books he puts out for the rest of my life. (A big thank you goes out to Valancourt Books for this discovery!)... read more & see all top books

Best of 2014 by E.

Not everything on this list was published this year. Not everything on this list will be to your liking. I'm not doing a Worst Of List this year, because who needs all that negativity, really? You can click on the title of each book to read my review. If you would like a rundown of all the books... read more & see all top books

Best Books of 2014: Non-Fiction by Literary Ames

Here are my top 12 non-fiction reads of 2014, covering health, politics and feminism... read more & see all top books

My Top 14 YA Books of 2014 by KARIN'S BOOK NOOK

#1: GRASSHOPPER JUNGLE by Andrew Smith

Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the story of how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa. To make matters worse, Austin's hormones are totally oblivious; they don't care that the world is in utter chaos: Austin is in love with his girlfriend, Shann, but remains confused about his sexual orientation... read more & see all top books

Best Paranormal Romance Reads 2014 by Cat's Books: Romance

I adore Paranormal, Science Fiction and Fantasy Romance. I adore it so much I feel like a a plate spinner at a middle school talent show just trying to keep up with all my series and the new good stuff. I know I missed a lot of great reads from new to me authors and ones for which I have long standing love. I hope to catch up next year. Here are my best Paranormal Romance Reads of 2014... read more & see all top books

5 Star Reads of 2014 by Jessica (HDB)

In the world of Jessica, five star ratings are not given lightly. I'm lucky if I find one or two books a month that really blow me away, and make my "I'm going to shout love for this to the ends of the Earth" list. This year I devoured 200 books and, of those, only 29 made the cut. Out of those, I've chosen a few to highlight. Let's take a look, shall we?... read more & see all top books

Some Of My Favorites From 2014 by Bookfanatic

I stopped at 10 and I tried to stay away from series because well that would have created a whole other problem as in a really, really long list. I read a lot of books in 2014 that I really, really loved. I started out thinking that I could make myself pick just one and in my mind one quickly became 5 and 2 books into this list 5 became 10. So this is where I make myself stop... read more & see all top books

Favorite Reads of 2014 Part I: Interesting Facts and My Top Ten by The Reading Perusals of Rose Summers

So, in total for this year, I've read 168 books (maybe slightly more because there were some I didn't mark, but I know it was less than 200), which is way, way less than my total from 2012 (which was 365 books), and far less than the goal I set for myself this year (450)... read more & see all top books

Best Book Covers and Book Titles in 2014 by HFK

You should never judge a book by its cover, but it happens. This year I bought lots of books with beautiful covers, but unfortunately only read few with covers that I would label as doable... read more & see all top books

Books I Read and REALLY Liked in 2014 by Batgrl: Bookish Hooha

I've been enjoying everyone's end of year summings up (in various fun forms) and thinking on making one of my own - and I couldn't quite come up with a way to rank anything. Which is I suppose what happens when you end up reading a variety of random things. Anyway, there's no order to this - except I have a particular fondness for the first book mentioned. History wins out this year, which isn't always the case... read more & see all top books

My Top Books of 2014 by hippieed perceptions

As I was going through my read book list, I realized that this year kind of sucked for reading for me.  The few that I loved, I really really loved though, so I guess that is something.  I did kind of cheat because I added Geek Love even though I'm not quite done.  When you know, you know though... read more & see all top book

My Top Books of 2014 by YA FANATIC

As I near my 200 book goal I want to share with you my top books of this past year. I've read many not so great books but have also found some new favorites. I also started listening to audiobooks, several of my favorites are because I listened to them. These are in no particular order (except maybe the first one). Enjoy... read more & see all top books

Books Read in 2014 by Ani's Book Abyss

As it stands, it isn't easy to narrow 150 books down to a Top Ten list.  And so I chose to re-format my list just a little bit.  I also needed to account for the fact that I like Young Adult novels differently than I like Adult and non-YA novels--Yes, there is a difference in how I perceive a book dependent on target audience. Without further ado, and in no particular order... read more & see all top books

Top 14 Reads of 2014 by Book Sand Worm 

Keep in mind that by “favorite”, I mean this list is very subjective. In looking back, these are the ones that I enjoyed the most even though I read a lot of very good books this year... read more & see all favorite books

Top Ten Reads of 2014 by Unabridged Chick

I read about 50 books for 2014, which is a huge drop from my typical year (almost by half!). Pregnancy, and the resulting baby, are to blame, and while I'm a little disappointed, the aforementioned baby -- our Little Reader -- is so frickin' cute, I kind of can't care. I still walked away with some stellar reads for 2014, and once again, had a challenging time identifying the top ten of this year.  In the end, I picked the books I still talk about obsessively, that I purchased (for myself and/or others), and that I want to reread or force others to read... read more & see all top books

Best of 2014 - Part 1 - The Reliables & Part 2 - The Overachievers by Tina's Reading Books

Part 1: My 2014 reading year was much better than my 2013 reading year.  Not in volume, because I read about the same number of books.  But In quality. In 2013 I  had a massive reading slump and was down 75% in my total reading for the year as compared to 2012.  Nothing seemed to work for me past a few strong installments in long running series and  couple of new-to-authors that came out strong. In contrast, 2014 started out strong... read more & see all top books

Part 2: So as I look over my reads this year and compare them to the physical books I've amassed over the last 30-ish years on my shelves, I am struck by the difference in page lengths. Which in a round-about way brings me to this segment of my Best of 2014.The Overachievers are the two authors whose works this year was so good that I had to include two of their books in my top ten.  A rarity for me... read more & see all top books

You may also want to have a look at: 

•  The Highlights, The Favourites and The Flops of 2014 by Scarlet's Web
• Favorite Reads of 2014 - TOP 10 by MAY'S BOOKS
• Rose's Favorite Reads of 2014 - Part II: Superlatives by The Reading Perusals of Rose Summers
• 5 Best Mystery Books Of 2014 by New Books and More
• Best of 2014 - Part 3 - The Newcomers by Tina's Reading Books
• Best of 2014 - Part 4 - The Honorables by Tina's Reading Books
• Worst Reads in 2014 by HFK
• Nonfiction I Liked in 2014 by carriemesrobian
• 89 Books for 2014 by LOVE ME SOME BOOKS
• BEST OF 2014 by IT'S A MAD MAD WORLD
• Top 14 of 2014 by Too Fond Of Books
• Best reads of 2014 by Lora's Rants and Reviews
• A Selection of Recommended Books of 2014 by Reading Rainstorm
• Top Sellers from 2005 to 2014 by VALANCOURT BOOKS
• A round up of my reading year, my 2014 5* Reads and what's on for 2015 by Kitty Horror
• Best Books of 2014 by Wit and Sin
• Best things I've read and watched in 2014 by Familiar Diversions
• Worst things I've read and watched in 2014 by Familiar Diversions
• Year in Reading 2014 by The Fish Place
• 2014 Wrap Up by Bookworm Blurbs
• My 2014 Reads by Susana "Lost in Fantasy Land"
• My Top Reads in 2014 (Excluding classics and rereads) by Jennifer's Books
• My Top Book of 2014! by Miles Exchange
• The books I enjoyed most in 2014 and the ones I'm already looking forward to in 2015 by Audio Book Junkie
• Best Books of 2014 by sunsetxcocktail
• Bookish Personalities of 2014 by A GREAT BOOK STUDY
• Favorite Reads of 2014 by Tackling Mt. TBR

• 2014 Top 14 Books by SlowReader's Kingdom

If we haven't included you top list, share it or add a link to your blog post in the comments box below. 

We’ve received many questions about BookLikes mobile app and the answer to this request is always the same: Yes, of course, there will be a mobile app. Definitely. Since the question is still present in BookLikes community I’ve decided to present you several challenges we’re dealing with and what we’re working on right now to resolve your doubts and to assure you that it’s something really worth waiting for.

BookLikes is an unusual company, our development isn’t just based on my and my team’s concept, it is an ongoing process which is also based on BookLikes’ members requests and suggestions. We’re not only creating BookLikes for book lover but with book lovers, with all of you guys. Knowing your opinion is something extremely valuable for me and for the BookLikes team, it has showed us many new paths and introduced great solutions that we’ve implemented. You feedback, options and requests have also guided us in what direction we should be developing in the near future.

The notion near future is crucial here, our regular members know that we release a new feature -- a new functionality available for all BookLikes members every week -- on Thursdays. Those special Thursdays became our traditions and we definitely don’t want to give up on them, however, the weekly releases have a big impact on the process of development and maintenance of the mobile app.

What we care about the most is the quality and the functionality. Those two characteristics are our guidelines for building BookLikes and cannot be ignored when we refer to BookLikes mobile app. The thing is, we still have many awesome ideas to show, numerous exciting releases to launch -- I’m talking about unique, innovative and special releases, not seen on any other book-social sites -- but if we decide to introduce a mobile app now, at this very stage, it would mean we should stop or at best limit the Thursday releases.

For us the most important question isn’t Will BookLikes introduce the mobile app? (the answer is Yes) but rather What BookLikes mobile apps will include? The process of preparing apps for various systems (Android, Windows, IOS) is a necessity as well as including all BookLikes functionalities and this results in major changes for BookLikes.

With an active mobile app we won’t be able to launch new feature every Thursday and update the app on the weekly bases as it requires extra time and resources which we cannot spare at this very moment. We would have to freeze the process of BookLikes development in order to adjust all BookLikes functions to the mobile application because the maintenance of the functional, high quality app with weekly updates would be extremely difficult. This would result in holding back the development of new options and improvements on BookLikes, and in consequence this would also mean introducing the incomplete and not fully functional app. It’s definitely not something we want to set up.

The app should be like a gift with an exciting inside and a breathtaking wrapping. Both of these elements need to be complete in order to present a full package of options to make BookLikes mobile experience total, fun and enjoyable.

We’re super excited about the features we want to introduce during the upcoming Thursdays and I think you’ll be also thrilled about the things we’ve prepared. For this reason I was looking for the best solution for BookLikes that would allow us to develop BookLikes, launch new weekly releases and present the mobile friendly design, and I figured out that the best solution would be a responsive design.

This way, we’ll be able to give you the Thursday candies and provide a webpage perfectly adjusted to your mobile devices. The implementation of the responsive design won’t happen overnight but it will be executed much faster than an app, plus nor the BookLikes team, nor you - the BookLikes members - will have to resign from our weekly surprises and new options for BookLikes community. And they are really worth a wait.

The BookLikes mobile app will be of course introduced, and we promise that it will be much more than just a blogging/book-cataloguing app. Just wait and see :-)

Who will win this book?