Back in April 2009 I posted my comment policy, which is pretty straight forward. But I should probably highlight some of the main points again.

- Stay on topic: Keep your comments on the topic of the respective post you are commenting on.

- Avoid generic comments: If all you write is “Great post” or “I love your blog” you have a high chance of your comment getting marked as spam. And if your generic comment is accompanied by a link to your affiliate marketing site or a website selling Viagra, then it will get marked as spam.

- Have fun and comment often! This goes without saying.

When you leave your first comment on Brad’s Reader, I will have to approve it. After that, your comments will show up right away. If you are leaving a comment for the first time and you don’t see it within 24 hours, please contact me and I can manually post your comment (as long as it’s not spam).

Also, if you are outside the United States and are having trouble leaving a comment please contact me as well. I’ve heard from a few people recently whose comments wouldn’t post because of the country they are in (don’t ask why, I don’t even know).

In closing, keep your comments coming. They always make my day and I love seeing what people have to say.

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I also plan on getting a lot of writing done. I have two fiction projects I desperately want to finish so I can make them available on Smashwords (aff link) as soon as possible. These two works will be available for free so everyone can sample my fiction without forking over your hard earned cash

Have a great holiday over the next few days and please stay safe. I’ll back to my usual posting schedule either this weekend or early next week.

- Brad

P.S. There will be no Friday Link Love this week.

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To keep your comment from being flagged as spam, please use the following guidelines:

- Write something more than “Great post.” Comments like that instantly send up a red flag. Keep your comments relevant (and specific) to the post’s topic.

- If your URL has anything to do with viagra, fast cash loans, work from home schemes and the like, your comment will probably get flagged as spam.

- If you have a request (i.e. wanting to use a post as a reference, etc), send it to me directly using my contact page. Using the form sends your message directly to me. Unfortunately I’ve seen some of these requests/questions get flagged as spam.

- If you left a comment and it did not show up on the post within 24 hours, it could have been sent to the spam bin. Please contact me and let me know so I can correct the issue.

I encourage everyone to leave comments on anything I post and I’m pretty liberal about what comments I allow (even if they are borderline spam). If you’re a first time commenter I have to manually approve your comment before it shows up. I’m pretty fast at approving comments (thanks to my iPhone and cool Wordpress app), but sometimes it can take a while. All comments are always approved within 24 hours.

I always encourage comments, even if you disagree with what I said in a post. As long as your respectful, I welcome your dissent.

Keep them comments coming!

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/janetgalore/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

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If you don’t win today’s contest, don’t worry, there will be at least one more this month. I’m not saying what the prize will be or even how you will enter – you’ll just have to stand by.

Thanks again for all your comments. I enjoyed seeing what everyone is reading and will be adding a few of these titles to my growing reading list. I hope you visit Brad’s Reader again and write more comments, it always makes my day!

Good luck!

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• And the winner is…
• Announcing the Brad’s Reader birthday contest!
• Free Giveaway: The latest issue of Poets & Writers Magazine!

I’ll leave the comments open on this post for 24 hours, after that, no more comments will be accepted. I will then pick a comment totally at random. This means I take the number of comments from first to last and use a top secret, highly complicated random number generator to pick a number. Once the number is chosen, the corresponding comment will be the winner.

The Fine Print

1. One comment per person please. I’ll be checking. Let’s keep this fair for everyone.

2. No prize substitutions.

3. Prize in USD (US dollars) only.

4. Comments not answering the question: “What is the best book you have read in 2009?” Will be disqualified.

5. No spam (that goes without saying).

6. The chosen winner is final and will be announced after winner has been notified.

7. Amazon gift card will be sent via email to winner.

8. Please use a valid email address! This is the only way I’ll be able to contact the winner.

9. If you have any questions regarding this contest, please do not leave a comment! Rather, use this contact form to send me your questions.

I hope this is fairly straightforward. I did a contest like this in the past and it was a success and I got really good feedback.

My 2009 Book Selection

Since I’m asking what was the best book you have read in 2009, I’ll start. For me, the book is The Terror: A Novel (aff link) by Dan Simmons. The book is a tale about two Royal Navy ships that get stuck in the ice of the arctic. The sailors must endure extreme cold temperatures, lack of food, scurvy and a mysterious creature on the ice killing sailors one by one. You can read a more detailed review I wrote of this novel here.

Alright, this post is open for comments! Good luck and thanks again for all your support over the past 3 years.

Comments for this post will close on Thursday December 3, 2009 at 3:30pm Central Standard Time.

Picture Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ficken/ / CC BY 2.0

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3 years later Brad’s Reader is growing more and more each month and has become self-sustaining – the ad revenue this blog generates is starting to pay for the blog upkeep. More importantly, however, I really love maintaining this blog. I still get giddy every time I see a new comment. And sitting down to write a post is my favorite part of the day.

The success that Brad’s Reader has achieved so far is because of all of you. Everyone who reads my posts, makes comments and subscribes to my RSS feeds. Without you, my blog would be in an abyss of obscurity and I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago.

Brad’s Reader 3 Year Giveaway

On Wednesday December 2, 2009 I’ll be having my first giveaway in celebration of 3 years. I’m not going to say what the giveaway is going to be, but I’m sure you’ll all be pleasantly surprised. Details will be posted on Dec. 2. If you miss out on this first contest, don’t worry, there will be more.

Thanks again to all of you who have made Brad’s Reader a success. I plan on continuing to grow this blog and I can assure you that Brad’s Reader will be around for a long time to come.

Picture Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleepishly/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

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I’ve been scouring the web for the best deals around and here is what I found.

Amazon.com (aff link) dominates the online discounts with deals in just about every category.

Books: You can get up to 50% off on many bestsellers and 60% off on many other titles. If you’re looking for low book prices, now is the time to buy. Barnes & Noble is also offering huge discounts on select titles.

Electronics: If you’re looking for a portable ebook reader, you can get an Apple iPod touch 8 GB (3rd Generation) for only $181.99, 7% off the original price. You can also get the Sony Digital Reader Pocket Edition for only $194.87!

Ebooks: Fictionwise is offering a 45% discount on multi-format titles. Smashwords (aff link), an independent ebook retailer for indie authors isn’t having any special Cyber Monday deals, but you can always find free ebooks and ebooks from some really great unknown authors. Best of all, ebooks from Smashwords are available in about every format possible.

There are many more Cyber Monday deals out there than I have time to link to on this post. Even if you’re not into the holidays, you can at least take advantage of cheap prices on some cool products.

Don’t forget, December is the 3rd Anniversary of Brad’s Reader! On Wednesday December 2, 2009 I’ll be having a cool giveaway in appreciation for everyone who has made this blog a success. You might also see other giveaways throughout the December so be sure to visit often.

That’s all I have for now. Happy shopping!

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Originally, I wanted to write some grand post connecting literature to Thanksgiving, but didn’t get around to it. So I’m writing this little post. As they say, sometimes less is more.

Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

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To be honest, I was struggling about how I should approach this topic. My first instinct was to incorporate climate change and ebooks somehow. But after doing a little research, the ball is still in the air about ebooks being more environmentally friendly. I also thought about writing about the impact of print publishing and all the resources it eats up. That would require digging through a lot of numbers, studies and stats, which I’m not good at.

In the end I decided to keep it simple. The great folks that organize Blog Action Day set up a page of resources to help bloggers focus their posts on climate change. I’m going to list 5 negative side effects of climate change (there are a lot more than 5, however) and then list 5 simple ways you can make a difference.

The consequences of global warming

- Say hello to more mosquitoes (source)

- Say goodbye to fly fishing (source)

- Say goodbye to meadows and wildflowers (source)

- Say goodbye to 40% of the world’s species (source – not available)

- Say hello to more stray little kitties (source)

- Say hello to more hurricanes (source)

- Say hello to more wildfires (source – not available)

Easy solutions to prevent climate change

- Consume less: This goes without saying. The more we consume, the more waste we produce.

- Eat smart, go vegetarian: I turned vegetarian back in May 2009 and was amazed to learn how much natural resources the US beef industry eats up.

- Bicycle, use public transportation, or carpool: I’m always stunned at the huge numbers of cars on the freeway during rush hour with only 1 person in them. It wastes gas and it pollutes! Find alternate, earth friendly ways to get to your destination.

- Be more efficient: Turn off lights when you leave the room. Group your errands together so you are driving less. There are tons of ways to make your life efficient and environmentally friendly.

- Stop cutting down trees (plant trees instead): Trees our called the ‘lungs of the earth’ and are very important to stopping climate change.

- Have only 1 child: The amount of natural resources every person consumes is amazing. And with earth’s population rabidly growing, we will reach a point when our planet can no longer support such a large number of people. Consider adoption instead.

(source for this list)

Each list can be a lot longer, as there are more effects of climate change and more solutions than what I posted here. I didn’t even scratch the surface of the information that’s out there.

I think it’s important that the environment stays on our minds 24/7 and 365 days a year, not just during Blog Action Day. Even little stuff like recycling adds up. There’s an old saying “Think globally, act locally.” That saying really applies to climate change!

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On a side note, I was worried about what I’d do last night to fill my time. Surprisingly, I got a lot done without the internet there to distract me. I was able to clean up and organize my desk (which it desperately needed). And I got a lot of writing done. In other words, my productivity level skyrocketed.

If you’re not writing as much as you should be, or just not being as productive, try turning off your internet for a while. Of course, when the internet is available it’s difficult to ‘turn it off’ so you might just have to resist opening your browser. I know that can be really hard, especially with email, RSS feeds, news sites, internet porn, checking blog stats and such beckoning you at every turn. Stay strong!

P.S. I’ll still be moderating and approving comments via the Wordpress app on my iPhone, so keep those comments coming!

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