Bookish gives extra points for sharing the review “around” the publication date but there’s no easy way to keep track of when that is (day of? +/- 2 days? week of? Varies by book? By publisher?) or even that the date is coming up.
I’ve missed the date for nearly all of my books because I usually log in to BookishFirst to read/write the first look for new books and enter the raffles, but once that’s done I don’t log in anymore that week.
I thought of two options that would be a huge usability improvement for readers and would hopefully benefit authors/publishers by resulting in more well-timed reviews being posted.
These are both for the “Book Reviews to share for extra points” profile section:
Updated weekly when raffles refresh: list titles with publication dates coming up that week and dates that shared reviews earn extra points
Updated whenever a book is won: calendar format listing upcoming publication dates for won books, even if user hasn’t reviewed yet (will end up including dates that are a month or more away, but readers will have an “at a glance” view for all titles)
@bookishfirst_team I can make mockup images if this is something your team (devs?) would seriously consider.
When you get a book, you can set a reminder/tickler for the publication date. I use goodreads to check when a book will be published. Bookish also sends an email reminder to post your review on the publication date.
Thanks for your feedback. Luckily we do provide our readers with a pub date reminder via the Review Reminder email, which your fellow BookishFirst Reader shared below! You can also reference the book page, and your Profile reminders section. So hopefully you are receiving those, but contact support if you aren’t. We also suggest setting a pub date reminder in your calendar once you are notified that you won a book The BookishFirst Team is also talking about further automations and reminders for our readers, so stay tuned! Also, you can find out more about how to earn points (including bonus points) in our FAQ: https://www.bookishfirst.com/pages/knowledge-base
That’s a good idea, I can just put things in google calendar for now. I do get the emails but I don’t always check my personal email regularly, so sometimes I don’t see those quickly enough.
@bookishfirst_team are extra points for sharing the review only awarded on the actual day of publication? The instructions say “around the date” but I can’t find any clarification on that.
I have gotten to where I make a reminder on my digital calendar (where all of my reminders are) for the day of publication and about a week before, so I don’t forget! In the past, they have sent out emails on the day of publication to be able to send in the Amazon review for extra points.
Speaking of publication dates and visibility: is it normal for people to write reviews of the super old books on here even if they didn’t win the book in the raffle here? I was wondering why so many new reviews on old books kept popping up but I guess it’s an easy way to gain points?
I think so… especially since from some of the reviews it’s unclear whether the person actually read the book though that’s kind of common with any review-for-points or blog-for-stuff type of community (and sucks for people trying to find legit reviews)
They shut down access to writing First Impressions once the raffle for a particular book is complete, but you can always come back and write reviews! They still award you 100 points per review that you share to sites like Amazon and Goodreads, even if you didn’t win the book. The idea is to reward you for helping publicity for the book. If there are books that you have read or plan to read from the Bookish First selection, make sure you come back to share your review links and earn points! I won a print copy of The Queen’s Assassin from Goodreads on October 3, so I didn’t enter the raffle when the book was listed in November, but I plan to share my review here for the points when it is published in February!
It is frustrating though that some users write their “First Impressions” in the review area after the raffle has ended. They should really only be writing full reviews. I’m not sure if this is just a misunderstanding or if people are cheating =/ I’m glad to find (from another forum post) that they are verifying links for authenticity!
The BookishFirst Team is also talking about further automations and reminders for our readers, so stay tuned! Also, you can find out more about how to earn points (including bonus points) in our FAQ: 
though that’s kind of common with any review-for-points or blog-for-stuff type of community (and sucks for people trying to find legit reviews)