Will my review show up on the website as soon as I submit it?

No, because all reviews have to be looked at before they are posted to check that they are suitable. Any strong language or inappropriate comments may be removed. This takes time. Reviews should be posted within a few days of you submitting them.

Why do you need my email address when I submit a review?

We need your email address in case there is a query about your review. We won’t give your e-mail address to anyone else. See the Terms and Conditions page for more information about how we deal with personal data.

Will I receive any feedback about my review?

Unfortunately not. We get too many reviews to be able to respond to each one. All reviews are entered into the competition for best review. Winners will be notified in February 2009.

How do I join a reading group?

Most of the reading groups are based in schools. There are also some library based reading groups. Reading Groups currently running are listed on the Reading Groups page. Contact the Book Award Officer to find out more about the groups, when they meet, and how you can become involved.

I want to read all 24 books, where can I get them?

Your local library has copies of the 24 books on the long list. Joining the library is easy. Ask your reading group leader for a library membership form, fill it in, and take it to your nearest library.

You don’t have to get a signature from your parents, but the library will write to them just to let them know that you have joined the library. You can join the library online. Also, why not ask your school Librarian to buy copies of the books?

Contacting Authors – How do I send a letter to an author?

Out of respect for author privacy, we will not release the email or home address of any authors. If you would like to contact an author, we suggest that you start by searching to see if the author has a website. Check out the links page.

You can also go to Author Yellow Pages and search for an author’s official website, or try a search engine like Google, MSN, Yahoo! or Dogpile.

If you cannot find contact information on the web, we suggest that you write to the author care of his or her publisher. A publisher’s address can usually be found in the front of a book. Publicity departments forward mail to authors.

Why aren’t there any Alex Rider books on the longlist?

We asked young people in schools to suggest books for the Manchester Book Award. We received lots of suggestions, and had to get the list down to 24.

We decided that books on the long list must meet the following criteria:

• Published between July 1 2007 and June 30 2008
• A standalone read (so the Alex Rider books are ruled out because they are part of a series – the first book of a series is OK but a sequel is not)
• Author must live in the UK (because we want them to come to the Award Ceremony to meet you)