Home

Festival of Words
Great Big Book Club Online
FAQ's

How to join
Q. What is the Festival of Words Online Great Big Book Club?
Q. What books will be discussed?
Q. How many books will be discussed in a year?
Q. Does it cost anything to join?
Q. Do I have to be a member of the Festival of Words?
Q. What are the benefits of becoming a member of the group?
Q. How do I enter for the free book?
Q. How do I join?
Q. Can I join at any time?
Q. I want to join the mailing list, but I don't want to Chat.  Can I do this?
Q. What information do I receive after I join?
Q. How do I unsubscribe?
Q. What are the guidelines for participating?
Q. Is my privacy protected?

Getting a Yahoo! ID
Q. Do I need any special computer requirements?
Q. Why do I need a Yahoo! ID?
Q. How do I get a Yahoo! ID?
Q. How do I go to the homepage of the Great Big Book Club Online?


How to Email the group, Vote or Chat 
Q. How do I send an email to the group?
Q. How do I cast my vote in a poll?
Q. What are the computer requirements for the chat session?
Q. How do I load the chat software?
Q. When will the chats be held?
Q. How do I start to chat?
Q. How do I format the text of my chat?
Q. Will the chat session have voice?
Q. I'm having trouble with the chat session. What should I do?

Q. What is the Festival of Words Online Great Big Book Club ?
A. The Festival of Words is sponsoring an online book club where you can share your love of reading with other readers. Members will be discussing books by Canadian authors by email and by regularly scheduled chat discussions.

Q. What books will be discussed?
A.  A poll will be taken to help guide the selection of titles to be read.

Q. How many books will be discussed in a year?
A. We will be discussing five books per year. 

Q. Does it cost anything to join?
A. No. Membership is entirely free.

Q. Do I have to be a member of the Festival of Words?
A. No, but you can join the Festival of Words for $5.00 per year http://www.festivalofwords.com/membnew.htm

Q. What are the benefits of becoming a member of the group?
A. As a member you:

• Share your thoughts by email with other members of the group
• Join a scintillating chat session with a moderator and other members
• Vote on next titles to read
• Receive announcements of upcoming events of the Festival of Words
• Enter to win free books!

Q. How do I enter for the free books?
A. Each online registrant can enter online.
Those who register and make a book purchase at The Oak and Rose Book Shoppe in Moose Jaw will receive two entries for the free book draw.
Further, proprietor Tim Smith has announced that book club members will be given a 15% discount on the book club title.

A winning entry will be drawn during each chat session. You can enter online anytime during the discussion time. Be sure to enter during each session!

Q. How do I join?
A. The online book club is hosted by Yahoo! Groups.  
 - First you need a Yahoo! ID.  
 - Then you need to join the group to participate. 

There are three ways to join:

1. You can join by clicking on the button.  This takes you to the Yahoo! groups page.  You can create a Yahoo! ID or sign in if you already have one.

 
Click to join the Great Big Book Club Online

2. You might receive an email invitation to join from the Festival of Words. If you receive an email, click the Join the Group button.

3. You can send an email to Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

4. You can go to the group homepage at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group

Q. Can I join at any time?
A. Yes, you can join at any time. You will receive emails and you can participate when you're ready.

Q. I want to join the mailing list, but I don't want to Chat.  Can I do this?
A. Yes. You aren't obliged to jion the chat session, but you can still send and receive the email discussions.

Q. What information do I receive after I join?
A. After you join, you will receive a welcoming email message that explains:

• The book being discussed and the title of the next selection
• how to get started with the email discussion
• a calendar of chat sessions
• how to vote on an upcoming book
• how to enter the draw for the free book
• information on how to unsubscribe

Q. How do I unsubscribe?
A. Send an email to: Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Q. What are the guidelines for participating?

• Include a subject line when posting messages. Include the book title or briefly summarize the topic.
• If your message reveals any surprises in the book's ending, please include the word "Spoiler" in your subject line (to avoid spoiling the enjoyment of readers who have not finished the book.)
• Be respectful with your comments. Inappropriate content will not be tolerated and posting privileges will be denied to members who use the list inappropriately.
• Report any abuse of the list to the list manager at Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group-owner@yahoogroups.com
• The Festival of Words is not responsible for the content of the messages. Participants are solely responsible for the content of their messages.
• Do not send messages that are meant for one person or small groups to the whole group.
• This list is only for noncommercial use; no advertisements or solicitations, please.

Q. Is my privacy protected?
A. Be aware that when you post messages to the discussion group, your e-mail address will be available to the other participants. You should exercise the same caution when disclosing any personal information that you would in any other public forum.

The Festival of Words will not use your e-mail address for any purpose other than administering this discussion list.

Q. Do I need any special computer requirements?
A. You must have a Yahoo! ID to participate in the online chat discussion. Yahoo! Groups provides a free service for organizing the group email and chat. You can use any email service but you must have a Yahoo! ID to join the group and the chat sessions.

Q. Why do I need a Yahoo! ID?
The online book club is hosted by Yahoo!.  You must sign into http://groups.yahoo.com to have access to group functions such as chat, voting in polls and viewing the calendar.

Q. How do I get a Yahoo! ID?
A. If you join the Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group by clicking on the button on the website or if you receive an invitation and click on the link to join, you will be redirected to the Yahoo! website. You can sign in if you already have a Yahoo! ID or you can create a new account and get a Yahoo! ID.

At the Yahoo! groups website, complete the sign-up form. At the following screen, complete the required information.

Q. How do I go to the group homepage?
A. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com and sign in with your Yahoo! ID and password. You will see a list of groups that you have joined. Select Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group.
OR go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group

You'll see the following screen:

Q.  How do I send an email to the group?
A. Send an email to Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group@yahoogroups.com.

Q. What are the computer requirements for the chat session?

• a personal computer running Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 or XP
• Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 4.0 or later) or Netscape Navigator (version 4.08 or later)

Q. How do I load the chat software?
A. The first time you click on Chat on the left hand side of the screen, a window will appear with the Yahoo! Chat software that asks "Do you want to install this software?" Follow the directions to install the software.

Q. When will the chats be held?
A. You'll receive an email scheduling the chat. The chat sessions will also be listed in the Calendar at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group

Q. How do I start to chat?
A. Sign in using your Yahoo! ID at http://groups.yahoo.com. Select the Sask_Festival_of_Words_Reading_Group.
Click on Chat on the left hand side. Install the software if you haven't done so already. The chat software will start and you will be logged into the chat.

On the right hand side is a list of people who are already in the chat session. At the bottom of the screen is a dialogue box called Chat. Type your message in the box and press Enter or click on Send.

Your message will be listed beside your name in the larger box. Messages from other people will be listed in the same box.

Formatting text:
To the left of the color icon, you'll see three buttons: "B", "I" and "U".  The buttons will allow you to bold, italicize, and underline messages respectively.  Click a button before you type your message and that message will be sent in the style you selected.  For example, click "B" and type "HELLO.".  This will be displayed as "HELLO".

Emoticons:
To add an emoticon, click on the red exclamation point above the chat dialogue box.

Q.  Will the chat session have voice?
A.  No.  We will not be using voice or a webcam.  You may see an error when you sign in to the chat session such as "Voice error:  Your computer's audio output is already in use by another application."  Ignore the message.  The chat session will work for sending text.

Q.  I'm having trouble with the chat session.  What should I do?
A.  You can contact Yahoo! Help for assistance.  After you load the chat software, if you aren't able to chat, try stopping the chat session and start again.  
You can send an email to the webmaster, but this volunteer position is not staffed regularly.