It’s that time of year again – time to assess what’s gone on for AWW in 2015, thank all who deserve our thanks, and prepare for 2016.

As those who have been following AWW from previous years will know, earlier in 2015 we made a few changes to the AWW blog. We transferred from WordPress.com to WordPress.org, a move which enabled us to add a searchable database of reviews linked to the challenge – something I’ve been hoping to include since AWW’s inception. By agreement among AWW volunteers, we used sponsorship money from Bookworld to partially fund the database which is now up and running. (You can search for books reviewed for the challenge here.) We owe a big thank you to Lewis Hutton for creating, implementing and maintaining the database, as well as to Tsana Dolichva for being our other valuable go-to person. Personally, I’m also very grateful to our AWW volunteers for foregoing a share in the (admittedly modest) sponsorship money so we could achieve this outcome. For as long as the challenge lasts and beyond, the database will provide an excellent resource for both readers and scholars. So thank you, too, Bookworld!

Now for some statistics.

By mid-2015, a total of 196 people had signed up for the challenge, a number that might still swell as we include late-comers. To date, 870 books have been added to our growing database of reviews, while 24 people are listed as having successfully completed the challenge. The latter number is sure to grow as stragglers write their end-of-year posts and add their details to our “Challenge Completed” form. (I know, because I’m still to write mine!) If you haven’t yet added your name, please do so before we close the form on Dec 31. Any links added after that date will be included in next year’s challenge.

The new sign-up form for #aww2016 is now up and running. If you intend to join in, either just reading or reading and reviewing, please enter your details here. We’re also working on an AWW Bingo card which should be a fun way to complete the challenge. With luck – and sponsorship – we might even manage to award a few prizes. (If you’re a bookshop or author or anyone else interested in providing sponsorship, please let me know via the AWW contact page.)

A big thank you to Shelleyrae of Book’d Out for creating the 2016 banner and badge, and to the rest of the AWW volunteers, including those who’ll be joining us again next year: Shelleyrae, Sue, Bernadette, Tsana, Holly, Melina, Bronwyn, Debbie, Jessica and Marisa; as well as those for whom 2015 is their last year: Shaheen, Paula, Annabel and Bree. Thank you so much for all your support – you’ll be missed!

Finally a very big thank you to all our AWW participants and anyone who has helped to spread the word about the Australian Women Writers Challenge throughout the year. Your contribution has helped to create something unique and valuable in online Australian literary culture.

I hope you’ll join us again in 2016 – you can sign up here.

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About me: My name is Elizabeth Lhuede and I founded the Australian Women Writers Challenge in 2012.  I review books on my blog – mostly psychological suspense, but AWW is broadening my tastes, so that may change. In 2015, two of my novels were published as ebooks by Escape (a digital imprint of Harlequin) under my pen-name, Lizzy Chandler. They are Snowy River Man, a rural romance, and By Her Side, a romantic suspense You can read what AWW participants thought of them by following the links on our database here. (Please let me know if that doesn’t work!)