I wrote a guide to Book Country on my blog, but there are enough questions going around that I thought that I would take a moment to write up a quick guide for everyone who finds this part of the site. I'm not at all affiliated with penguin, this site -- I'm just a user like everyone else. I just tend to be OCD and hate seeing people confused on how to make use of a great resource like this one.

This is from the perspective of someone who was in the private beta and figured it out on her own, so this may not exactly jive with how the staff originally intended the site to work, but this is what I do to get the most benefit from it:

The first thing you should do is complete your profile as much as possible. Make sure you put all the genres that you like so you can get the best exposure to the books you want. This will also help other users find you.

The first thing I suggest that you do is take a look at the Books option in the left pane of the website. This is how you find new reading material. The page you land on when you click the Books link is the hub of the site. This shows the highest rated books and the books that are most commonly recommended to friends. These are often good reads -- or reads that could use work and others recommend them for reviews.

However, I suggest you click the Genre map before you look at favorite or Buzz books. The Genre map is one of the most brilliant parts of the website. By clicking the type of story you want to read, you are taken to a map that shows all books in that specific category. Landmark books are marked with L so you can easily check for books that are like bestselling favorites. When you click the box with your genre type, just click select this genre to go to the map.

I hang out in the epic / high fantasy category, but that is just my preference.

Once you get onto the genre map, you will see different colored squares. These squares show the color associated with a sub-genre within the category you have selected. Just click your mouse over one of the squares -- any one will do, even an L. From there, you will get the title and the author of the book. If it is a L book, or landmark book, it will show the actual cover of the novel. Clicking the book will bring up the pitch for the book and options to read & review, find similar books and view book details. I recommend you just click read & review and get started with reading if you like the pitch.

You can adjust your position on the genre map by clicking the red fountain pen nib in the mini map panel on the left side of the page, or by dragging the central genre map around. I find it is easier to use the mini map.

Once you go to read, a overlay window will appear with three text boxes on the right hand side. If you have read this book and reviewed it before -without- major changes being made by the author, you will get a "Thanks for Sharing" text. If not, you will have the three text boxes I mentioned before. There will be star ratings below each one that will unlock if you've written enough to warrant starring the category. All books will have an Overall category, but the author selects two fields they want feedback on.

At this point I am going to side-step and mention something about critiquing on Book Country. This site is really here to help writers improve and prepare for the world of publication. Rating high to get a high rating back just doesn't work. Be honest, rate honestly, and only give five stars if you would buy this book without a doubt or hesitation. If you would pay up -- right that moment -- with your credit card, rate it 5 stars. If you feel that it is publishable, or that it needs little work or just really liked it, then I would recommend 4 stars. Obviously, rate your stars as you like, but inflating the stars doesn't help anyone.

Be honest, be harsh... don't be mean. The more indepth your critiques are, the likelier that you will get similar feedback. Writing thorough critiques helps -you- improve your skills as a writer as well. The more you're able to identify problems in another person's writing, the better you will become at identifying those same problems in your own.

This is all my opinion of course, but this is what I do.

Personal opinions aside, back to the guide. Next, I recommend that you visit the People tab. You want to connect with people who write and read in the genres that you write and read. This will expose you to their writing and allow them to send you recommendations. You can follow a writer to see what they post, but connections allow you to get all of the news of a person and allow them to suggest a recommendation of books, discussions and comments that might be of interest to you.

I don't get a lot of recommendations, but when I do, I tend to make good use of them or critique. Especially if it is a recommendation of work that is not of the person sending it. I get a mix of that, and I find I will critique almost anything recommended to me if I get the time.

Once you start getting connections, you will begin being able to make use of Books You're Following. You need to click the follow button for the book you follow, but this will update you whenever a change, comment or critique/review is written of a book. I almost always check out what others are saying about a book I follow. This lets me know if my review was suitable for the book and it helps me improve my reviewing skills.

The biggest thing about this site, once again entirely my own opinion, is that you get out of it exactly what you put into it. It takes time and effort to do the critiques and reviews, but it is well worth the effort at the end of the day for me.

I strongly recommend following discussions that you are interested in. As the site grows, it can get harder to check the conversations you want to follow. The following discussions panel lets you see exactly what is going on with the discussions that you are interested in.

That is the basic 'core' of the site. It is pretty easy, but as you play with the site, it will get easier to use.

I hope this helps a little for those who have questions.