1. Who were the authors?
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Sources vary. But if I had to take a stab at it...
all of the "Historical" books of the Old Testament (Torah up through Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah) were likely held as oral traditions until during/after Babylonian Exile (approx 500 BCE) when the Israelite priesthood wrote it down. When Ezra says "oh look, we FOUND the book of the law!" he probably meant, "oh look, we got a written copy! Sweet!" Tradition holds that Moses wrote the Torah...he probably didn't write it though. He probably just told people what went down. Again, Oral tradition.
the Poetry/Wisdom literature (Psalms/Proverbs/SoS/Ecclesiastes/Job) who knows. Probably some guys sitting in a field tending to sheep or something. Tradition says David did Psalms, and his son Solomon did most of the rest. I wouldn't doubt that Solomon or a close, wise friend of his helped write Ecclesiastes. And David and his court probably wrote most of Psalms. Other than that, I put my hands in the air.
The rest of the Old Testament are the Prophets. For the most part, I would hold that the name attached to the book is the author. However, as many scholars have noted, it is likely that the book of Isaiah was written by three different people during different times. I think this is probably true.
2. What languages did the authors use when writing it? (My knowledge - Hebrew and Aramaic - may be more, though)
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Hebrew and Greek, sir! Aramaic is what Jesus spoke, but the original transcription itself had it all translated to Greek. Which means that from the start, Jesus' words were being filtered through language translation. A few of his phrases were left in Aramaic: "eloi eloi lama sabacthani" (or something to that effect) was a famous one.
There are also some small sections of the Bible where the original transcriptions quote something from another language. I believe there may be some Persian found in the historical texts post-exile (Ezra/Nehemiah, maybe 2nd Chronicles).
3. In what part of the world was it written? (My knowledge - Middle East?)
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Modern-day Israel, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Greece, Italy, and some areas bordering those countries.
4. What material was it written on?
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Wow...I don't know. If it is to be believed, the first bits were written on stone tablets (10 commandments). Other than that, maybe some Papyrus, and some animal skins? Whatever was used for Scrolls in 800 BC - 100 AD would have been it.
5. How was it preserved?
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the material, or the language? As I said, it's likely that almost all of the Old Testament started as oral tradition, and the same argument can and should be made for the Gospels. After that, people made lots of copies. In the post-Biblical-era, it was preserved best in the Monasteries of Europe (including the British Isles).
6. In what year or years was it written? What was the original release date?
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The Bible as it stands now? That would be 430 AD, the council of Chalcedon. Most people think it's the council of Nicea, but they aren't paying attention. Nicea brought about a creed, and some filtering down of texts that would be declared "false/heterodox" Gospels. But the full canonization of the Bible took place at Chalcedon. An interesting note: Revelation just BARELY made it in. Jerome thought it had no place in the Bible proper.
In terms of writing, I hold to the fact that the first writings started during the time of the Prophets and exile/post-exile, around 600-500 BC. The writing probably ended by 110-120 AD with Revelation and the formation of the "proper" synoptic Gospels of Matthew/Mark/Luke (earlier versions exist, but they were collated to cover events fairly similarly in the early 2nd century).
7. How many other books were written at the same time the Bible was written? What is/are the title(s)?
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If you include little historical records, PLENTY. In terms of large, thoughtful works, we have all the greats: Gilgamesh, Iliad, Odyssey, everything written by Plato/Aristotle/other Greek Philosophers, all the way down to Ovid and Cicero (Roman times). I don't know what Asian writings exist alongside it.
8. What was the motivation for writing it? (Most people were illiterate, so my suspicion is that the authors did not intend to get rich.)
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They wrote it for historical preservation and to have a way to "prove out" their oral tradition, so they could say "YES, this is what we've believed and held to for generations." Such is the case for all religious texts, yes? Well, maybe not L. Ron Hubbard. He did it to get rich. 
9. Who originally came up with the idea? In other words, is The Bible based on previously written material or is it original? (I want to know if the character in the story known as "God" was made up or if it was borrowed from previously written material. The inventor of "God" is similar to the inventor of addition; simple idea, big impact.)
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I wouldn't boil down concepts of God and a simple mathematical function to some sort of similarity. Nor would I necessarily argue that God was invented. But many scholars believe the Jews founded monotheism proper (though there are historical contenders, I'm told. The Jews won the popularity contest with Yahweh though, to be sure). As for the Bible being based on previously written material, the myriad accounts of a global flood in tons of cultures suggests that either a) they all borrowed it from one original source or b) a large flood actually happened and everyone had their own take on it. I think it might be b), and I think the flood may have been the eastern end of what is now the Mediterranean (and the filling of the Black Sea...or something like that).
Other possible borrowed themes? Well, the whole Jesus resurrection "Son of God" stuff...there are theories that it all goes back to CRAZY ancient pagan and other polytheistic teachings. See "Eastern Mystery Cult." Or the Zeitgeist video on YouTube. I don't buy into it, but it's certainly compelling evidence.
10. Into what language or languages was it initially translated after having been written?
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Latin. Interestingly enough, the Church of the time (7th century) did this so it could be in the vulgar (common) tongue. They WANTED everyone who was literate to be able to read this. Over time, that motivation was LOST, and as Latin went out of use everywhere except the church, the Roman Catholic church fought *hard* to keep everything in Latin, despite the fact that people spoke other languages.
The Eastern Orthodox Church kept a Greek translation, and early missionaries probably had sections of Scripture translated into native languages of other peoples (there is evidence that some of the Gospels were made into Chinese as early as the 4th century AD).
The most well-known translation after Latin was the German translation done by Martin Luther, printed by the Gutenberg Press. PLENTY of historical corroborating evidence here, of course.
11. Is the original copy extant?
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Um...no. How can you even say "original copy"? The Bible is made up of multiple "originals," and then it was all compiled in the 5th century AD. So does THAT original copy exist? Again, no. Unless the Vatican has it stored somewhere. Anything before that is definitely gone by now.
12. How did people get The Bible when it was first released? (I would presume that bookstores did not exist, simply because they did not make books as we know them back then. Furthermore, any additional copies beyond the "first print" would had to have been hand copied. I'm just curious as to how people acquired written material before regular books and the printing press.)
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Scrolls were copied. The "keepers of the law" (Pharisees, Saducees, Scribes) took care of this from Babylonian Exile onward for the Old Testament. As for the New Testament? People scrambled to make copies of that stuff. In the meantime, though, others would inject their own stories, and create what are now the "Gnostic Gospels" and other apocryphal texts that would get weeded out at the Council of Chalcedon.
13. Are there any surviving reviews from the time of the original release date? Did anyone even write a review?
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No. Did you ever hear of anyone reviewing the Iliad before, say, Christendom? Book reviews weren't a trendy thing to do for a loooong time.
