The Bookworm Box is the brainchild of Author Colleen Hoover, who is known for her generosity in general. But this endeavor was a little different.
"I've been wanting to do something on a large-scale basis since I started writing books as a way to pay it forward for all that has happened to me in the past few years," she said in a post on her CoHorts fan page. "This seemed like a good way to benefit both readers and charities..."
It started out as an online store only. Once a month, readers could order one of the limited boxes, not knowing what books they would receive. It was a complete surprise to the readers. But they ate it up, sometimes snagging up all boxes in less than five minutes.
But here's the really great part. All the books are donated by the authors. All the swag is donated by the authors. All the boxes are packed by volunteers. Which means 100% of all the proceeds goes to charity.
All $90,000 plus in the first three months of operation.
While it might be largest charity fundraiser in the Indie book community these days, The Bookworm Box isn't the only one.
More and more authors are joining together with other authors to create anthologies for charities. Like this one....
100% of the proceeds of the Ugly Cry anthology is going to benefit the Moyer Foundation, that helps children going through the grief process.
Author Stacey Grice says that being apart of raising money to help others makes her feel like her skills are going to good use.
"The fact that this anthology will benefit children going through the grieving process is icing on the proverbial cake," she says. "I couldn't possibly be more proud to be included."
(By the way, Ugly Cry, The Anthology releases on June 22nd. We'll post links as soon as the pre-order option is up and running.)
While it seems like more and more authors are jumping on the charitable bandwagon, this isn't a new concept.
For instance, you may have seen this picture on your newsfeed at some point...
For the past three years, dozens of authors have joined together in the month of May to do giveaways and author take overs on Facebook, all in the name of raising money for The Keith Milano Memorial Fund, which specializes in raising awareness about suicide prevention. It has done so well, that in the last three years of author events, almost $200,000 has been raised. And the numbers for last month's event continue to roll in.
Part of the money comes from the authors pledging a certain percentage of their May sales to be donated as well. Many of them say the topic of suicide is close to their hearts, which is why they do it year after year.
"I take part every May not just to raise money, but so that we TALK," Author Sawyer Bennett says. "Talk about mental health issues and the more we talk, the more we understand. The more we understand, the more we remove and social stigma surrounding it."
Author Tina Reber agrees.
"If raising awareness can prevent one single death, then every ounce of effort put out is worth it," she says.
Regardless of why authors choose to get involved with these kinds of fundraisers, the numbers make one thing pretty clear...readers love it. So much so that hours before The Bookworm Box opened it's doors, this line was already forming...
At 7:30am.
By the time 10 o'clock rolled around and the door opened, hundreds of people were waiting to step inside and check it out.
And just like the online store, readers went nuts. In a good way. In fact, The Bookworm Box raised over $10,000 for charity during the grand opening alone.
But I don't think that's a huge surprise to many of us. By nature, readers tend to be sensitive, emotional people. If you tug at their heart strings, they will respond. And if you show them a way to help, they will jump on it.
So keep doing fundraisers, authors. And keep on getting involved, readers. Together, the Indie community is making a difference. One book at a time.
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