World Book Night - March 5th 2011
Yesterday was busy. Really, really busy but not in a bad way. Yesterday was World Book Night, with the main aim being to give away one million books.
It all began last December when it was being reported about this massive undertaking. The public could sign up to help. So I did. And promptly forgot about it until late January. An email landed in my inbox. I had been chosen! We were given the choice of 25 titles and I chose to give away "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters, my reasoning being that she had championed getting gay and lesbian fiction into the mainstream, something I hoped would swing it for me and my fiction. Eager to get started, I went to the World Book Night website and posted a brief message: "Hi! Anyone from the Warwickshire/Leicestershire area handing out books!". I got one reply, from a lady in the next town over. What was strange is she shares the same name as me. And we've both worked in mental health... Oh, and we're both insanely creative... And completely bonkers... Fabulous, darling, Fab-U-Lous!
So there was a frenzied month of preparations and then, yesterday, we descended on the local bookstore and created absolute havoc! There were people queuing up for free books, including, the bookstore said, people who would never normally come. We went around the market and handed them to unsuspecting people. And the response was AMAZING! It's incredible how many smiles something simple like a free book can bring. So many people loved our outfits and even more loved the books. They loved coming into the bookstore for cake and coffee and to have a browse.
Then, still in costume, we descended on a library in Kenilworth for a lock in. Now that was fun as well! Not quite as fun as handing out books to unsuspecting members of the public but fun for talking to people and making new friends. Oh, and making them smile from ear to ear with our costumes! There were cakes and drinks, quizzes and a visit from a wonderful local author (sadly I didn't get a copy of her signed book. I'll have to find it on Amazon). There were more free books than we could carry and, at midnight, after a long, and extremely fun day, we were on our way home.
World Book Night was a brilliant experiment in passing on love and karma. There was an amazing and humbling feeling about giving out free books, something which many of us pay a pretty penny to own. Yes, it may have been a selfish exercise for the publishers who are no doubt hoping to make money from this. But for those of us on the street, those of us loaded down with books to give away, it was fun. A lot of fun. And it made us smile even more than it did those giving away the books.
I'd recommended it to anyone. If you have something to give away, do it. Give it to someone random in the street. Pass on the love and the karma and, hopefully, we can make the world a better place. One smile at a time. :)
[Unlocked for posting on Facebook]
It all began last December when it was being reported about this massive undertaking. The public could sign up to help. So I did. And promptly forgot about it until late January. An email landed in my inbox. I had been chosen! We were given the choice of 25 titles and I chose to give away "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters, my reasoning being that she had championed getting gay and lesbian fiction into the mainstream, something I hoped would swing it for me and my fiction. Eager to get started, I went to the World Book Night website and posted a brief message: "Hi! Anyone from the Warwickshire/Leicestershire area handing out books!". I got one reply, from a lady in the next town over. What was strange is she shares the same name as me. And we've both worked in mental health... Oh, and we're both insanely creative... And completely bonkers... Fabulous, darling, Fab-U-Lous!
So there was a frenzied month of preparations and then, yesterday, we descended on the local bookstore and created absolute havoc! There were people queuing up for free books, including, the bookstore said, people who would never normally come. We went around the market and handed them to unsuspecting people. And the response was AMAZING! It's incredible how many smiles something simple like a free book can bring. So many people loved our outfits and even more loved the books. They loved coming into the bookstore for cake and coffee and to have a browse.
Then, still in costume, we descended on a library in Kenilworth for a lock in. Now that was fun as well! Not quite as fun as handing out books to unsuspecting members of the public but fun for talking to people and making new friends. Oh, and making them smile from ear to ear with our costumes! There were cakes and drinks, quizzes and a visit from a wonderful local author (sadly I didn't get a copy of her signed book. I'll have to find it on Amazon). There were more free books than we could carry and, at midnight, after a long, and extremely fun day, we were on our way home.
World Book Night was a brilliant experiment in passing on love and karma. There was an amazing and humbling feeling about giving out free books, something which many of us pay a pretty penny to own. Yes, it may have been a selfish exercise for the publishers who are no doubt hoping to make money from this. But for those of us on the street, those of us loaded down with books to give away, it was fun. A lot of fun. And it made us smile even more than it did those giving away the books.
I'd recommended it to anyone. If you have something to give away, do it. Give it to someone random in the street. Pass on the love and the karma and, hopefully, we can make the world a better place. One smile at a time. :)
[Unlocked for posting on Facebook]