Suspend Your Disbelief

Posts Tagged ‘charity’

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Help give away 1,000,000 books on World Book Night!

by Celeste Ng

If you love a book, then give it away. Isn’t that how the saying goes? World Book Night launched in the UK in 2011, with thousands of people handing out copies of paperbacks. This year, it’s taking place in the U.S. too, on April 23, with plans to give away a MILLION books for free to “new or light readers.” The list of books includes lots of great titles, including The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, Little Bee by Chris Cleave, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Colllins, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao […]


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Milk + Bookies

by Celeste Ng

In addition to possibly having the best name for a literary charity ever, Milk and Bookies has a worthwhile mission: to bring children books AND to teach children about giving. Says the organization’s site: At Milk + BookiesTM events, boys and girls are provided the opportunity to select, purchase and inscribe books that are then donated to their peers who do not have access to books of their own. The fun-filled events feature music, story time and, of course, milk and cookies. […] Milk + BookiesTM combines two essential and worthwhile efforts: literacy promotion and service learning. While the book […]


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Reminder: Dzanc Books Fourth Annual Write-a-Thon Fundraiser Starts Today

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Each year Dzanc Books hosts a Write-a-Thon to raise money for their charitable endeavors–The Dzanc Prize, the Dzanc Writer-in-Residence Program, Dzanc Day, and numerous other service-oriented endeavors that put writers in communities and classrooms around the country. This year’s Write-a-Thon starts today and runs through Sunday. Though there’s still time to participate! Sponsor a Writer The easiest way to support Dzanc is to sponsor one of the participating authors, a line-up that includes such writers as Laura Van Den Berg, Matt Bell, Eugene Cross, Kellie Wells, and Brian Sousa. Click here for the complete list. Donate No donation is too […]


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Lit doing good

by Celeste Ng

It might be made up, but fiction can still do a lot of very practical good in the world Here are three recent examples: 1. Tornado relief: In the wake of the tornadoes that devastated Alabama in April, author Shiloh Walker pledged to make a donation of $1 to United Way for every comment left on her blog post. (Via.) 2. Japan earthquake relief: In collaboration with Japanese editor Motoyuki Shibata, A Public Space has launched Monkey Business: New Voices from Japan, an annual English-language version of Shibata’s Japanese journal Monkey Business. To aid relief efforts for the recent earthquake […]


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A story with that cardigan?

by Lee Thomas

In keeping with the shorter nights of winter, and later retail hours of the holiday season, throughout December Anthropologie will offer Bedtime Stories Reading Hour for kids at locations across the country. Now, I’m normally wary of attempts to lure me into stores – but this hits home. I remember an infamous visit to the department store that ended in a trip to the dentist for my brother when he careened into a clothing rack during a game of chase. Yep, we were those kind of kids. Our mother would have been so grateful for a story hour to keep […]


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Give a kid your favorite book

by Lee Thomas

First, thanks to Jeffrey Rotter for bringing this to FWR’s attention. This Saturday, ReadThis hosts Book Drives for NYC Kids and Teens in three locations around New York. Have a book that changed your life when you were 8? I always think of Madeleine L’Engle’s wonderful flights of imagination, A Wrinkle In Time gave me the craziest dreams as a kid, and made the woods seem full of mystery and magic. Give that experience to a kid in our community: What: Book Drives to collect gently used (or new) books for NYC kids in need When: Saturday, December 4, 2010 […]


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3rd Annual Dzanc Books Write-a-Thon

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Take a day off to write next week. Or maybe just an afternoon. Either way, you can disconnect for a few hours, put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, and in the process help raise money for Dzanc Books. Each year Dzanc holds a Write-a-Thon to raise money for their Writer-in-Residence Program and the Dzanc Prize. These charitable programs help put writers into schools and other places like VA hospitals, prisons, and refugee communities. So you’ll not only be helping a great nonprofit organization, but also setting aside some time for yourself and your work. As someone who’s participated […]


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Tin House: Buy to Submit; Dzanc: Buy to Donate

by Celeste Ng

Tin House Books has a new way to encourage you to support bookstores. GalleyCat reports: Between August 1 and November 30, 2010, Tin House Books will accept unsolicited manuscripts with one special condition–the submission must include a receipt that proves the author has purchased a book at a bookstore. Any manuscript sent without a receipt will be returned unread. The new policy is part of Tin House’s “Buy a Book, Save a Bookstore” campaign. The Tin House Books website notes: Writers who cannot afford to buy a book or cannot get to an actual bookstore are encouraged to explain why […]


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THIS WEEKEND: Haiti Relief at Greenlight Bookstore

by Anne Stameshkin

In my old (and much-missed) neighborhood of Fort Greene in Brooklyn, the fabulous Greenlight Bookstore is doing its part to raise money for Haiti. NYC-based readers, shop at Greenlight today and tomorrow to help! Via the store’s newsletter: A lot has been given to us at Greenlight Bookstore. It’s high time for us to give back. The earthquake in Haiti has affected many of our Brooklyn neighbors, and we want to do what we can to assist in the relief efforts there. So, this weekend, Saturday January 23 and Sunday January 24, Greenlight Bookstore will donate 10% of all sales […]


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Publishers Send Aid to Haiti

by Celeste Ng

They may be in dire financial straits, but several publishers are reaching out to Haiti anyway. GalleyCat reports that Random House is donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund and Partners in Health. Its parent corporation, Bertelsmann AG, is adding 100,000 euros, while Time/TIME Inc. is releasing a book on Haiti with proceeds to benefit earthquake victims. If you’re still looking for ways to donate, here are some options: SMS text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief effort; it will appear on your phone bill SMS text “YELE” to 501501 to Donate $5 […]




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