It truly is a time for giving and that also means donations. One way to promote a book is through donations. I recommend donating copies to organizations within your community that are running live and silent auctions. Everyone at the event will see your book either lying on a table for several hours with a bidding sheet or being held up and spoken about during a live auction.<\/p>\n
Sometimes donated items are listed in event programs, the local newspaper and\/or at the organization\u2019s website. Other times, the donation doesn\u2019t get a lot of public attention, so what are the benefits in this case?<\/p>\n
The organizers and volunteers will become aware of your book as they handle it and direct it to the right recipient. The recipient is certainly aware of it as is anyone he or she talks to about it. It is impossible to know how many people this is. It could be one or two or the total number of people who hear about or see your book as a result of one donation could be in the dozens, hundreds of thousands. <\/p>\n
As an additional benefit, this is a write-off on your income tax. And it makes you feel good when you give, whether it is to an individual at holiday time, someone in an assisted living facility, an inmate, a guest or resident at a homeless shelter, a child, a library system or someone who happens to place the highest bid on a gift basket containing your book.<\/p>\n
Dallas Woodburn, a graduate student who is also teaching writing and runs an organization for young writers, operates a book drive for children in an attempt to promote literacy each year in this month. This year, I purchased books from Karen Lee Stevens, author of \u201cAnimals Have Feelings, Too\u201d for Dallas\u2019s book drive. (The illustrator for this book is SPAWN member, Terri Rider.) http:\/\/www.allforanimals.com\/book.html<\/a> <\/p>\n