World Book Giveaway

nervous_twitch

http://www.worldbooknight.org/

Is anyone applying for this? I'm interested in participating myself; basically, you apply to be a 'book giver', and if you're successful you receive 48 books of a particular title (25 chosen titles here) to give to random people on World Book Night, 5th March 2011. You can give the books to whomever, but I think theres particular emphasis on people who don't read much (through disadvantage etc). I think its a fantastic concept, and hopefully it will encourage people to get back into the habit, or maybe even start.

Bad news being that the deadline for application is Tuesday at 9am, meaning I'll really need to focus on getting this done at some point tomorrow.

Eliot Rosewater

I knew about this but I kept it secret!

I might apply for All Quiet on the Wester Front. They say they're giving away 1 million books, but 20,000 (number of givers) times 48 (number of books given per giver) = 960,000. Perhaps givers get two other books for themselves.

It's an interesting concept. Will it encourage people to read?

nervous_twitch

well lets just say, leavin it until the last minute to post about this wasnt entirely accidental..

Unfortunately, it says the remaining 40,000 are given out by the commitee, so no free books for us. I would love to apply for Cloud Atlas, but its quite a commitment so I'm gonna give it some more thought today. I'm not too sure it'll encourage people to read, actually. We've all given non-readers books for Christmas, and most of the time they remain unread.. its no different really. I think the real benefit will be in sharing with other readers a book you really enjoyed!

sarah88

great idea, to find 48 people that would actually read them might be a challenge though!

dr gonzo

Sounds like an excellent idea but i dont fully understand it, you get 48 copies of the same book?

E.T.

Filling in the application form right now, but I'm totally stumped by the question of "how and to whom you would like to give the books". I'd like to start with my friends and family, and their friends and family, but obviously the point of the exercise is to give them to people who otherwise might not read books very often. I don't exactly want to open my house up to a public collection - and I really can't think of anywhere I could arrange to give out books at such short notice because of insurance reasons (seeing as the application has to be in tomorrow!)

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

nervous_twitch

dr gonzo wrote: »

Sounds like an excellent idea but i dont fully understand it, you get 48 copies of the same book?

Yeah, the idea is that you pick your favourite book from those listed, and if you're successful they send you 48 so you can infect others with a similar enthusiasm.

E.T. wrote: »

Filling in the application form right now, but I'm totally stumped by the question of "how and to whom you would like to give the books". I'd like to start with my friends and family, and their friends and family, but obviously the point of the exercise is to give them to people who otherwise might not read books very often. I don't exactly want to open my house up to a public collection - and I really can't think of anywhere I could arrange to give out books at such short notice because of insurance reasons (seeing as the application has to be in tomorrow!)

Yeah, this is getting me a bit as well. Would be ideal to host some kind of evening for family/friends where people could come in for a glass of wine and pick up a copy or whatever, but I don't think thats what they want. Maybe going to a retirement home, or giving copies to schools in disadvantaged areas or something? It's a lot to commit to. I guess it could be worth it though.

E.T.

Sent in the application anyway, so fingers crossed! Thanks for letting us know about it nervous twitch.

Dades

Delighted to see Northern Lights in there.
I couldn't for the life of me think of 48 people to give a book to, however.

Though if my kids were of a school-going age, I'd certainly pack the box off with them. No doubt the local Magisterium Catholic school would love it.

Amazotheamazing

Seems applications are still open?

Hard to know which book to pick, I'd probably go for All Quiet on the Western Front too, truly fantastic piece of writing, must resist the urge to cheat and pick a book I haven't read.

Travel is good

Oh thanks for that, I'll have a look. I only found out about this today & thought I had missed it.

I just found out about it earlier on the bookcrossing website
www.bookcrossing.com

IvyTheTerrible

On the Waterstone's website, the giveaway is open til January 24th so there is still a chance to take part!

baalthor

From the thread title, I thought someone had discovered a vast stockpile of World Book Encyclopedias

E.T.

Got an email saying the deadline has been extended until the 24th.

St._Andalou

I applied for this in December. My book choice was The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by le Carré.

I had put it to the back of my mind but I hope I get it now. It would be great to share that book with lots of people because it had a profound effect on me as a teenager and an adult.

If anyone wants to apply, I would say do it. It closes tomorrow, and we find out before the 28th of January (Friday).

Fingers crossed, everyone!

St._Andalou

Quick question: did anyone who applied receive a confirmation email?

Eliot Rosewater

I didn't.

E.T.

Yep I got an email last week saying thanks for applying and that the application date was being extended so they'd be in touch at a later date if I was chosen.

Travel is good

Did anyone hear if they were sucessful in getting the books? They said in the e-mail that they would let us know on 28th January.

Unfortunately I can't get into my e-mail at the moment.

Thanks.

St._Andalou

No nothing yet. Fingers crossed, though. They extended the closing date, so it's possible it will take a little longer.

EDIT: Their Twitter says we'll find out in the next few days, so it could be awhile.

E.T.

Got an email today saying they need until Monday before they can decide and let people know.

Eliot Rosewater

Yup - apparently there were 25,000 applications, and there's 20,000 spots, so people should have a good shot. (I can do ze statistics! )

hatful

Yay!!! I got an email saying I was successful. I will be receiving 48 copies of 'The Spy who came in from the Cold' by John le Carre. I'll contact the organization I was going to give them to and see if they're interested, I'm sure they will be. I'd also quite like to read it myself Muchos Gracias Senor Twitch!

nervous_twitch

Congrats hatful! Havent yet read that myself. Was anyone else successful?

Eliot Rosewater

Yup, 48 copies of All Quiet On The Western Front coming my way!

Travel is good

Yaaay! As all you young people would say!

I was sucessful, 48 copies of "Dissolution" by C.J. Sansom. I just recently read 2 other books in this Shardlake series & I really enjoyed them. So I'm looking forward to reading this one.

So far we all seem to have different books. So maybe we could share a copy? I'm willing to send on a copy to anyone who'd like one. I'm a member of Book Crossing anyway, so I hope to register these books & follow their travels around the world! See here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055897240

There's great excitement about this on the Book Crossing site.

So what is everyone doing? How do you plan to distribute the books? I'm hoping to distribute all mine through Book Crossing but I'll have to be a bit imaginative. I love this idea!

E.T.

Just got an email to say I'll be giving out 48 copies of Seamus Heaney's Selected Poems.
Travel is good, that bookcrossing idea is brilliant, I love the thought of 'releasing' books! Must get organised and figure out exactly how to give them out.

Eliot Rosewater

My sister's in Leaving Cert now, so I'm hoping to give a few to her friends - I was that age when I started reading seriously so maybe it'll rub off on them. However I'm not going to hand them out to any 'oul kid.

I don't really want to hand many of them out to established readers either, as part of the goal is to encourage new readers.

I wonder will they be strict about giving them out on that one night?

Apparently all the books will be pre-registered with Book Crossing?! There's a Book Crossing drop off point in a cafe in Cork - might put one in there!

Travel is good

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

I don't really want to hand many of them out to established readers either, as part of the goal is to encourage new readers.

I wonder will they be strict about giving them out on that one night?

Apparently all the books will be pre-registered with Book Crossing?! There's a Book Crossing drop off point in a cafe in Cork - might put one in there!

That's a good idea Eliot, to hand the books out to non-established readers. I was wondering that too, did we have to give all the books out on the one night? It might be hard to do.

I only found out yesterday that Book Crossing is coming on board. There is an active group of members in Cork, you should check it out, you sound like an ideal Book Crosser!

Anyway, hope everyone is successful, and thanks OP for tipping us off!

Eliot Rosewater

Travel is good wrote: »

That's a good idea Eliot, to hand the books out to non-established readers. I was wondering that too, did we have to give all the books out on the one night? It might be hard to do.!

I actually thought you kind of had to give books to people who don't generally read, but looking on the website I see that's not true! I'll still try to though!

Travel is good wrote: »

I only found out yesterday that Book Crossing is coming on board. There is an active group of members in Cork, you should check it out, you sound like an ideal Book Crosser!

I think I'd be a terrible Book Crosser - I simply love buying new books and keeping them on my bookshelf for ever!

St._Andalou

I was selected too. I'm delighted!

E.T.

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

Apparently all the books will be pre-registered with Book Crossing?! There's a Book Crossing drop off point in a cafe in Cork - might put one in there!

Is that definite? Love the idea of the books being passed on. I'm thinking now of giving a couple of copies each to local social centres and retirement homes. Then I'd invite friends up on the night and they can have a copy - not all of my friends would read much any more so this would cover that angle. I'll ask them to pass on the books to someone else after 6 months, and upload the details to bookcrossing.com. I'll have to put a reminder on my phone to actually text people six months down the line though!

emergingwriter

I'm selected too. 48 copies of Cloud Atlas. I've already 3 requests. I was planning to distribute them as part of my commute (a pleasant change to reading the Metro) but World Book Day is a Saturday so that's scuppered.

E.T.

That would have been a great idea emergingwriter. Does anyone know how strict they'll be about giving them out on the Saturday. It's a good day to get people together, but probably not for giving books in to some places.

hatful

'World Book night branded misguided misjudged'
Independent booksellers and authors say the million-book giveaway will damage trade and writers' incomes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/feb/10/world-book-night-branded-misguided-misjudged

whatstherush

I've been selected to give out The spy who came in from the cold, but like others strugling to think where to give them out. The only place people go on a Sat night in Ireland is the pub, and if ya give them out there, half of them will end up as beer mats by the end of the night.

E.T.

Got an email from them to say that the books can be given away during the day on Saturday the 5th, and also after that date, as long as they're not given away before then. Whew, that makes things a lot easier!

Eliot Rosewater

Most definitely! I've started making a list of people to give it to.

Travel is good

Yes, I just got an e-mail from the organisers to say we can start giving out the books during the day of the 5th. Like you all, I'm struggling about the thought of giving out all the books on the same night. As a lover of books, I'd hate to think of them being dumped on the floor of some pub. I hear some of the libraries/bookshops might be open late, that would be a safer option.

Elliott, the Book Crossers down in Cork are starting to get organised for the night. I know you said you wouldn't be a good Book Crosser (but I still think you would!!)

As far as I know the books will all be registered for you all on the BookCrossing site, so you will be able to track your books' journeys.

It sounds exciting! I don't think it will damage the author's income, it might actually raise their profile.

E.T.

I started asking friends and family (a good mixture of readers and non-readers) and have about 15 people down so far, still waiting on others. I've another ten or so earmarked for places they've recommended eg local hospitals, welfare homes etc. Getting through them faster than I thought, especially seeing as I haven't heard back from a few people yet!

E.T.

Has anyone heard anything about their pick up point? I emailed them back 2 weeks ago and haven't heard anything yet.

St._Andalou

Yeah, I got an email:

Dear xxx

We’re writing today to confirm the pickup point you’ll be using to collect your books. Your 48 copies of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold will be sent to the following address:

xxx
xxx
xxx

Your World Book Night books should arrive during this week but in advance of going to collect them, we would ask you to contact your pickup point to confirm that they have arrived. The collection point will ask you for some identification when you collect your books and this should be something like a credit card or a driving license. We also want to warn you that the box of books may be bulky so please ensure that you make adequate preparations. Please also note that if you have selected any of these titles (A Fine Balance, Northern Lights, Rachel’s Holiday, Half of a Yellow Sun, Cloud Atlas, The Blind Assassin, Dissolution, One Day, Fingersmith or Case Histories), you will have two boxes of books to collect due to the length of these particular titles. You have been warned!

Travel is good

Woo hoo! I got my books sucessfully yesterday evening. I picked a book shop with car parking nearby, and brought a shopping trolley with me. I knew I'd have 2 heavy boxes to carry.

Anyway, the books look good. They have a special cover, pre-printed for WBN. There is a label on the back where you are supposed to put the WBN registered number. Of course, no sign of any number, and I've e-mailed the organisers to ask them about that.

As far as I know the organisers are registering the books on the book crossing site see here:

http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/worldbooknight/

and they seem to be furiously registering all the books. So I'd say (hopefully) we'll hear soon!

The plan is that then you can track your books as they travel all over the world.

I'm trying to think of ways now to distribute the books. Enjoy it everyone & hope you all get your books!

Amazotheamazing

I emailed them back a collection point and have to hear anything either, will look in to it.

E.T.

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

I emailed them back a collection point and have to hear anything either, will look in to it.

Still hadn't heard back so took a chance and rang the place I'd emailed them as my pick-up point, they said they have the books ready and waiting!

Eliot Rosewater

Books!

Amazotheamazing

E.T. wrote: »

Still hadn't heard back so took a chance and rang the place I'd emailed them as my pick-up point, they said they have the books ready and waiting!

Cheers E.T. I rang the shop and still no sign but boxes are arriving in on a day by day basis so hopefully they'll arrive in time.

Yawns

I am in the same boat as to no confirmation after emailing them a pick up point. Rang the collection point there now and the lady in charge is out until tomorrow. The Lady on the phone didn't know too much about it so she said she'd try to get the manager to call me back.

Looks like I'll be ringing tomorrow to see if they are in.

Eliot Rosewater

Did your books have tracking numbers on them? Mine didn't.

St._Andalou

Eliot Rosewater wrote: »

Did your books have tracking numbers on them? Mine didn't.

Didn't the box have a barcode on the side? I assume they could be traced, but it would take awhile.