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One of my favorite parts of RWA Nationals is the Literacy for Life Signing, which is happening in Orlando today. Over 500 authors and their publishers are donating their profits to a group called ProLiteracy, an international organization dedicated to spreading literacy among adults.Did you know that there are 18 million adults in America who can't read a newspaper or fill out a job application? And of all the people worldwide who are illiterate, 2/3 of them are women.
For as long as I can remember, books have been my friends. I can't imagine living by my own thoughts alone. That's why I feel so passionately that this is an organization worth supporting, even though I'm not at Nationals this year.
So, for the rest of the week, I'm having a 'literacy signing' of my own. The Book Oasis in Stoneham, MA keeps all my titles in stock. They will ship anywhere. If you buy one of my autographed books from them between now and Sunday August 1st, I will write a check for the entire purchase price and send it to RWA National to be included in their donation to ProLiteracy. (Ok, now's a good time to mention that my DH insisted I cap the amount at $500, but it'll still take a lot of book sales to get to that amount.) If you have a romance reader on your Christmas list, now's a good time to snag that stocking stuffer.
You can shop online at The Book Oasis or give the good folks there a call at 781.438.0077.
I hope you'll help me make that check I write a big one.
PS. I also hope you'll use the handy little gizmo at the end of this post to email this message to a friend, and post it to your blog, Twitter or Facebook to help me get the word out. Everyday, I'm thankful I can read. I bet you are too. Let's see if we can spread the joy around.
6 comments:
That's just a wonderful idea, Emily!
And how great of the Stoneham store to support your efforts!
Best of luck for many, many sales!
Ash
Thanks, Ash. Yes, the owners of The Book Oasis have been terrific and I'm always happy to support an indie bookseller too.
You're very generous, Emily.
Like you, I'm not able to attend the conference this year.
Wishing you many sales.
Thanks, Sandy. I want to support the work of ProLiteracy because being able to read impacts so much of a person's life. Imagine not being able to read to your child . . .
I so wanted to attend thwe Literacy Signing this year. Had my reservations for Nashville as doon as I could make them. So I am sitting here in Nashville wishing I were in Orlando.
I am amazed at the number of people that can not read in this area of the country. I can't count the number of times I have seen someone hand a checkbook to the clerk and had them fill out the check. The county where I was working canceled all their adult ed classes and they have one of the highest illiterecy rates in the region. My daughter was a senior when we moved here. She was shocked by the number of her classmates who coul not read. The sad part is they all graduated from High School. There is so much wrong with that.
Pat--One thing I've noticed about illiterate adults is that they find ways to cope with it, often ways to hide it. I've seen illiterates who have prodigious memories because they can't write things down.
But nothing makes up for not being able to read.
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