Monday, July 05, 2010

Operation Book Drop

or, Here Begins #OpBookDrop

On Sunday, July 4, 2010, thanks to @JohnTagliaferro, inspiration struck when he posted this tweet:

A #paperback of 'Suki I: The Story of #Suki by John Tagliaferro http://amzn.to/9RArD0 is in the #romance #CrystalCity #Starbucks w/fireplace

Now, this could mean several things. As I write this, I honestly don’t know if:

A. He saw a copy of his book in the lending bookshelf of a Starbucks, was thrilled about it, and had to share. (Heavens knows everytime I see a book of mine in print in Real Life and in someone’s possession, I want to do a happy dance on the spot. Sometimes I do. But I always check for, you know, cops, mental health professionals, and animal control officers first…)

B. He unintentionally left a copy of his book behind and was lamenting its loss. As in, “Hey, tweeps, if you find This Book in This Place – it’s mine!”

C. All the hashtags form a complicated code that makes sense on one level, but on another one means “Place $1M in unmarked $10 in the paper cardboard tubes in the center of a Bounty 8-pack and leave the package under the left first-row aisle seat at the midnight screening of Eclipse” to those few in the know.

Or

D. He intentionally left the book there, spreading a little sunshine and trolling for new readers.

Regardless of his intention, it’s “D” that wows me. “D” flipped the Wouldn’t-That-Be-Cool switch. Which leads me to propose:

Operation Book Drop

I envision this as a simple way for writers to garner new readers. It doesn’t matter whether you’re self- or traditionally published. It doesn’t take much time. And it could be kind of fun. Here’s how it works:

1. Get a copy of your book. And a Sharpie.

2. Autograph the book. Then, inside the front cover, add these words:

Read me! When you’re done, please leave me someplace where another reader can find me. If you’re on Twitter, please leave a note on #OpBookDrop about how & where we met. Enjoy the read! Have a great day.

Or something to that effect.

(Optional): Include your Twitter name, if you wish.

3. Leave the book in a public place.

4. Tweet about it. Include the book’s title, Amazon.com link, & drop point. Also include the hashtag #OpBookDrop.

You never know what could happen. At the very least, someone will pick up the book & (probably) read it! What do you have to lose? One copy of your book. And – let’s face it – you already know the story by heart. Isn’t it time someone else got to read the words?

What do you think about #OpBookDrop? Comment below and let me know.

3 comments:

John Tagliaferro said...

Great treatment of that and #OpBookDrop is a fantastic hashtag.

Hope details don't spoil the story. I left the book with a Post-It (Suki Heavy Industries promotional Post-It, no less) marking where the couple's date at a similar cafe is described on page 171. Left a couple of business cards and a refrigerator magnet, featuring the cover of my latest, inside the cover too.

One varient that I heard of and rejected was leaving copies to be re-shelved at bookstores. Granted, all of mine are barcoded and in the system of the major chains and they might not sneeze at getting the full list price, rather than their retail margin, from the donation and purchase. However, their book buyers mightn be ticked at something getting shelved that they did not select.

Bangalow Accommodation said...

How funny is this story about an ambiguous tweet - thank you for making my day :)

Angela Perry said...

I love this idea! I'm totally going to do this. It's almost as much fun as geocaching...wait, not, better, because it involves books.