Trading Books for Donations

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

Today I'm at my favorite event: Art & the Vineyard—a Eugene festival celebrating local artists and winemakers. I love interacting with readers and writers in this gorgeous outdoor venue, under a bright blue sky!

This time will be different though. Every dime I take in will go to the new charity I founded, Housing Help. This project has been on my to-do list for years, and last month, I finally had the time, money, and head space to launch it.

In brief, the foundation's mission is to help people who are facing a housing crisis. Our first priority is to get homeless families into a place of their own. We also hope to prevent people who have had a financial setback from becoming homeless. You can read more at the website if you're interested.

The sticky issue is how to use my public profile to raise money for this great cause—without using this cause to increase my public profile and/or sell more books. I'm not sure I can do one without indirectly doing the other, but I'm going to try. I've struggled with this issue for years and even blogged about my conflicted feelings regarding the interplay of bookselling and charity. My perspective keeps evolving.

But I know my heart is in the right place. I've made significant private donations to the foundation already, and I'll continue to do so, for as long as I can.

The book sales for the A&V event are just another opportunity to make a donation. Consequently, there are no conditions, thresholds, or percentages. Every dime goes to Housing Help, and I'll give a donation receipt to everyone who buys books—letting readers take the tax break. That way, they can be generous, be certain their money is going to the cause, and get credit for their charity.

Eventually, I plan to set up apps on my website, as well as the foundation's, that will offer readers/donators a signed book for every contribution of a certain amount, say $25. Again, the money will go directly to Housing Help, and the reader/donator will get a tax-deductible receipt.

This seems like a viable way to raise money for the cause without directly benefiting from it. If you have other ideas, please share them. And if you live in the Eugene area, stop in and say Hi. Maybe trade a donation for a book. 

Should Charity Be Profitable?

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

A news story this week asked “Is ABC Going too Far in Covering Robin Roberts Illness?” The journalist was speculating about whether the network’s “concern” had crossed the line to exploitation in an attempt to boost ratings.

It’s a very fine line and a subject I’ve been thinking about a lot lately because it applies to authors, charity, and book sales. Many authors have donated the profit, or part of the profit, of a new book to charity, typically a charity or medical cause that corresponds with a theme in the story. And in doing so, they boost their sales and visibility.

On the surface, this seems noble, and we did it here on this blog when the tornado tore apart Joplin Missouri. Those of us with published books donated all our profits during a certain time period—and others made cash donations—to a Joplin family, who was very grateful for the help. I even think it was my idea.

But the more I ponder this trend, the more I believe that for myself, charity needs to be separate from commerce. Any donation I make should be done out of compassion and goodwill alone—without profiting from it directly through increased sales.

But why not accomplish both things at once, when it seems so expedient? I’m not sure I can articulate why I’ve come to feel this way. Except that rooting for your book to sell is a completely different emotion and experience than sending money to help others in need—perhaps even a contradictory one.

I understand why authors do this. Their hearts are in the right place. And the readers who buy those books are even more commendable. They’re figure they’re going to spend money on books anyway, so why not make a donation to charity at the same time?

Many businesses also run these campaigns. A pizza parlor down the street often donates part of its one-day profits to a charity, school, or foundation. Everybody wins.

And I understand what ABC is trying to accomplish: educate viewers, raise money for medical research, and boost its ratings. But has it gone too far? Probably. Charities are by definition nonprofit, and raising money for, or donating to, a cause without directly profiting from the effort seems more noble. Yet goodwill results naturally from generosity, so indirect benefits are inevitable.

I’m not saying it’s wrong for authors to connect their books to a charity. It’s just not something I’m comfortable doing myself. But I'm probably in the minority here. What do you think?

Paying it Forward With Crime

by Peg Brantley, author of RED TIDE

I'm very proud to belong to a community of writers who are involved and engaged. We care.

I want to take just a moment of your day to begin to outline to what extent.

Colorado has recently suffered some terrifying losses due to fire—horror beyond anything we've ever experienced. Particularly devastating, in terms of proximity to populated areas and the resulting loss, was the Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs. Terry Odell was the first (that I know of) who came up with the idea of contributing a portion of her royalties over a given period of time to help the victims of that fire. Terry offered to contribute 5% of her royalties over a period of time to the Red Cross. I followed suit. At the end of the period of time, I elected to donate mine to the Pikes Peak United Way, and in the end I opted for 100% of my royalties.

I'm blessed to be part of an anthology put out through the Indie Chicks where a portion of the proceeds (right now it's FREE) goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. If you're interested, our travel anthology is very aptly titled: Ms. Adventures in Travel.

Tim Hallinan released another anthology, Bangkok Noir, the proceeds from which went to benefit others. Tim also contributes a portion from his Poke Rafferty series (in my opinion one of the best ones out there) to a charity he has researched well and believes in. 

My own tribe here on Crime Fiction Collective joined forces to help a family in Joplin, Missouri after the devastating tornado that leveled that town. That was the first time I was exposed to the idea that as an indie author, I could make some business decisions that were inspired by altruism.

As readers, does it make a difference to you to know that the author you support extends that support to others? Does the concept ever induce you to purchase a book you may not have otherwise?

Who are some other writers you know of who have paid their royalties forward? I know there's more.