Help Me Help the Victims of Hurricane Sandy
Update: As of this morning (Tuesday, November 27th) we topped $1000! Thank you, and let’s keep it going!
My older brother, Tom, has been helping with the relief effort for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. (This is one of his pictures from the devastation). Since I live several states away, I’ve pondered how I could help. Of course I’ve made donations, but then it struck me that my readers and I could join forces to have an even bigger impact. I decided that I’d donate 100% of my royalties earned on the e-book version of Secret Lives between November 21st and midnight November 30th to the American Red Cross. I made this announcement on Facebook about this time yesterday (the 21st) and I’m excited that the donation total is well over $200 already!
For those of you who like technical details, here is how this will work. Secret Lives is one of my out of print novels that I’ve made available myself as an ebook. It’s sold for any e-reader you might have: Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iPad, etcetera. I am paid royalties on the book approximately two months after the sale, so for November, I will be paid in January. However, I have online access to the records for each seller and I will know by the end of the month how many copies of Secret Lives have sold between November 21st and November 30th and what my royalties will be (they run between 35-70% of the cover price of $4.99, depending on the seller and the country in which the book is purchased. For example, foreign Kindle sales earn 35% royalties, while US and UK Kindle sales earn 70%). My plan is to write that check to the American Red Cross on December 1st. I can’t wait to do it!
If you’ve already read Secret Lives (it’s the most popular of my backlist books), I hope you’ll pass along this blog post to friends who have not yet read it. Thank you for your help!
Here are the most popular purchase links for the book in the US (though purchases in any country will be counted):
Great fundraising idea for such a worthwhile cause, how generous of you! Best of luck on the sales, it was a fabulous book and I highly recommend anyone who hasn’t read this yet to buy and support the cause! 🙂
Thanks, Julie. We’re doing pretty well so far!
What a wonderful and generous thing to do Diane…I will pass the word onto my friends at work via e-mails, especially the ones who read with kindles, etc. I loved SECRET LIVES and know everyone else will too. Your generosity is just one more thing I love about you.
Thanks Margo! I’m excite about the response!
what a wonderful thing to do!! I’ll also pass along the info to friends/family!
Thank you, Heather!
Your brother’s picture of the doll in the leaves was chilling!
I was happy to read that your contribution is growing. Please keep us updated to the generosity of all your readers. I passed this along to my friends as well. Diane, you have a very generous and kind heart.
I have tried to get this for my Sony ereader but I am from the UK and it isn’t available on the UK Sony reader store and I am unable to register for the US store. Is there any other way I can purchase a compatible copy (pdf or epub)?
Hmm, Claire, I didn’t realize it wouldn’t be in the UK Sony store. That’s out of my control, I’m afraid. Are you able to purchase through Smashwords.com? They have epub and other versions available. This is the link http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/17139 .
good luck!
Brava, Diane! Thank you!
Hi Diane,
I just started ‘Her Mother’s Shadow’ and thought I would see if you had a website. I was very surprised at the awesome website that you have. I love your books and your writing style. We enjoy vacationing in OBX (Corolla when we can) and that is why I starting reading your books. I was just given a hand-me-down Nook, so I will see about getting ‘Secret Lives’ as my first download. Happy Holidays.
Jim
Pewaukee, WI
Thanks, Jim It’s always great to hear from my guy readers!