World Book Night U.S. has a range of plans involving e-books. This year, it is making available for free to all givers The World Book Night 2014 E-book: An Original Collection of Stories and Essays by Booksellers, Librarians, and Authors. The e-book contains 10 pieces by past givers, and will be available for two weeks, beginning April 22, accessible for download to any device with a web browser as well as downloadable as a PDF to print.The eworldbooknight.org site is up now, with contributor profiles, excerpts and an e-mail alert sign-up.
Booksellers contributing to this year's e-book include Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, Greenlight Bookstore, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Susan Scott, Secret Garden Books, Seattle, Wash., Aaron Curtis, Books & Books, Coral Gables, Fla., and Sam Kaas, Village Books, Bellingham, Wash. Other contributors include former bookseller and Shelf Awareness contributing editor Robert Gray, with a story about his father; Luanne Rice, who contributed a piece about her hometown library; and Pikes Peak librarian Kirk Farber, who shared his essay about the Midwest. The e-book also contains author Sophie Hannah's introduction to the WBN edition of Agatha Christie's After the Funeral.
Two authors who have been givers and contributed pieces for the e-book are starring in two WBN e-book-focused events on Tuesday evening, April 22. Politics & Prose will host Elliot Holt, author of You Are One of Them (Penguin, trade paper, April 29), and Brazos Bookstore will host Chris Cander, author of Whisper Hollow (Other Press, Jan. 2015). See the WBN launch event map here.
Next year, WBN U.S. plans to publish more e-books. One e-book will again feature the 10 best bookseller giver essays, and the grand prize winner will receive a pair of plane tickets to BEA in 2015. A librarian essay contest will have the same guidelines and a grand prize of plane tickets to ALA.
Another e-book for next year will feature the 10 best essays submitted by this year's volunteer givers about their World Book Night giving experience. Submissions will be divided geographically, with one winner each in nine regions (a 10th region is the overseas military base category).
Executive director Carl Lennertz commented: "We've discussed a digital component for WBN since year one, but it didn't come together until the great people at Livrada stepped forward, and until two authors who were givers, Chris Cander and Elliott Holt, happily agreed to contribute pieces. Then we sought and received the fun bookseller and library contributions to the e-book.
"This is a supplement to our primary mission of printed books, not a change in direction. It's short and fun original material, and we wanted the givers to have this to offer.... Our main mission is still to find a half million people without means or access to printed books, but this digital extra is a nice plus. We also feel it's a great thank you to the 25,000 volunteer givers to enjoy as well. And now, we have the giver contest to be in next year's e-book!"