Following hundreds of bookstore and library giver receptions and two author events last week (Katherine Paterson and Terry McMillan), WBN Week goes into high gear, starting with Cheryl Strayed at Powell's Books, Portland, Ore., tonight, along with a line-up of other authors. Also, 10 WBN volunteers packed books into boxes for troops at Operation Gratitude in Van Nuys, Calif., on Saturday.
The timeline for the various #WBN14 events:
Today and tomorrow, April 21 and 22: WBN underwriting messages will air on NPR's Fresh Air
Tuesday, April 22, 7 a.m.: The free WBN e-book powered by Livrada goes live.
Tuesday, April 22, various times: Events featuring 27 WBN authors, including first-year alum Michael Connelly as a last-minute treat.
Tuesday, April 22, 6:30 p.m.: New York Public Library event featuring authors and special guests; it will be livestreamed.
Wednesday, April 23: World Book Night! National print, broadcast and online media. Major market drive-time WBN radio contests will run. 6,000 copies of Dover's WBN edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets to be handed out at Broadway theaters in New York City. 15 New York Public Library branch poetry events. Local Shakespeare company/school events from Long Beach, Calif., to Hartford, Conn.
Thursday, April 24: WBN giver, bookseller and librarian e-book essay contest opens.
Friday, April 25: Giver, media surveys.
Monday, April 28: Audio Publishers Association will offer three audio digital downloads for givers
Saturday, May 31: Essay contest deadline
WBN U.S. executive director Carl Lennertz commented: "With a tip of the cap to one of our authors, it feels like we have put in the requisite 10,000 hours, as have our amazing Ingram volunteers and booksellers and librarians. It feels like we are at a tipping point, with our social media at all-time highs pre-WBN, and local media coverage for two early stories last week--the giver map and essay contest--garnering 40 million media impressions alone. With what's still to come, I expect to double our 137 million total national and local media impressions of 2013. And thanks to TSI, who will deliver 6,000 books at four Broadway theaters Wednesday morning, the WBN team, along with YPG and Broadway League volunteers, will be busy Wednesday, and at the Slice magazine party that evening, and sleeping late Thursday!"
