Operaton EBook Drop: Free Books for Deployed Soldiers
November 2, 2009 by Lillie
As you know if you’ve read my blog for a while, I’m a big supporter of our military troops. I try to do anything I can to thank the brave men and women who risk their lives daily to protect our freedoms.
So I am excited about Operation EBook Drop (OED), a program through which authors can offer their books to deployed soldiers for free.
Updated: in early December 2009, Operation EBook Drop started its own Web site and forum at Operation EBook Drop.
It started simply enough when an author and a deployed soldier met online. The soldier mentioned that he had a Kindle
but couldn’t download books from Amazon because the Whispernet didn’t work in Iraq. The author, Ed Patterson, offered to send the soldier a copy of each of his books.
Then Ed invited other authors on the Kindleboards forum to join him. Other soldiers asked for books, and the program grew quickly. As soon as I heard about it, I contacted my clients and asked if they wanted to join me in this project. Most of them did, and I have been busy adding their books and mine. We make the books available for sale on Smashwords.com, an e-book publisher and distributor. We then create a coupon for military members that gives them a 100% discount. I contacted Ed to get my clients and me added as OED authors. Ed sends us the names of military members requesting free e-books, and we e-mail the soldiers with information about our books and the Smashwords discount.
E-books from Smashwords can be read on a computer, Kindle
Please pass on the information about Operation EBook Drop to any members of the military you know and encourage other authors to contribute their books.
Logo Credit: From the Imagination and Graphic Artistry of K.A. M’Lady & P.M. Dittman
As i am not a writer but i also love all my military troops cause my cousin is also in the same field hence from me i will only say that i can forward this message to all of my friends & as well as to the blog members!thanks!
Tom@seo services´s last blog ..SEO Services updated Sat Oct 24 2009 5:18 am CDT
Tom,
Thanks for spreading the word. And thanks to your cousin for his service.
Hi Lillie,
It is great that you always do something for the society. Solider are really brave man it is good to support them.
jack@Led TV´s last blog ..POWER CONSUMPTION
jack,
This is a very simple thing for me to do, and I’m glad to do it.
I served in the military for four years; and I like what you do. I will definitely be sharing your blog with some of my friends. Thanks
Deborah@ Symptoms of Panic Attacks´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at
Deborah,
Thank you for your service, and thank you for spreading the word.
I think that Operation E-Book looks like a really neat project and that it could really have a really big impact on our soldiers.
After doing a little poking around on the Smash World site, I really like the direction it is headed in as well. In terms of publishing, it seems like a rather innovative step. It will be interesting to see how the site develops…
Steve@Lift Chairs´s last blog ..Choosing a Safe Standing Aid
Steve,
I’m impressed with Smashwords as well. They now have distribution through Barnes & Noble and the Sony bookstore, though it’s taking a little time to make the transition.
Another good way to support our men & women in uniform. I will certainly pass this information on to families of military members; perhaps we can make a huge push with it between now and Christmas.
Matt,
Great idea to promote this for Christmas. Thanks for spreading the word.
This is very nice idea to serve our soldiers, since they are serving us its our duty to help them as much as we can do and this is the best one i’ve ever been through.
Jason,
Yes, we owe it to our troops to do all we can for them since they give so much for us.
Hi Lillie, the Operation EBook Drop project is indeed a noble help to service men. I truly admire you for initiating this project because like you, I also heart soldiers and other service men who protect and fight for the nation.
I hope that your initiative and generosity will be followed by others regardless of their race and nationality. More power and thank you for you kind heart.
Julie,
I didn’t initiate this. Author Edward Patterson started it, as described in the post. All I have done is join myself and encourage my author clients to do so as well.
First time on your site and I really like the fact that you do something for the men and women in uniform. Thank you for the information and I will pass on your site and how to donote books to other people. Thank you again.
Debb,
Thank you for telling others about Operation EBook Drop.
That is a great idea! Sounds stupid but I never thought of how our military receives content oversees. Recently, I was speaking with a friend who sells protective “skins” for devices like the Kindle and she was shipping them overseas to troop in Iraq.
I will definitely pimp your effort.
Thanks.
Dena,
Thanks for supporting the cause. Most of us probably never stopped to think about military members’ reading and leisure time activities.
That is a brilliant idea! I hope this is a very successful program. It sounds like it already will be. I am definitely telling friends about Op eBook Drop and will mention it to a couple of the authors I know.
Patrick,
Thanks for helping to inform others about Operation EBook Drop. It’s already doing well, and I know it will to grow.
I love the whole concept of the operation ebook drop, sounds very interesting & challenging. I envy your strong efforts towards the military. Just want to let you know I am with you & I am going to spread the word around. This is the least we can do for them in return of what they do for us.
Steven,
Thanks for your support. I appreciate your spreading the word.
Lillie,
My heart goes out to every one of the American soliders (and indeed, every solider, from every nation across the world) who is contributing to the peacekeeping efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan or any other peacekeeping effort around the world.
These are women and men who sacrifice so much – long periods of time away from family and friends in a foreign country, knowing they could be seriosly injured or killed at any time, being denied many of the comforts which ordinary citizens enjoy.
For their courage and bravery, they are all owed our support. In this regard, the OED program sounds like a wonderful initiative for yourself and other authors to show how much you care about what they are doing.
Good on you for taking part.
Andrew´s last blog ..Should models be sacked for being ‘too fat’
Andrew,
Though donating books seems like a small thing compared to the sacrifice our servicemen and women make, I’m glad to do what I can to show my support.
This is a fantastic idea for deployed soldiers! In theory, I would love to be a part of something like this, but the only e-books I have written are freelance on how to topics
I’m also very excited to see all of the causes that you are involved in, inspirational!
C,
How-to e-books are popular, and I’m sure there are some soldiers who would be interested in your topics. You can sign up at Smashwords if you’re not already. It doesn’t cost anything to participate, and if even one member of our military finds your e-books helpful, it’s worthwhile.
e books are worlds online source of learning.really great thought you shared here.appreciate your work dear.we all are with you and do our best.
monika,
I hope many writers who have e-books available will participate in this great project.
What a wonderful and noble idea. I will spread the word as much as I can. We sometimes don’t realize that our armed forces can be deprived of some basic luxuries that we all take for granted.
Brent @ Electronic eBook Reader´s last blog ..The Kindle EBook Reader – Why It Still Rocks The Competition
Brent,
Thanks for helping to spread the word. If anyone needs a little respite and escape from the real world, it’s our deployed troops!
What a great idea ! The world needs people like you! Thanks
Salim´s last blog ..Cure for Panic Attacks – Help Guide updated Tue Dec 1 2009 10:50 pm CST
Thank you, Salim. The ones who deserve credit are the author who came up with this idea and organizes it all, and above all, our brave soldiers who sacrifice for our security.
I love reading & have just started using the Kindle EBook Reader & it’s fabulous.
Anyone who reads a lot needs to take a look at the Kindle 2
lindy,
E-book readers are even more useful for deployed soldiers who don’t have access to a lot of books. Consider a Kindle or other e-book reader as a gift for a loved one in the military. And please help spread the word about Operation EBook Drop to fill all the e-book readers of soldiers with free books.
This is a very good effort for those deployed in the field. This will greatly help them and they would be greatly appreciated. (Link removed by moderator)
Linda,
I’m excited about this opportunity and hope everyone spreads the word to family and friends who are deployed so soldiers can take advantage of it.
I agree with Lindy and Lillie. Ebooks are great for our soldiers as they can take them anywhere in their pocket and fill them up with books and information when they’re home.
Who knows they can probably download from where they’re posted too.
Good idea.
Ken,
Yes, it is a great program.
What a great idea. I was never more surprised then when one of my e books was purchased by a sailor on an aircraft carrier in the the middle east.
Tom,
That’s one of the great advantages of e-books—they’re accessible anywhere, anytime.
And who needs books to read more than soldiers/sailors/airmen/Marines? They are caught between times of high tension and danger and times of extreme boredom and isolation. They need something to distract them from the tension and danger and to alleviate the boredom. Fiction and nonfiction such as biographies are wonderful escapes. And many military members want to prepare for their future after they return to “normal” life, so nonfiction books that educate them are invaluable.
I’m glad to my little part in supporting the troops through Operation EBook Drop.
Thanks for supporting our troops in you effort to make them feel more connected to the real world.
walds at free tips to lose stomach weight´s last blog ..Free Tips To Lose Stomach Fat
walds,
I’m glad to have the opportunity to help in this small way.
that is really awesome. I am glad there are people out there who care enough about our soldiers to try and make their life over there as Americanized as possible. good job
Brent at internet marketing affiliate program´s last blog ..Making the best of your affiliate programs
Thanks, Brent. This is an easy project to be involved in but one that is very worthwhile.
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