Do you fancy enticing people who don’t read for pleasure to open a novel and give it a try?
Applications are now open for those who would like to be a ‘giver’ on World Book Night 2012.
This entails distributing 24 copies of your chosen book (selected from a list of 25) to people who read very little. 20,000 givers are needed on April 23rd 2012. Givers must be over 16 and able to collect the 24 books from their local library/bookshop. The closing date for applications is December 31st 2011.
To apply click here. You must state where, to whom and why you want to give the books away.
A wide range of books are available to give, including Pride and Prejudice, The Book Thief and The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic. The full list is here.
I would choose to give The Book Thief but I’m still thinking about where I would hand them out. I’d want to be sure of finding people who don’t currently read much but who would appreciate the book and at least give it a proper try.
Encouraging more people to read books has to be a good thing for the publishing industry and thus, in turn, a good thing for all us writers who would like to see our work in print.
Sally Jenkins 
#1 by Patsy Collins (@PatsyCollins) on October 31, 2011 - 1:07 pm
Thanks for the link – think I’ll apply.
#2 by Sarah Pearson on October 31, 2011 - 10:33 pm
If I can think of a good place, I think I’d like to do this.
#3 by Sally Jenkins on November 1, 2011 - 6:15 pm
Patsy/Sarah – It would be good to be a part of it. I think to be in with a chance of being chosen you need to be careful about the book you select too – some may be oversubscribed & therefore you’ll stand less of a chance of being selected.
#4 by Alice on November 1, 2011 - 8:37 pm
I was a ‘book giver’ for WBN 2011 and really enjoyed doing it. I gave out ‘Case Histories’ by Kate Atkinson and spread them out between local homeless, mental health and unpaid carer’s charities. As I gave them to the organisations themselves, I don’t know exactly where they went but very much hope that they reached people who wouldn’t normally get much chance to read.
I agree with you, Sally that it’s good to think about which book to choose. Lots of people wanted to give out ‘The Curious Incident’ and ‘The Life of Pi’ but they were incredibly popular and lots of people were disappointed.
Good luck to all those applying!
#5 by Sally Jenkins on November 2, 2011 - 12:37 pm
Thanks for letting us know your experience, Alice. I now need to consider which book & where to give it.