As if Saturday November 29 weren’t exciting enough in bookstores with Small Business Saturday and Indies First, many bookstores and authors also kicked off the #GiveaBook campaign.
The #GiveaBook campaign is the brainchild of publisher Penguin Random House, but it can involve everyone. Like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, there’s an element of drama and of tagging. It’s a way to encourage people to think about books as gifts for the holidays (and hopefully year-round), a way for book lovers to spread the word about a book they love, and an easy way to help put free books in the hands of needy children.
It all starts with a video. On Saturday at Queen Anne Book Company, we filmed many of our celebrity bookseller authors who visited for Indies First. They each told us about a book they’re giving as a gift to a friend or family member this holiday, and they each challenged three friends to do the same. When we post the videos on Facebook and/or twitter with the hashtag #GiveaBook, Penguin Random House takes note and donates a book to Save the Children for every #GiveaBook video posted– up to 25,000 books for children.
We’re having a little technical difficulty with our phone used to take the videos Saturday, so they’re not up yet on the QABC social media, but the great news is that the #GiveaBook donation window goes until Christmas. We’ll be getting ours up ASAP, though, because we hope to see this book-loving challenge zip through our social media feeds this holiday season to keep us laughing, thinking of great book gift recommendations, and helping others. For now, here’s a link to author Emma Straub participating, telling us how she’ll #GiveaBook.
You can watch all the fun unfold by searching for the hashtag #GiveaBook and following @giveabooknow on twitter and liking Give a Book on facebook.
