A week after my first contact with Ed Patterson, and I am proud to announce that we are making good progress in developing the UK contribution to this exciting operation. We want to extend the OEBD-word amongst the full range of coalition troops in the field, and bring to all a greater range of international authors! With some alternative spellings, of course.
We Brits offer a huge big THANK YOU for the imagination and graphic artistry of K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman, courtesy of Stephanie Kelsey, COO and Editor-in-Chief at Mojocastle Press. You have excelled yourselves!
K.A. M'Lady and PM Dittman designed the original logo for OEBD and I contacted Stephanie to see if she could help out with a version that had a little bit more “British flavour”. (Flavor?) At this point, I must also thank our own British author, Shelagh Watkins, for her quick-thinking, photo-shopping, stop-gapping contribution of the Brit-ified-Eagle we have been using up to now. I am sure Shelagh joins with me in appreciating the addition of the Lion! Nice touch!
In the true spirit of cooperation that this operation represents, I believe the two logos belong side-by-side.
My concern in developing this project, for all Authors, is to offer a comparable level of validation on troop requests that Ed uses. (See Ed’s post on the kindleboard « Reply #569 on: Yesterday at 09:08:49 PM »). It has therefore been a priority for me to establish the appropriate “official” contacts within the UK military organization. I am therefore particularly pleased to announce that this action is well in hand.
I have heard, today, from my contact in the Ministry of Defence, that a senior officer has been identified to work with me in helping to develop the programme, and pushing the OEBD word out directly to the troops who will benefit the most. I hope that it will not be too long before I can announce the first successes under this initiative. However, as we all know, the military have a lot to handle at the moment, so we will be patient.
I wish you all a great weekend.
David Atkinson
OEBD UK Coordinator
(aka David Sartof)
Original art work by K.A. M'Lady & P.M. Dittman
Friday, 20 November 2009
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Operation eBook Drop - Amazing
No one is more excited about Operation eBook Drop than I am. If someone told me ten weeks ago that I would be jotting a note on a UK Blog devoted to this program, I would have said they were nutz. But here it is folks. David's efforts will bring a new dimension to the program, just as Mark Coker and Smashwords have. However, as of today, we have 240 participating authors and nearly 60 Troop points of light, that are receiving perhaps as many as 1,000 ebook 100$ off coupons for their eReaders and getting them to barracks and ship mates - we have even adopted a submarine crew - the USS Oklahoma City.
The concept is not really a concept. I didn't wake up one morning and say, let's start giving free eBooks to deployed coalition troops around the world. No. It started with one seredipitious act, and a few off-the-cuff questions. Suddenly, this informal program has become a replication of acts of kindness from a community of authors - Indie authors, that have not had a united voice or pen on any issue other than the publishing industry and the use of adverbs. (Oh, how we can go on about dangling participles).
So, here we are folks - ten weeks in, and this program is roaring along by word of mouth, paying it forward to those who defend our freedom to write and author what we will, trying to match their valor with our thanks.
Edward C. Patterson
The concept is not really a concept. I didn't wake up one morning and say, let's start giving free eBooks to deployed coalition troops around the world. No. It started with one seredipitious act, and a few off-the-cuff questions. Suddenly, this informal program has become a replication of acts of kindness from a community of authors - Indie authors, that have not had a united voice or pen on any issue other than the publishing industry and the use of adverbs. (Oh, how we can go on about dangling participles).
So, here we are folks - ten weeks in, and this program is roaring along by word of mouth, paying it forward to those who defend our freedom to write and author what we will, trying to match their valor with our thanks.
Edward C. Patterson
Monday, 16 November 2009
Operation E-book Drop…. An opening comment from the UK-side...
*** Caution: this post may contain politically incorrect comments, but made in good humour! (or is that humor?) ***
Now here is one fantastic idea! Authors contributing their books, free, to troops serving overseas.
OK, so OEBD is a US-led initiative (nothing at all wrong with that!), using US delivery platforms like Kindle e-Books and Smashwords. But, the internet is democratic, indiscriminating and accessible in some of the weirdest places – including zones of conflict – Afghanistan, for example.
Now, speaking purely as an ex-serving officer, with twenty years service in the Air Force, including a good few with NATO, I had no hesitation in personally deciding to opt into the “Operation E-book Drop project”. However, the very nature of the programme got me to thinking.
Clearly, some of the US-troops out there might baulk at my spelling. The title of my own book “River of Judgement” apparently contains a glaring typographical error that has upset at least one US citizen in another network posting, in another social world! (Two nations separated by a common language.) But, at the moment, in overseas zones like Afghanistan, there are a great many non-US and US military serving together, and it struck me that we needed more participation in this project by UK-focussed authors. Who knows (tongue-in-cheek), if we can help our lads and lasses with “English” English books, we may even help the Americans with some of their own spellings!
Joking aside, I believe anything we can do to improve the lot of all coalition troops serving overseas in zones of conflict, we should do.
At the time of this post, I have started to work with Ed Patterson, in developing UK participation in OEBD. This blog is about that participation, and I welcome the participation of UK-based authors and UK troops alike. But, as I mentioned, this is a democratic, indiscriminate place, and I hope this “zone” of focus is also of interest to others – particularly those of our US colleagues (military and authors) who may have a (secret?) passion to learn more about books in our English!
To learn how you can become involved, check out the US-links for full background info, and follow the Intro post for further details on how to participate.
My best wishes to you all, wherever you may be.
Now here is one fantastic idea! Authors contributing their books, free, to troops serving overseas.
OK, so OEBD is a US-led initiative (nothing at all wrong with that!), using US delivery platforms like Kindle e-Books and Smashwords. But, the internet is democratic, indiscriminating and accessible in some of the weirdest places – including zones of conflict – Afghanistan, for example.
Now, speaking purely as an ex-serving officer, with twenty years service in the Air Force, including a good few with NATO, I had no hesitation in personally deciding to opt into the “Operation E-book Drop project”. However, the very nature of the programme got me to thinking.
Clearly, some of the US-troops out there might baulk at my spelling. The title of my own book “River of Judgement” apparently contains a glaring typographical error that has upset at least one US citizen in another network posting, in another social world! (Two nations separated by a common language.) But, at the moment, in overseas zones like Afghanistan, there are a great many non-US and US military serving together, and it struck me that we needed more participation in this project by UK-focussed authors. Who knows (tongue-in-cheek), if we can help our lads and lasses with “English” English books, we may even help the Americans with some of their own spellings!
Joking aside, I believe anything we can do to improve the lot of all coalition troops serving overseas in zones of conflict, we should do.
At the time of this post, I have started to work with Ed Patterson, in developing UK participation in OEBD. This blog is about that participation, and I welcome the participation of UK-based authors and UK troops alike. But, as I mentioned, this is a democratic, indiscriminate place, and I hope this “zone” of focus is also of interest to others – particularly those of our US colleagues (military and authors) who may have a (secret?) passion to learn more about books in our English!
To learn how you can become involved, check out the US-links for full background info, and follow the Intro post for further details on how to participate.
My best wishes to you all, wherever you may be.
Saturday, 14 November 2009
How to participate in OEBD UK
This is a paraphrased excerpt of Mark Coker's post on Smashwords
How to Participate
Authors and Publishers - If you're a Smashwords author or publisher, email David Sartof and tell him that you'd like to offer free ebooks to participating troops. His email is #oebd#uk# @ #davidsartof#. #com (remove the #s and spaces). To create a 100%-off coupon, log in to your Smashwords account and click on the Coupon Manager link. Ed Patterson will email you book requests, and then you simply email the service member a hyperlink to your book page, and the corresponding coupon code. From your Dashboard, coupon redemptions will show up in your Sales & Payment History Report, and you'll also receive instant email notification. If you're not yet a publisher with Smashwords (why not?), you can learn how to publish with them by visiting Smashword's How to Publish with Smashwords page.
Deployed troops - All coalition military personnel deployed overseas who need multi-format ebooks are eligible. According to OEBD's founder, Ed, "If you're overseas and away from your home and loved ones, your dependence on reading might increase - and so we a gifting you ebooks for Kindle, Sony, iPhone, Blackberry etc." For free ebooks, please email David at the address above. Please note that the ebooks you receive may be shared with fellow deployed service members, but may not be distributed or shared elsewhere. Please also consider the coupon codes you receive as privileged information, not to be shared elsewhere. The participating authors are pleased to offer you their books.
How to Participate
Authors and Publishers - If you're a Smashwords author or publisher, email David Sartof and tell him that you'd like to offer free ebooks to participating troops. His email is #oebd#uk# @ #davidsartof#. #com (remove the #s and spaces). To create a 100%-off coupon, log in to your Smashwords account and click on the Coupon Manager link. Ed Patterson will email you book requests, and then you simply email the service member a hyperlink to your book page, and the corresponding coupon code. From your Dashboard, coupon redemptions will show up in your Sales & Payment History Report, and you'll also receive instant email notification. If you're not yet a publisher with Smashwords (why not?), you can learn how to publish with them by visiting Smashword's How to Publish with Smashwords page.
Deployed troops - All coalition military personnel deployed overseas who need multi-format ebooks are eligible. According to OEBD's founder, Ed, "If you're overseas and away from your home and loved ones, your dependence on reading might increase - and so we a gifting you ebooks for Kindle, Sony, iPhone, Blackberry etc." For free ebooks, please email David at the address above. Please note that the ebooks you receive may be shared with fellow deployed service members, but may not be distributed or shared elsewhere. Please also consider the coupon codes you receive as privileged information, not to be shared elsewhere. The participating authors are pleased to offer you their books.
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