2009 January - Better World Books Blog - Book Reviews, Author Interviews, Community Outreach & more

$10,184,799.20

63,271,794

Xavier and Twitter

Posted by admin on 01.09.2009 at 9:42 am

For all you tweet lovin’ folks out there, Xavier just signed up and will be tweeting over @BWBXavier. Also, if you haven’t gotten the word, check out @BWBooks for our normal feed.

Lastly, did anyone see how many people tweeted about our TechCrunch story yesterday? I counted over 100… crazy. Check out the tweets at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=better+world+books

Have your say » | Tagged The Man Behind the Curtain, twitter, xavier

Show Us Some Love: Techcrunch

Posted by admin on 01.08.2009 at 2:48 pm

Techcrunch just gave us a major shout-out about our December numbers.

An excerpt:

Better World doesn’t charge any shipping fees for shipments within the US (and only $3.97 worldwide), and every order gets shipped carbon neutral with offsets from Carbonfund.org. Unlike traditional for-profit companies, Better World Books adds a social component to everything it does as a commercial venture. So far, the company has converted more than 16.4 million donated books into $5 million in funding for literacy and education.

Have your say » | Tagged Show Us Some Love

Poll Wednesday: Presidential Reading

Posted by admin on 01.07.2009 at 3:04 pm

Today’s question is about the Commander-in-Chief: Do you believe Karl Rove when he says that G.W. Bush has read almost 100 books in 2006 and about 50 each in the last two years?

5 Comments » | Tagged Poll Wednesday, books, karl rove, president george w bush, reading

Karl Rove vs. President Bush Book Challenge

Posted by Jack on 01.07.2009 at 2:59 pm

Karl Rove, courtesy of the WSJ:

With only five days left, my lead is insurmountable. The competition can’t catch up. And for the third year in a row, I’ll triumph. In second place will be the president of the United States. Our contest is not about sports or politics. It’s about books. It all started on New Year’s Eve in 2005. President Bush asked what my New Year’s resolutions were. I told him that as a regular reader who’d gotten out of the habit, my goal was to read a book a week in 2006. Three days later, we were

Have your say » | Tagged Uncategorized, books, george w bush, karl rove, reading, speed reading

Music and Moments

Posted by Chip on 01.07.2009 at 1:03 pm

Have you ever had a beautiful moment ruined by music?

I had a beautiful first kiss take place in my car on one romantic, rainy night in college. We were warm in each others arms while it poured rain outside. It was a perfect moment. A moment that suddenly crumbled when I recognized the song playing on the radio at that moment was _______(insert a song that you despise). If only _______(insert a song you love) was playing on the radio that would have been perfect. I decided to leave out actual song Read more…

5 Comments » | Tagged Flabbergasted

Book Publishers and a Changing Landscape

Posted by Jack on 01.06.2009 at 2:50 pm

Over on the New York Times Books section the pillory of publishing houses continues as ritzy lunches and lavish corporate outings are scrutinized. This is no outsiders barrage though. Unlike the one we’ve seen in automobiles and finance groups, this is primarily the internal struggle of an industry trying to grapple with its own unsustainable excesses.

As the article points out:

Just two weeks before announcing staff cuts and a substantial corporate restructuring in December, the publishing giant Macmillan gathered its sales and marketing staff at the historic Hotel del Coronado in San Diego —

1 Comment » | Tagged Book & Author News, james patterson, new york times, on my soapbox, the book industry

Week in Review: December 29-January 2

Posted by admin on 01.05.2009 at 2:39 pm

What you missed while traveling in time on your bicycle…

-We’ve raised over $5 million for global literacy!
-We wanted to know if you keep your resolutions
-Jack wrote about 2008
-Chip talked functional gifts

Have your say » | Tagged Week In Review

Better World Books Raises $5 Million!

Posted by Jack on 01.01.2009 at 9:01 am

A wise man once told me “people dramatically overestimate what they can accomplish in a day, and dramatically underestimate what they can accomplish in 5 years.”

When this crazy ride started, in 2003, no one knew what they would be able to accomplish. They often had to scan hundreds of books in given days (there’s the overestimation bit), but no one could have imagined that 5 years down the road Better World Books would have raised $5.2 million for global literacy.

It’s taken hard work, it’s taken commitment, and it’s taken time, the payoff couldn’t be any sweeter. What started as an effort between friends to raise money for a local community center transformed into something bigger than anyone could imagine. Proceeds from every book you buy go towards making that number even bigger and more effective, in turn getting money and books to those who need it.

But this is no time to rest on our laurels. No, this is the moment in which we make our commitment again (think of it like restating your marriage vows). $5 million is great, $5 million exceeded dreams, but until illiteracy is conquered no amount is enough to give up the quest. I know, now you’re thinking “Jack, that’s a pretty tall order. How will you take on such a challenge? Do you really think Better World Books, even with its partners can combat illiteracy when it’s so pervasive?”

Do I really think that we can do it?

Give us 5 years, I think you’ll be surprised what you find…