Thoughts on A Fundraiser, please comment!

[Amanda]

As a blogger, I get a lot of ARC's and I just can't possibly keep them all (after reviewing!). I know other bloggers feel the same way. I would never sell for profit or give away without a promise for review but it's difficult to find a home for each and every book.

With that being said, I feel super strongly about St. Jude's and their objective. They take care of children who have cancer and they don't charge the families for the treatment. St. Jude's is such a huge organization and they help countless families during devastating times.

I was wonder how bloggers/authors/publicists felt about a charity sale. Books sold (including but not limited to ARCs) from bloggers where 100% of the profit go to St. Jude's, possibly under a united name Bloggers for St. Jude's (if you donate books you can use the affiliation on any of your sites). I would put little cards in each book with "we would love to hear your thoughts on Goodreads or Amazon.." Etc.to keep promoting reviews.

How do people feel about this?

If you are interested in getting involved, email me at amandanicole.books@gmail.com. Donations, thoughts or concerns are welcome!

I'm thinking about creating a bookmark with the blogger affiliation and maybe sending one to everyone who donates.. What do you think?

Thanks guys!
Amanda

[Roy]

Hi Amanda,

As a self published author and someone who does send out ARC's to reviewers, bloggers etc. I would take issue with this approach. First, you or any one who requests ARC's or review copies for any reason creates an agreement between the requester/reviewer and the author/publisher that the reviewer will write an unbiased review of a title in exchange for the ARC in ebook or in print book.

The inference from your post is that you have one: too many books and two: that there are books that you just can't review either because of time constraints subject matter etc. You state that you would never give a book away to someone else without the promise of a review. The agreement for review is between YOU and the author there is no agreement that would allow you to give away copyrighted material to a third party to write a review.

As for the charity issue. As an author I have many charities that are near and dear to me and I support those charities on my own. While I appreciate what St. Jude does I have Multiple Sclerosis and I am also a cancer survivor so I have charities that I support as both an individual and an author. Donating copyrighted material that you have not earned the right to give away by writing a review and fulfilling your agreement with the author is unethical and I would say a violation of copyright law and I would think actionable against you or any person who would do this.

There is also the benefit factor for the author. You did not purchase the book you received it in exchange for a review. The author has expended time, money and other resources to publish that book and send it to you at their expense in exchange for a review. If you can't review the book/books then those books should be sent back to the author/publisher at your own expense. The author can not claim a charitable deduction on their taxes if you donate their work which only adds insult to injury. You on the other hand could receive a tax deduction for the donation and are thereby unjustly enriched by using the authors copyright protected books for your personal gain. This again is a violation of copyright law unless you have the express written permission of the author and I feel you could be sued over this.

I have seen a lot of these issues in my ten years in publishing and as an author have seen situations were a reviewer is just so overwhelmed that they can't review all of the books they requested and have gone so far as to sell the books to book stores or other things that are very, very unethical.

While I believe that your intentions are for good,I would suggest perhaps being more selective in the books that you request for review and take titles that you know you can read and review for the future and for those books that you just can't review for whatever reason, you should contact the author or their representative and either request permission to donate their work or return the book to the author/publisher so that they can get the book into the hands of a reviewer who has the time.

In my opinion this is a very, very slippery slope that would most likely lead to litigation against you and perhaps the source you received the ARC through or who introduced you to the books, there are a ton of review sites out there that put reviewers and authors together and then the author fulfills the book aspect of the contract, if you do not fulfill your agreement and review the authors book you have no right to do anything with the title outside of returning it to the author or getting permission to do otherwise with the copyright protected work.

It is important to remember that writing and publishing is a business and books are the commodity. Authors only receive money for direct sales of books or other rights deals, when they contract with a blogger and or reviewer it is with the direct understanding that a review will be written of the book if a reviewer can not or will not review a title it should be returned to the author or direct permission be granted if you wish to donate an authors book or books and that author should have the right to the credit and the tax benefits of that donation should they choose to allow the same.

I don't mean to rain on your idea it is a worthy one but copyright law is very, very complex and the reviewer author relationship is one that is based on trust that each will fulfill their end of the agreement and not violate the authors rights and copyright.

Sincerely,

Dr. Roy A. Teel Jr., Author

[Amanda]

Dear Dr. Teel JR.,

I appreciate your response! This is why I asked people's advice before doing it.

However, I meant after I review the book. I always review my ARCS and the problem isn't that I request too many, it's just that I don't know what to do with it when I'm done.

I have had some publisher's send me notes to pass it along for reviews and that is actually why I mentioned that.

Other publishers have mentioned donating the books to certain causes or libraries. Even leaving books at coffee shops or airports in hopes that another person will review it.

I've gotten so many conflicting view points and personal opinions so I appreciate the actual legal standpoint. Although, it still leaves me with no idea of what to do!

Thank you for your consideration,
Amanda