For the Books We Love: A Good Thing to Do Today
There’s a new(ish) way to support our literary and bookish world, and today’s a perfect day to explore it, for if there’s ever a time nonprofits hope you’ll come through for them with your charitable dollars, #GivingTuesday has to be high on the list.
Before founding Nature Book Guide, I spent my career managing nonprofits and raising funds, and if you’re wondering if the year-end season makes a difference, hear this: it really, really, really does.
Your money is important in the keeping-the-lights-on, paying-wonderful-staff-members-accordingly sort of way; but your participation is also a vote of confidence, a vote that says, “this work needs to flourish, these people know what they’re doing.”
That’s why I want to voice support for memberships in our bookish world, such as Milkweed Edition’s new membership program. Yes, Milkweed is a nonprofit organization, which can and should raise funds to support their work.
Their primary work is nurturing writers and books, of course, books that might have a more difficult time at traditional for-profit publishing houses. As Chris Dombrowski, author of Milkweed’s excellent memoir, The River You Touch has said, “Poetry should be published precisely because it doesn’t sell.”
Flip through our inaugural issue of Nature Book Guide, or the second issue, which will be available later this week, and you’ll see we love the authors Milkweed Editions support and the books they publish.
For our first issue, we profiled The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson, The Home Place by J. Drew Lanham, Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty, World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhekumatathil. Later this week, we’ll release our next issue to include Milkweed Editions books, A Darker Wilderness edited by Erin Sharkey, The River You Touch by Chris Dombrowski, Conversations with Birds by Priyanka Kumar, and Late Migrations by Margaret Renkl. All books we love; all books we’re glad Milkweed championed.
Now, Milkweed has created a membership program so we—you--can invest in those authors and the works they create—works that are changing the conversation about nature and culture. Works that are changing us, the reader.
Our Nature Book Guide exists to lift up great books through our quarterly downloadable issues, our social media channels and word of mouth. We know that exposure is powerful, but dollars are a critical need too. If you feel your support might be too small to make a difference, you’re wrong. Like every other nonprofit, Milkweed cherishes each donor because your existence is evidence of good work, which opens doors to even more support for authors, and community engagement. That translates to more books published, more books donated to schools and libraries, more partnerships and events with other nonprofit organizations, and more opportunities to those historically underrepresented in the publishing and advancement fields.
I love knowing Milkweed Editions is doing this work.
So, in addition to shopping at independent bookstores, supporting my favorite authors’ Patreon accounts, I’m adding another to the list of things-that-make-me-feel-good tasks. Today, I became Milkweed Edition’s newest member.
Breaking it down to dollars and cents, my small membership makes a difference:
$ 60 provides an hour of editorial development work with a promising writer
$120 funds an hour of audiobook recording
$300 allows Milkweed to donate 15 books to a prison, school, or library
In return—in addition to the “feeling good” part—I’ll receive:
A free book
Discount on future purchases
Early access to public events
An invitation to Milkweed Edition’s annual member event
And…members-only communications about books, authors and events
That’s money well spent.
And, there’s a challenge from Milkweed’s board to consider: they’re pledging $100,000 if 100 new members join by November 30. That’s TOMORROW.
Milkweed Edition’s membership page is www.milkweed.org/membership