Hooah! As of this week, we are proud participants in Operation eBook Drop, a grass-roots effort by independent authors and publishers to make free electronic books available to U.S. troops deployed overseas. Operation eBook Drop was created by independent author Edward C. Patterson, with the support and cooperation of Smashwords. Ed learned through the Kindle message boards that “Whispernet” (the wireless download service for the Amazon Kindle e-reader device) doesn’t work in Iraq. Knowing how desperate troops are for good reading, Ed offered to email all 13 of his ebooks to soldiers for free.
Ed has since enlisted over 325 other independent authors, as well as Mark Coker, the founder of Smashwords, to help with the cause. Interested soldiers email Ed to get on his list, then participating authors email the soldiers a coupon so they can download their books from Smashwords for free. About 25,000 free coupons have been “dropped” in the past year.
We are so pleased to be part of this effort! It’s nice to be able to give something back to those who risk their lives for our freedom and safety. God bless our troops, and we hope you enjoy the books!
