Operation EBook Drop - Free Ebooks for Overseas Troops

Edward C. Patterson is a prolific author, with a number of books available on the Kindle platform, all of them at bargain prices -- most are 99 cents and none over $4.00. He has generously been offering free assistance (and a free book) to other authors just starting out in the ebook world and is very active on several ebook forums, including the Kindle Forums at Amazon and the Author forums at Kindleboards.com. A week ago, he offered free books to a service member overseas who had a Kindle, but no whispernet access (time is often plentiful, but money tight, for those on overseas duty), sending a zipped up copy of all of his books via email. The offer quickly snowballed from there, giving birth to what was originally called Operation Kindle Book Drop, but quickly became Operation EBook Drop as it became apparent that there are many more ebook readers than the Kindle in the deployment zones. I asked Ed to write a guest blog here to let you know about it (and how to apply, if you are overseas or know someone who is).

Operation EBook DROP Takes Off

It's been five days since I serendipitously ran into to a soldier on an Amazon thread who said that the men and women deployed in the Military overseas have more Kindles per head than ordinary citizens (logically, that makes sense), but have no way to get books down via WiFi as Whispernet doesn't cover "overseas." My response was to offer my own published books (13 of them) in accessible Kindle files to this troop. That was the gesture, and the soldier responded with great joy and appreciation. Done! However, since our on-line conversations were hi-jacking the thread, I created a new thread for this issue, and lo and behold, interest sparked. More troops were saying they would love books. Military family members were impressed. So I went to Kindleboards.com, where many Indie authors hang out and launched a poll to canvas any interest among other authors.

Five days later - we have Operation EBook Drop, with over two dozen authors and a wall of military recipients, and . . . the participation of Smashwords.com, a major on-line eBook distributor, who picked up this project and has made the creation of the books and their turn-around to the troops an overnight wonder.

The program is simple. Authors publish their books on Smashwords.com and set-up a 100% off discount generating a code. Coalition Armed Force Members deployed and overseas who are interested in the program send me a request along with their location and unit name. I then forward their email address to the list of authors and they begin sending links and discounts codes to the military member. In five days, my estimate is that over 300 free book discount codes have left author's desks.

This first stage is quite simple. Smashwords sees an even wider vision involving military agencies. Here's a link to the full vision:

Smashwords Supports Operation Ebook Drop

Meanwhile, my Blackberry has been going nutz, but I keep saying to myself that we are just paying forward one nice gesture. And after all, how can we put a price on these brave men and women?


Edward C. Patterson
Formerly Spec 5. E. Patterson
USArmy, 6th Battalion, 60th Artillery (1966-1968)

So, what can you do to help? For now, help spread the word. If you know of someone in the military, stationed overseas and who reads, send them a link about the program. They don't need any particular ebook reader, as Smashwords has formats available that can be read on many platforms and on any PC. They don't even need to choose a format ahead of time, as they can set up their library on Smashwords, adding books as they get coupon codes and download those books in any format, as many times as they want (and share them with anyone else overseas, as well, but not with those in the states).

If you are an author, get your books up on Smashwords, generate the 100% off coupon codes you'll need and then email Ed (the details are on the Smaswords blog post, above), to be added to the distribution list as he receives the contact info for each recipient. You'll then send the coupons directly to each serviceman, so you can keep in touch or send a personal note. If you aren't sure how to start with getting your books published in an electronic format or have only worked with PDF files in the past, be sure to pick up Ed's free book, Are Your Still Submitting Your Work to a Traditional Publisher? (also available on Kindle for 99 cents)

You can also support the effort by checking out some of the author's involved and perhaps buying one or two of their books, if they are of interest to you. I'll be featuring a few of them each week, with links to their books. I'm starting off with Ed's books, which you can check out on Smashwords or in the Kindle Store.

Smashwords Kindle Come, Wewoka & Diary of Medicine Flower
Smashwords Kindle The Academician - Southern Swallow - Book I
Smashwords Kindle The Jade Owl
Smashwords Kindle The Third Peregrination - The Jade Owl - Book II
Smashwords Kindle The Dragon's Pool - The Jade Owl Book III
Smashwords Kindle No Irish Need Apply
Smashwords Kindle Bobby's Trace
Smashwords Kindle Look Away, Silence
Smashwords Kindle Turning Idolater
Smashwords Kindle Surviving an American Gulag
Smashwords Kindle The Closet Clandestine
Smashwords Kindle Cutting the Cheese