A Word Please

My good friend and fellow author Susan Helene Gottfried is running a charity event called The Musical Hanukkah Celebration. Donating is actually fun, because you get a book out of the deal! All you need to do is purchase one of her books and half of her royalties will go to charity. There are other ways to get involved, as well. Here is her press release:

West of Mars, PA — Susan Helene Gottfried, author of two books of short stories and a novel, is putting her money where her rock is. At least 50% of the royalties earned on her three books during the months of November and December 2010 will be donated to charity.

This real-life charity event ties into a fictional charity event Gottfried created in 2006. The Musical Hanukkah Celebration began on Gottfried’s blog, The Meet and Greet at West of Mars, as a unique way to mark the holiday season. Gottfried’s famed fictional band, ShapeShifter, threw a fictional benefit concert that would see all monies raised going to a music-in-the-schools charity.

This year, the fictional fundraising crosses into real life. In addition to the donation of royalties from books sold, Gottfried has set up a page through which willing donors can directly pledge funds to the charity. Prizes — books donated by fellow authors — will be raffled off among those direct donors.

No stranger to charity donations, Gottfried is a proud supporter of Operation e-Book Drop, a group of authors who offer free electronic books (e-books) to deployed troops around the world. And in January of 2010, Gottfried responded to the earthquake in Haiti by doing a similar royalty drive.

Gottfried is a Pittsburgh-based writer who draws on her years within the music business as inspiration for her fiction. Her books are available in print and e-book formats in various places, including Smashwords, Lulu, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and for the Apple iPad. See http://westofmars.com/west-of-mars/the-books for more details and buy links. Autographed print books are also available direct from the author.

One of the charities of choice is the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, which strives to put instruments into the hands of students and to strengthen music education programs everywhere. You can access them on the web at: http://mhopus.org

For further information, contact Susan Helene Gottfried via e-mail at Susan@WestofMars.com or her website: http://westofmars.com

Access the contest page and the direct-donation link at http://westofmars.com/west-of-mars/contests

I hope you’ll support Susan. Visit her website and check out her books. You can get yourself some good reading material, while helping others!

Tags: charity events, Musical Hanukkah Celebration, Rock and Roll Fiction, Susan Helene Gottfried, Trevor's Song, West of Mars