Throughout
the year I make various donations to different charities. I often donate books to the library, clothes
to Salvation Army, household items to a woman’s shelter, and furniture to an
organization that helps the underprivileged.
But without exception I conclude every year with a big carload of stuff
to a charity.
I went
to Goodwill on the next-to-last-day of the year. Toys, clothes, books, and two old big-butt
TVs went from my car to the local charity.
It was booming there. In the ten
minutes I spent unloading stuff, at least a half-dozen people came in to
donate. We all try to do the right
thing, but a tax-deduction doesn’t hurt either.
It’s
amazing how much stuff gets recycled through charities or secondary
markets. How will this happen with ebooks?
If you
read an ebook it doesn’t go anywhere afterwards. With print books, you can share them with
friends, family, schools or libraries.
Or donate them. I enjoy handing
over books to Goodwill, knowing that others will learn and get pleasure from them
as I did. Ebooks seem temporary or
individualized, not able to live beyond the device you downloaded them to.
As more things become more digital – books, games, entertainment – how will we share them with
others less fortunate? You used to take
your board game and donate it. Or your
VHS tape or DVD or CD. You still can –
but many things only exist in the clouds. I guess you can donate a device, but
they have a short shelf life, soon to become outdated if not unusable. Plus the devices cost money to run – data
packages or subscription fees.
In an
era where we give gift cards but not actual gifts, and one in which we talk by
texting, and one in which we dine side by side with a device, it’s not
surprising that we have less and less to hand down or give to others. Our lives exist in a box – literally.
Maybe
the best gift is to give of your time to help another, or to give money so the
recipient can best apply it to what’s needed.
Since everything is cheap and available digitally 24/7, the next
generation won’t really need to donate its information or entertainment. But I wish that there will always be a way
for us to donate not just things but the very objects that stimulate our
thoughts and inspire us. My books are
everything to me and for those who only read digitally, how will you be able to
give the books back to the community?
In any
event, always help charities in any capacity possible.
DON’T MISS: ALL NEW RESOURCE OF THE YEAR
2015 Book PR & Marketing Toolkit: All New
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas
expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media
Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person.
This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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