Fliers and Templates

Download these custom fliers, print them out and hang them up everywhere you frequent!

• Check back for updated fliers October 2011!

Use this template letter to ask your friends, family and coworkers to donate books!  Send this is an email to everyone you know, and feel free to customize it for your own needs!

Dear Friends, Family and Coworkers,

I need your books!

As you may know, I am participating in National Novel Writing Month, a writing challenge where I have to write a 50,000-word-long novel in 30 days.  NaNoWriMo also runs a Young Writers Program to help get students excited about writing.  This year, in order to support these totally free programs, NaNoWriMo is holding the Great NaNoWriMo Book Drive.  All the books we collect will be sold through Better World Books, an online book store that partners with nonprofits.  The proceeds from the sale of our books will directly benefit NaNoWriMo’s free writing programs.

We, the writers of NaNoWriMo’s Pittsburgh region, hope to collect 5,000 books.  If we collect the most books out of any region, we get an awesome party and cool stuff!

Please donate your gently read books to help us reach our goal and to help writers everywhere!  We can take paperbacks, hardbacks, textbooks less than 5 years old and any kind of children’s books.

Furiously writing my [insert number]th novel,

Me

Use this template letter to ask book stores (or other retail establishments) for book donations:

Dear Book Lover:

We, the writers of the Pittsburgh region, are writing you on the behalf of the Office of Letters and Light, a literary nonprofit that provides youth and adults with free tools to help them discover their creativity through writing.  The Office of Letters and Light’s programs include National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo), a 30-day novel-writing marathon that has inspired over 100,000 writers, and the Young Writers Program, which helps teachers get their students motivated and excited to write. About 700 writers in the Pittsburgh area participate in NaNoWriMo each year, and over 30 schools in Pennsylvania are participating in the Young Writers Program this year.

This year, to help support OLL’s free and rapidly-growing writing programs, it is holding the Great NaNoWriMo Book Drive in partnership with Better World Books.  The Pittsburgh region hopes to collect 5,000 books as part of this book drive.  The books will be sold through Better World Books, and the proceeds will go to the Office of Letters and Light.  Part of Better World Books’ mission is to make sure old books find new homes, and to keep them out of landfills. As someone who understands the power and value of books, we ask you to donate any books you cannot sell or do not want. By donating, you’re supporting free, life-changing creative writing programs and helping the environment by giving unwanted books a new lease on life.

In return for your donation, you will receive a thank you on our website with a link back to yours, in addition to a thank you sign to hang in your store.  If you wish, we can include your logo on our website as well.  We will also include you in any press releases or media coverage.

National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 with a small group of friends, and has since grown to over 120,000 participants.  During the month of November, participants write 50,000-word novels in 30 days.  The Office of Letters and Light also hosts ScriptFrenzy in April, in which participants write a 100-page script in 30 days.  For more information on these and other OLL programs, check out its website at http://www.lettersandlight.org.  For more information on the Pittsburgh region book drive, check out pghnanobookdrive.wordpress.com.

Thank you for supporting creativity in and around the Pittsburgh region!

Best,

The 700+ Writers of NaNoWriMo’s Pittsburgh Region