I just recieved this from Logan Walters, a recipient of eBooks on the program and decided to post it here so visitors to this thread can see the effect that boo Drop has when married with other new eBook charitable progams:
"Dear Friends,
First, I want to thank each of you for your responses to Ed's e-mail. I have received almost 60 responses from authors of e-books offering coupons or copies of your book by other means for this project. Since many authors have submitted multiple books, I am confident we have a library of over 150 books to provide to soldiers in the Army Special Forces.
I also wanted to tell you a little more about our program. Kindle SF has been organized to provide Kindles to soldiers in the Army Special Forces. These soldiers typically deploy for 6-8 months at a time, often to very remote areas, and then are supposed to come home for 7-12 months. Unfortunately those periods at home have gotten shorter and shorter, and I know of one team that will be deployed for over 6 months and has already gotten orders that they will redeploy after only 6 months at home. Many have families and children, and are effectively on perpetual deployments, even if they come home briefly.
We will buy new Kindles, preload them with your books, as well as current issues of newspapers and magazines, and send them to Special Forces teams serving overseas. Even if we put 200 books on the Kindles, with a 1,500 book capacity, there will be plenty of room for the soldiers to personalize their Kindles.
The Kindles we are buying are the new Kindle 2 versions, with international wireless capabilities and each comes with a sand/splash cover to protect them from the elements. We have purchased 4 to date, and plan to test these in the field through a pre-identified team that will give us feedback on this project. Assuming the project is deemed viable based on the initial feedback, we will seek to purchase a Kindle for each member of that team (13 total) and then move on to the next team, and the next, and the next...
Some of the advantages of this program are evident, but to list a few of the benefits:
- 1,500 book capacity so soldiers can take as many books as they would like for long deployments
- Long battery life allows for days/weeks of wireless reading before recharge is needed (soldiers will have access to power sources to recharge in the field)
- New international wireless capabilities allow soldiers to download current issues of newspapers and magazines when they pass through a base or other area with wireless internet instead of getting these periodicals weeks after their issue
- Very small size, and replaceable if broken
- Many soldiers work on additional degrees or other coursework in the field, and if books are available in e-book format they could be downloaded too
- Individual ownership of the Kindle will allow for personalization of the Kindles while soldiers are home between deployments
- Improved morale as teams get Kindles and know that folks at home are thinking of them every day
To outfit every team would be alot of money, so we are going to work to get both individual donations and corporate sponsorships or matching donations, plus hopefully some help from Amazon. To the extent any of you know companies or individuals who would like to help, please send them this e-mail.
The program started only a week or so ago, so we are getting set up as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, have set up this e-mail and reserved a Twitter account (KindleSF) and are beginning work on a website. As I stated before, we have 4 Kindles ordered through the generosity of a small group of donors, and now have a large number of e-books that will be pre-loaded onto those Kindles before they are sent out, thanks to each one of you. Each Kindle will go with a cover letter and all of your names and e-mail addresses, so they recipients are aware of your willingness to share your hard work for free and your appreciation of their efforts.
I want to thank all of you for your generosity and quick responses. I wish I could thank each of you personally, but the e-mails are coming in faster than I can respond - a great problem to have.
Special thanks also go out to Mark Coker, Bill Kendrick, and Ed Patterson, who I contacted after coming up with this idea and initially reading about Operation E-Book. They have made, and have committed to continuing to make efforts to help me with this project.
I know that each of you feel the same way I do. This is just one small effort to thank those men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our freedom every day.
Please feel free to contact me anytime with questions, comments, or suggestions.
Best regards,
Logan M. Walters"
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