20 Days Left

A month ago I began my Library Campaign with high hopes.  In that month, those hopes have begun to sour.  True, there is still 20 days left - the campaign runs through August, but if the next twenty days are indicative of the past month, it will end with disappointment.

The whole focus behind the campaign from the very beginning has been to donate a healthy portion of digital book profits to a local area library (50%) that needs close to $2mil in order to begin construction on a new building that is needed in order to meet the changing times and technology.

From the very first day, I had hopes that the campaign would be a success.  I was sure that the support would be there.  I posted about it on my Facebook Author page, my personal Facebook page, and took to Twitter, where most of my focus was aimed, since Twitter has the potential to reach an unbelievable amount of people.

The catch with Twitter is that people have to respond.  They have to retweet in order to help spread the word.  Such a simple thing to do, nothing to lose and so much to gain for the library.

But the hard truth is that as simple as it is, only a few people have stepped forward and supported with retweets.  One person more than anyone else.  One.  Among how many?

'Why retweet?  There's nothing in it for me.' 'I don't have the time.'  'Someone else will do it.'  'I'm not interested.'  This is the general feeling I've gotten from the Twitter community.  And if I sound harsh, it's because I guess I had high expectations.

I thought others would feel as strongly about helping a community, doing something worthwhile.  I've been disappointed, and feel like there's more selfishness than selflessness in the world.  Part of the reason for the campaign was not just to help the library, but to turn heads and show the world that with all the bad that goes on, we are still capable of doing something great - together.

The pyramids weren't built by a handful of people.  Neither was the Great Wall of China.  These are extraordinary examples of what we can accomplish together.  Each person doing a small, seemingly insignificant part of the greater picture, but each one as important as the next person.

We are surrounded day in and day out by negativity, yet every day there are sparks of kindness throughout the world that are done.  And though these small acts of kindness are rarely seen by the masses, they are remembered forever by those that were affected by them.

Buildings are built every day, but for the most part they are funded by a company, or perhaps a small group.  That's why I had such high hopes for this campaign.  It went against the grain.  The funds would come not from a company or a small group of people, but by the masses that pulled together, each doing a small part.  Together, those small parts would add up to something extraordinary.  A single building that not only was funded by a mass of people, which in itself is an amazing accomplishment, but a building that would be a place for generations of children and adults to come to - to study, to read, to learn... to grow.

And maybe a part of this campaign could be looked at as a social experiment as well.  An experiment in humanity.  Do we exist for ourselves, concerned only with what we can get?  Or when an opportunity passes our way, do we seize the moment and do something that will benefits others?  The answer to that as I write this, is the former.

But we still have time.  Time to make a difference.  Time to do something extraordinary.  In all honesty, last month I thought that together we could hit that mark, that seemingly impossible amount of money needed yet for the library.  Do I think so now?  That would take a miracle, like winning the lottery.  It's possible, but sadly, I don't think practical.  It would take millions of people who truly care about making a difference as much as I do.

Is that harsh?  No.  It's hard truth.  We're all so used to the negativity that bombards us every day, that when something good and decent and worthwhile comes along, we're blinded to it for the most part.  Or we don't care, because there's nothing in it for us.

So, we have 20 days left.  20 days where we can still make a difference.  The opportunity is slipping through our fingers, but it's not quite out of reach.  We can still make a difference.  But it takes effort.  It takes people caring enough to take a few seconds to retweet, and pass the message on to their followers, who can pass it on to their followers, and so on.

And obviously, the retweets are not what increases that donation amount, but the digital book sales.  But the retweets gets the message out there.  It gets it to those who will choose to help do their own small part, either with their own retweet or perhaps picking up one or more of the digital books.

So we have 20 days.  If you want to help with a retweet, please follow me on Twitter @ScotttBorgman and retweet any of my tweets that deal with the library campaign or link to my blog.  If you choose to help increase that donation amount, all of my digital books are available on Amazon (5 in all, ranging from $2.99 - $3.99.)

How this campaign ends, ultimately, is up to each one of us.  The opportunity to do something extraordinary is there, but it's fading fast.  Seize it, or let it slip away?  Let it slip away, and it will be forgotten in a matter of days.  Seize it, and what was done will be long remembered.

Update on the Library Campaign

Hello, everyone!

It's been about 2 weeks since I started the Library Campaign.  For those of you who don't know what that is, please check my blog on July 13th, titled 'Special Announcement' for all the info on that.

The campaign has started out slow - slower than I had hoped, but it is going until the end of August, so there's still time to really heat things up.

You can follow along and keep updated on how it's doing yourself by going to my Facebook Author page here:  www.facebook.com/saborgman.  Don't forget to give it a 'like' while you're there so you can check on the status easily!

My cover image on the page has the current amount that will be donated.  I do change the cover image when the amount increases.  Also, I altered the cover image slightly the other day, adding in the amount that the library needs, which is $1.9m.

Now, I know the amount they need is high.  That's why this campaign is SO important to me.  It's why I'm pushing so hard to get word out about this campaign to as many people as possible.

In all honesty, I want us to hit their needed goal. I know it's a difficult goal, but I don't believe it's an impossible one. It will take a lot of effort, but together, we can reach that star - no matter how high up in the sky it appears to be, we can reach it - together.

Some of you may be thinking 'I'm only one person.  One person won't make a difference.'  Imagine though, if one person thinks that, another one does - perhaps hundreds or thousands of others.  Those single drops of rain add up very quickly. 

The same idea applies to Twitter.  A single retweet on Twitter could echo out to thousands of others, ten of thousands... perhaps millions.

I also wanted to let you know that when this campaign is over, when it's all said and done, when it's time to hand that check over to the library, it will be you that is getting recognized for the effort, not me.

It has always been my intention from the moment this campaign began that I would not be taking any of the credit for whatever amount ends up being donated.  The credit doesn't belong to me.  It belongs to everyone who has helped this campaign with their shares on Facebook, their retweets on Twitter, and of course, the digital book purchases which increase the donation amount.

We have just under a month left in the campaign.  We have a lot of work to do in order to reach that goal.  But I know it can be done.

As Kaly says at the end of The Exiled: Infinity: "I have faith in you."

So take a moment to follow me on Twitter @ScottBorgman and help spread the word with retweets.  Give my Author page on Facebook a 'like' and share my posts.  And please, head over to your country's Amazon (different countries have different Amazon sites) and pick up a copy of one or more of my digital novels.  Just type 'Scott Borgman' in the search field and click on my Amazon Author page, which can get you to each novel's page easily.

You may enjoy them, you may not - but the donation amount will increase with those purchases regardless.  That's what this is all about.

If you don't own a Kindle, there are a lot of apps out there that allow you to read the novels on other devices such as iPhones, iPads, even personal computers/laptops.

Thank you, everyone.  I can't tell you how much this campaign means to me, and I honestly appreciate your support.  I think this campaign can really show what's truly important.  While governments spend money building bombs - we're building libraries.

All My Best,
Scott