Thursday, January 15, 2009

Something Cleverish

When I heard about Stephanie Nielson's plane crash, I wanted to help raise funds, but couldn't quite figure out how to go about it. (Just reading CJane's blog and repeatedly freaking out over the horror of the accident turned out to be a surprisingly ineffective fundraising strategy.)

Lots of other bloggers were auctioning off things they'd cooked/sewn/drawn in order to help raise money, but I'm what you might call domestically challenged, so that was out. I thought about selling off one of my kids to aid the cause, but the Husband put a stop to it. (What, we couldn't part with ONE of them? Selfish.)

But laughing at funny stuff other bloggers wrote? THAT was something I could do, and thus the idea of putting together a book of amusing blog posts was born. We held a little contest asking bloggers to submit their funniest posts, and the response was overwhelming. (Seriously. I'd look at that contest email every day and then have to go lie down for a while, visions of editing for nine thousand years running through my brain. There are a LOT of funny people out there.)

The Something Cleverish book features posts from forty-three funny bloggers - all for one great cause. We even managed to rope in a few celebrity submissions from Finslippy, Eric D. Snider, Rocks in My Dryer, Big Mama, Sweetney, Daring Young Mom, TAMN and more. (You can find a list of all of the bloggers included in the book here.)

All proceeds go directly to the NieNie Recovery fund. I know some people may be starting to get a little weary of hearing about this, but the medical bills they have and will continue to have are absolutely overwhelming. This is still a family very much in need. If you've been wondering what to buy people for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or Groundhog Day, or Valentines Day - WONDER NO MORE. You can purchase a paperback or buy a downloadable copy here.

Please buy a copy (or two) (or three) (or heck - seven) and please spread the word, by posting about it or putting the Something Cleverish Blog Book button on your blog. (Cover art and book button created and generously donated by Melissa Bastow of MissyB Designs. Thanks Melissa!)



GRAB THIS BUTTON:

46 comments:

  1. Wooo Hooo! I know what all my friends are getting for President's Day!
    Thanks, Sue, for making it happen. I can't wait to read it, and I love that it's for such a great cause.

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  2. I am still in awe of how many people out there have hearts of gold. I wish that the news covered good stories rather then just the big and ugly. The world is full of good people and I refuse to believe otherwise.

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  3. Wow. And on my birthday, too!
    HOORAY!

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  4. Hooray! Is it important that I see those other images that are only showing up as red Xs? The only thing showing up is the button itself that I can see in your sidebar. What are the other thingies?

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  5. YAY!!!!! I might save mine for St Patricks day gifts - - now that's a real holiday.

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  6. Consider it grabbed. Thanks for making it easy!

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  7. Hmmm.... Is it looking weird for other people too? Abby - try hitting F5?

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  8. Nope, nothing. Are they important?

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  9. Abby - it's the button and the code to grab the button. It's odd that you can't see it - I'm not sure why that would be...

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  10. Just in time for Valentine's Day - my husband will be so relieved! Thank you for using your creative brain to help Nie Nie, and for including us in the process.

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  11. Have ordered my copy!

    hooray, absolutely cannot wait to read it :)

    curious--will the book have the real person's names or their blog names? or both?

    looking forward to getting it!

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  12. Hi MM! It depends on what that particular blogger wanted. Some wanted their full names, some requested blog names only.

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  13. Awesomeness :)

    So explain to me again how the money made from the book will be divvy'd up?

    i seem to dimly recall something about publisher fees and so on...

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  14. Awesome! I'm so excited to read it!
    I can see the picture for the book and the code for the button, but there are read x's around them. Did you have more than one image on there?

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  15. What a wonderful gift! I put it on my side bar and linked it back to you - you giver of good things, you.

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  16. Good question. People will probably want to know this.

    I self published it on Lulu. Lulu takes about $8 as the fee for making the paperback book. If you buy the PDF/downloadable copy, Lulu doesn't charge the fee.

    The rest is automatically deposited in the Nielson's account.

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  17. Dang, I'm not sure what's happening. I will check it out, see if I can figure it out.

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  18. Exactly what Melinda said. I see the picture of the book cover and the code, which I've already used and added appropriately. But what were those other three Xs for?

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  19. OK, I fixed it. The Xs should be gone now - let me know if they aren't. (They weren't important, as it turned out :>)

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  20. I still see one X left. But that's better than three, which was really raising my blood pressure.

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  21. I see the book cover and one red X which I assume is the button.

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  22. I am so stoked about this. Thanks!!

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  23. I would absolutely love to put the button on my blog, but I don't know how!! Can anyone help out? And I am a complete idiot with this, so I need step-by-step. Thanks!

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  24. Way to go! I know the book took a ton of work on your end.

    (Also, glad you said you're doing a remodel. That cow is funny, but I don't want him STAYING here.)

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  25. Wow..what a wonderful idea1
    -sandy toe

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  26. Oh I am still stoked!

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  27. Thank you Sue!!! I've ordered three (so far!)

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  28. Very, very fun!

    What a lot of work! You deserve chocolate. Or maybe ice cream. Both?

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  29. Neatest idea ever. I like the COW actually. I make the best mooo sounds EVER. but thanks for putting the book together.

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  30. Knock knock.
    Who's there?
    Interrupting cow.
    Interrupting co...
    MOOOOOO!

    All I see it the way cute cover of the book! I'll grab that button fo' sho!

    So glad it's done!!

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  31. lots and lots of work. thanks for putting this together.

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  32. Such a great idea!! I'll definitely be purchasing a copy or two!

    Thanks for organising this for us all to enjoy.

    Saskia x

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  33. Found you through Green Jello (another fellow Utah blogger). I wanted to take a peek over here and I really like it over here. This looks like a great cause.

    Nice to meetcha!

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  34. Anonymous6:25 PM

    That's great! I'll try buy a copy, and I'll paste the button on my page :D

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  35. It looks awesome! I feel so honored to be in it! Thanks for all your hard work.

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  36. Totally cute button! I just put it up on my blog, and am looking forward to reading the book soon!

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  37. Curious Donor - I'm deleting your comment. Quite a bit of the book is new material, but not all of it. Other than that, I don't feel the need to get into it, other than to say I did the best I could, balancing this with a job and a family and a life. If you have a good idea for a fundraiser, by all means, pursue that idea - but please don't nitpick what I tried to do.

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  38. Sweet! Helping Nie Nie from Seattle has been hard. I'm getting copies of this for all my VT girls for valentines day! Who needs chocolates for the hips when you can have laughter for the lips! Thanks

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  39. Yahoo! I can't wait to read it. Off to download it from Lulu!

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  40. I have been a very good girl and ordered one.

    I could use a pick-me-up anyway. So really, I'm just being selfish.

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  41. Well, rather than have you die, I am commenting as a first-time visitor. I love the idea of the book but I'm wondering if I can get a snippet to tickle my funny bone to make the credit card fall out to buy a book?

    Thanks!

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  42. Hey, is there a way to see how many books have been sold on Lulu? ericaengland@gmail.com

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  43. Hey, is there a way to see how many books have been sold on Lulu? ericaengland@gmail.com

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  44. What a awesome idea! Can't wait to buy one!

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  45. I can't wait to buy this! what a beautiful idea for their family!!

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