world book night (update: Registration Deadline Extended!)

Allison is off shining her spotlight on other areas of the world of philanthropy this week, which means it's time for a guest post from her husband. And not a moment too soon, either, since this particular post comes with a fast-approaching deadline. Let's get to it, shall we?

The Hooban household is a household of devoted readers. And while we are ordinarily perfectly happy to engage in that devotion purely as consumers, every now and then an opportunity comes along to give something back to the world of letters. Allison has previously highlighted the work of 826 National (she's even spent some time volunteering for them). Today's feature is World Book Night, a coordinated effort to find non-readers and light readers and get them hooked on books, too.

The idea is simple enough. Sign up before February 1, then the volunteers will assemble on April 23 to donate 20 copies of a book to a location in their neighborhood or hometown. Why April 23? It just happens to be the anniversary of the birth and death of one Mr. William Shakespeare, who I am told was a reasonably important literary figure in his day. (And here's a fun fact for you: April 23 also happens to be the birthday of the fictional lead character of my long-awaited, forthcoming first novel.)

The effort is being run by the entire publishing industry, from publishers and booksellers to libraries, printers, and authors. By way of full disclosure, my employer happens to be one of those publishers, and I'm certainly proud to be involved on their behalf. If you're interested in joining up, too, register as a volunteer at www.worldbooknight.org before February 1 (tomorrow)February 6. Hurry up! Those books aren't going to read themselves, after all...

UPDATE (1/31): The fine folks in charge of World Book Night have decided to keep registration open until February 6 in the US. This train is being held in the station, but only briefly. Get on board!