Whenever we get one of these “donate something creative to help” appeals I am reminded of the fact that the sort of writing I do is not the sort of writing people are normally prepared to pay to read. Fortunately I happen to know a few very talented fiction writers, and I’m delighted to see that the Story for Haiti page at Crossed Genres is filling up nicely. It includes contributions from, amongst others, Nicola Griffith, Colin Harvey, Nalo Hopkinson, Jay Lake, Sarah Monette, Jeff VanderMeer and Liz Williams. Thank you so much, everyone who has donated a story.
So, head on over there and enjoy the free reading. And when you are done please say thank you by donating money to the Haiti appeal. (Personally I’m sending my money to the Rainbow World Fund, but by all means use whichever charity you are most comfortable with.)
Cheryl, We’re very glad to have great friends too; especially friends like you. It was your original post about “Post a Story For Haiti” (made before we’d even mentioned it on Twitter or our blogs) that drew a lot of initial attention and really helped it take off. The response has been remarkable and you played a big part in making that happen, so thanks!
At this point almost 50 people have contributed, including, as you point out, a number of people who could have sold their work but chose to give it away for free to help the effort instead. Some folks have emailed to say they’ve made donations, too. Not bad for one day!
Just got my story online:
http://eternoprovisorio.squarespace.com/journal/2010/1/16/writing-toward-haiti-relief.html
My family has chosen Medecins Sans Frontieres – in part because we have some familiarity with this type of work. Even if my story was already freely available, I hope to encourage my readers to contribute. Thanks!