This book—a complimentary advance reader’s copy—arrived in today’s mail. The publisher, Random House, is one of several I follow online, and most of them offer an opportunity to get free books. I enter just about all, but this is the first time I’ve received a free copy.
I love getting free printed pieces in the mail. This passion started in the fifth grade in a small, rural West Tennessee town when everything was done via the USPS. It started when my teacher, Miss Annie Faye—not to be confused with my sixth grade teacher, Miss Nannie Mae—assigned a report for each student to write. I selected the Natchez Pilgrimage in Natchez, Mississippi.
But things really revved up when she said we could write for information, free information, to help us with our reports. I wrote to the people who produced the Natchez Pilgrimage, an annual tour and celebration of Antebellum homes in that town.
One day, a thick envelope, bearing a return address of the Natchez Pilgrimage, arrived. In it were beautiful, 4-color brochures and tons of information. I don’t remember what I wrote for my report nor what grade I earned. That’s immaterial.
The lesson I learned was that I could write just about anywhere and ask for free information about their product, event, activity or whatever. And most responded! For the price of a 3-cent stamp, I could go anywhere and see anything I wanted. My father complained about the cost!
Already a reader of books, I moved on to magazines—everything I knew about being a teenager in training to be a woman, I learned from Seventeen magazine. That’s where I saw the fine print in advertisements that said something like, “For more information, write to….” I did it. I searched for these offers. When traveling, I picked up brochures at welcome stations and tourist attractions. My knowledge and creativity grew along with my collection of printed pieces.
In college, I majored in journalism and English.
My career has been devoted to communications, mostly through the printed word. I’ve written books and promoted others’ books. I’ve written countless words in news articles and feature stories about a wide variety of subjects. Many of these are my entrée into areas I’ve known little about, but I enjoy learning about new things. In my last full-time job, I edited a magazine and coordinated the production of printed pieces. I loved it.
The payoff in my career was similar to opening the envelope from the Natchez Pilgrimage—beautiful printed pieces that communicated information, stories and ideas.
Now I spend my days writing books and articles. The Internet—today’s 3-cent stamp—allows me to follow publishers, many of which offer free readers’ copies of books. I always sign up, but this is the first time I’ve been selected. Thanks, Random House!
And a lifetime of thanks to Miss Annie Faye.
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