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From one tweet to 100 stories for Haiti: a fundraising phenomenon

By Victoria Watts
April 12, 2010 at 10:17 am

When writer Greg McQueen posted a tweet and a YouTube clip with an ambitious idea, he never imagined that just 24 hours later he’d have an entire book on his hands, and that six weeks later it’d be published. He chose to donate the proceeds to the Red Cross and I talked to him find out how the project came about. Read on and be inspired.

What is 100 Stories for Haiti?

100 Stories for Haiti is a collection of stories donated by writers worldwide. About a week after the initial earthquake in Haiti I posted a video on YouTube asking for writers to send stories for an e-book. Within 24 hours I had over 100 stories and dozens upon dozens of messages from writers, editors, and publishers offering their help. Within 48 hours I realised I had more than just a cobbled together e-book on my hands – I had a book and a project that really stood a chance of raising a good amount of money.

How did you come up with the project?

It was quite spontaneous. Like most people I’d watched bits on the news and online about the disaster in Haiti. Then one morning, whilst making breakfast for my three year-old daughter, something clicked in my head. I wanted to do something to help.

I launched the project without any forethought other than the desire to do something.

Was it difficult to do?

Getting people on board to help was actually quite easy. Most of them approached me with offers to help, and, of course, writers sent in their stories. By the deadline for story submissions — ten days after I started the project — I had over 400 stories to look at and a team of 25 volunteers ready to start reading and editing them.

I approached a few writers too. I sent Nick Harkaway a message on Twitter. The message was one line: “Can you help? Search 100 Stories for Haiti on Twitter”. Nick replied within a couple of hours: “I’d be delighted”. He donated a story and wrote the book’s introduction.

What’s your favourite story?

That’s a tough one. I don’t think I can single out one story. They all have something that I like. Mo fanning’s story, About Time, makes me smile. Stories like Sprawl by Alasdair Stuart and The Stories We Tell Ourselves by Curtis C Chen bring out my love of sci-fi. And one story, by Jane Roberts, has the most fantastic title I’ve ever heard: The Layman’s Solution to the Causal vs. Final Conundrum Or How Two Men Became Insomniac and One Man Slept.

What has the response been like?

Phenomenal. If you count all the stories not included in the book, and then add all those that helped as editors, bloggers, people on Twitter and Facebook, then that’s well over 500 people who got involved with the project.

Now that the book is out we’ve sold over 300 copies of the paperback and nearly 50 copies of the ebook in the first two weeks. I realise that doesn’t sound a lot but 100 Stories for Haiti is an independently produced book. Rather like an independently produced film, the project doesn’t have the backing of a huge company with bottomless pockets to pay for advertising. We really have to work to get copies sold, so nearly 400 copies within two weeks for an indie book really is quite a success.

Have you done anything like this before?

No. But I will be doing it again. In fact the whole experience has made me think a lot about different ways to use books to help raise money for good causes. Imagine if one of Dan Brown’s books gave even a small percent to charity. Think of what it would achieve. If 100 Stories for Haiti or a future book project managed even a fraction of that success it really would start changing people’s lives for the better.

And finally, do you have any tips for other budding fundraisers?

Twitter. Facebook. YouTube. Use them. A lot.

Buy 100 stories for Haiti online

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Tags: 100 stories for haiti, haiti earthquake appeal

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