Hey ho! Rentabook adds up.

Yes, it all adds up. Every last dollar. It's the end of the month and time to decide what we'll sponsor at the School of St Jude this month.

I don't really mind what I sponsor, 'cos I see that the money is well-used. Good planning goes a long way towards ensuring that things go smoothly, but there are always hiccoughs and glitches that mean that plans need to be adapted.

Earlier this year, the School commissioned an internet upgrade that involved a satellite dish and more. After several months of service failure, they have gone back to their previous supplier -- a more limited service, but more reliable! We have to expect these things to happen and to be flexible.



This month, I'd like to remind you about my brainwave – the Rentabook Scheme. This is so simple, it is silly. All you do is stick one of my St Jude's bookplates into the front of your books, then lend them or give them away as usual. The bookplate encourages the borrower (or recipient) to make a small donation to the School of St Jude – they rent the book for a small fee. The fees are paid here on my blog via the ChipIn tool at the top of the page.

Give it a go. Download the bookplates here. Stick them in. Get those books circulating!

Rent a Book Fundraiser

Here's my latest scheme! You can download this bookplate and stick it into any of your books. Then you lend the books, sell them, or give them away, and the books becomes a fundraiser for the School of St Jude.



Do you like this idea? Can you add these bookplates to your books? Go here to download the PDF file, then print it out and stick it into any of your books. [Right click the link and choose 'save as' to save the PDF file to your computer.]

Your borrowers can use the ChipIn widget on this blog to donate their book rental fees to the School of St Jude.

Get your books working for you! Better still – get them working to educate bright children from poor families in Tanzania.



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Best seller!

It is very exciting to see Gemma’s book, St Jude’s hitting the best seller lists.



St Jude’s hit Number One in the independent bookshops’ bestseller list on its first week in the list. It was Number two in biographies over all the bookshops (chains, Big Ws etc, as well as independents) and Number 5 over all for non-fiction. It’s a tribute to Gemma’s fantastic hard work flogging it around Australia and a great publicity tour from Pan Macmillan.



I find that St Jude’s is a great book for people who like an old-fashioned ‘good read’. Gemma has a great story to tell and she tells it with simple appreciation for both the rewards and challenges. In this way, it is similar to Albert Facey’s A Fortunate Life.

So, make sure you get a copy, and keep it in mind as a gift for birthdays and anniversaries. It is one of those books that is likely to become an enduring Australian classic. A People’s Classic.

Check out your local bookshop, or buy it online at Collins via the link in the sidebar.




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Mothers Day coming up

I went and got another copy of St Jude's today. I will send it to three mothers in my family – my mother, my sister and her daughter (mother of Isabella) who all live in the same household in Brisbane. St Jude's is an ideal book for Mothers Day, because it is so interesting and it is a really easy read. And the book addresses some of the difficulties that Gemma's mother had in accepting Gemma's decision to live in Africa. Mothers will understand the issues around this.

Incidentally, I met Gemma's mother at the book launch in Sydney. She was accompanying Gemma and helping out at the various book launch events. What a trouper!


I have designed a bookplate to go in all the copies of St Jude's that I buy. It is intended to encourage people to lend the book, and for the borrowers to donate the price of the book to the School via my blog. What do you think?


If you have a copy of St Jude's, you might think about putting something like this in the front cover and then lend it to someone!

When I was at the local bookshop, Lindfield Bookshop, Scott told me that if people want to buy children's books for the School, he will sell them at cost and ship them to Brisbane to go in the next container sent to the School. What a generous offer! I wonder whether I can get some fundraising happening around that idea?




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Win a copy of Gemma's book!

Kerri-Anne is giving away 10 copies of St Jude's. You can go here to enter the competition.

Kerri-Anne Kennerley

It's great to see Pan Macmillan doing such a good job of promoting St Jude's. Remember that Mothers Day is coming up on 13 May, and this book would be a great present for your Mum. It is fast-paced and upbeat, so it is a good read.

You can use the link to Collins Booksellers in the sidebar to order it online. Or support your local bookshop and see whether they have it in stock!