Dear Bookstore Owner,
As you probably know, over 50% of the books that people read are borrowed or bought used.
Yet the authors receive nothing for all that usage of their works, which isn't fair.
AE provides a solution: an app that lets readers tip authors for their books.
It's a new idea and the app is unknown, so it needs publicity.
If you like the idea, you can help and possibly get paid a little.
How to Help
We ask you to do two things:
- Ask the authors you deal with to check out AE.
- Display the sign below (in a lucite frame we provide) at your store's register.
Goal
The goal is to find out whether readers will tip and whether authors will promote the app.
If non-trivial numbers do, the app will be kickstarted and AE will invest more to improve it.
Compensation
20% of tips go to the bookstores that help (tippers know this).
These bookstores share this 20% equally in $200 increments.
Example: if tips total $1,000,000 and 100 stores help, each store receives $2,000.
Each store in a chain gets a separate and equal share.
Terms may change.
Pilot Phase
For the first year, AE will be in a pilot phase.
Without help from bookstores and authors, it will fail and close down.
Expected Tip Volume
For the first year at least, tip volume will be very low (unless famous authors promote the app). As to the ultimate potential? Who knows? GoFundMe took from 2010-2013 to reach 1 million donations. Now, there are ~63 million per year and ~$40 billion has been given.
Uncollected Tips
Some authors will not collect their tips. After 5 years, an author's uncollected tips will be distributed equally to bookstores promoting AE. If AE closes down, uncollected tips will be distributed the same way.
Speculative Bonus for First Adopters
The first 5 bookstores that display the sign above for one year will receive $200,000 each if total tips reach $10,000,000 and tips per week continue to grow. One store per chain is eligible.