I have been going back and forth if I should post this or not. But after seeing a post about someone saying that my grams really didn't die and that we used stole the money that was raised to go to disney I knew something had to be done.
Before you read the following please note its been a very long three days and well there are more than likely spelling mistakes etc. Please ignore them.
1. Grams Death and Go Fund Me
My grandma died over Easter Weekend in 2014. It was very unexpected and we thought she was just going into the hospital to deal with her stomach pains. I was at an author event here in my town when I received the call that she had passed. When it came to covering the cost to have her cremated and then sent back to Ohio so she could be buried we found that there was no way we could afford it. Were not rich, we make no money from this site, and we pay out hundreds of dollars a year in shipping and giveaway costs. As well as site fees etc. So I turned to Go Fund Me to see if we could get some help. Even before doing that we called many churches to see if they could help instead but no one could. Reaching out to our followers on social media was the last chance before she was going to become a ward of the state.
Having to prove that my grams died is disgusting and hurtful. Having to think about her death after all this time.......
I still can't believe that people would post about this. And if you need proof I will scrounge up the death certificate if I have to.
as for disney for those who wish to know. We get an annual pass to a new park every year. It is our family time. That year we had passes to Disney. So yes we were there but they had been paid for at the beginning of the year. out of out Tax return.
2. Selling ARCs
For the past 5 years at the end of the year we always had tons of books left. From giveaways where no one entered, to giveaways that were returned because people's addresses were wrong, to giveaways where we had won things that we didn't want, etc. Every year during the months of Nov. and Dec. we would make up boxes and sell them for shipping only. This is the first year that anyone has ever said anything about. Before we did it for all those years we had tired to give them to the schools and libraries and well both didn't even know what an ARC even was. I had to explain it to them. So the mystery boxes were born. We NEVER made anything from them.
3. Mulit Copies of Books
So how did we get all the copies.
1. friends sent us books they didn't want and well we already had most of them.
2. during BEA and Bookcon some things we didn't even realize we had already grabbed. Trust me drive around 1300 miles to spend three days getting up at 3am and then walking around all day (when I was supposed to be in my wheel chair) then driving an hour back to the hotel to just fall in to bed and do it again. Your brain is so dead that by the end all the covers blend and you have no idea what you have already gotten. I ended up doing the same thing by day two at ALA but it wasnt as bad I think we ended up with maybe three or four books that were duplicated.
3. for two titles the publisher gave us extra copies for our online bookclub (which consist mainly of bloggers) So those books went to other people and we didn't keep the extra copies.
4. Also during BEA/Bookcon when in line for titles if it was something we all wanted to read we would each grab a copy. There were many times when I said no because a title was to old for my youngest whom is only 5 years old. She didn't need a teen book. So there were many things we didn't get multiples of at all.
4. Photo floating around social media
The picture that is floating around social media is incomplete. It is a splice of two photos that were unrelated. The photo with the books is via this years BEA/Bookcon and is a collection of 4 people's books. It is not just one persons. We should have all taken separate photos we know that now. As for the second photo for this years Mystery boxes. That was cut off so information that was at the bottom is missing. The bottom stated that each box was slightly above the normal flat rate cost (which is $10 for padded, $15 for med, $20 for large)
Because it also included items that I was purchasing to put in the boxes. Because in the past these books only contained books but I thought that people would like to get some extra things as well.
5. Updated for what were doing with left over ARCs
Today a teacher contacted us on Twitter saying that she would be more than happy to cover the cost of shipping. So from now on she is on speed dial for all left over ARCs. Were happy that the mystery boxes are no longer going to be going on because it was a lot of hassle to do them anyway. So this solved that issue for everyone.
6. Sorry
We are sorry that this was all blown out of proportion. This entire situation was been a drain on twitter and the page as well as on us personally. And we hope that this letter will stop all the drama, bulling, and hate.
7. Unfollowers, Publishers, Going Forward.
We know that this letter is going to reach a lot of people. And well thats what were hoping for. We know that a lot of publishers have already removed us from their lists. And we don't hold any animosity toward you or the authors who have chosen to unfollow us. We understand that all this drama is not good for anyone out there. We just hope that going forward we can gain back your trust . We know that we let you down, but we hope that in time you will give us a second chance. As we love reviewing books, doing giveaways, and meeting authors.
"All opinions are 100% honest and my own."
Comments have been disabled because of more drama, hate, and bulling. Were done with it and thats that. If you can't post something nice or constructive then please don't post. There is more important things going on in the world than nasty comments. Thank you.
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