Stephen King Sells Signed Books For Charity

Posted on December 13, 2006

Stephen King writes in his newsletter that starting tomorrow (December 14th), there are a limited number of autographed copies for sale of his book The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon and John Irving's Until I Find You. The books are in very limited quantities and are available at The Haven Foundation. The Haven Foundation is a non-profit which Stephen King established after his terrible car accident. He discusses why he founded the charity:

The majority of mid-list writers, audio readers, and freelancers in the book and publishing industry have little or no financial cushion in the event of a sudden catastrophic accident such as that suffered by Muller and myself. Many aren't affiliated with any professional associations or guilds that can help them in the event of such reversals. Even those who are affiliated with organizations such as The Authors' Guild cannot look for much beyond token help over a short period of time.

My response to this has been the creation of The Haven Foundation. Its goals will be fourfold: First, to establish a compassionate and committed group of board members willing to sift through cases and identify those where the need seems to be the greatest. These �greatest need� cases would be freelance artists�writers, readers, and those in the associated publishing industry�who have found themselves unable to work due to disease or accident. We will also be focusing on freelancers associated with the book and publishing industry who lost their homes and work spaces (with freelancers these are often the same) as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Second, to help a number of these individuals each year, based on need.

Third, to establish cut-off points for such help. As I have discovered, the decision to cut off aid is an agonizing one, and best made by a group rather than by an individual. I have come to believe, however, that it must be made if help is to be rendered to the many rather than the few.

Fourth, to seek fundraising opportunities so that The Haven Foundation can continue to do this work.

Autographed books make a great holiday gift and the Haven Foundation is a great cause.

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