Hey everyone!  The campaign is going really well so far.  Amazon has sold out of books twice already, which is a great sign that the books are moving.  Thanks so much to those of you who have already participated by buying two books and telling two friends!

A reminder – when you send books to your friends, be sure and tell them about the campaign and ask them to tell two friends (and so on, and so on…).  If we keep the strings going, we’ll be there in no time.  If the string stops at two books, we’ll get stuck in the mud (and anyone who’s been stuck in the mud knows how hard it is to get unstuck).

Thanks again for your generosity for this extremely important cause!  Don’t forget to tell two friends! And they’ll tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on…

Here’s an image you can email to your friends to encourage them to join us:

Hello Readers!  We’re off to a great start toward our goal of raising $100,000 to help eager adults learn to read this sentence!  The books are selling (we reached bestseller status on Amazon today in two different categories) – and don’t forget that every dime of author profit is going to the cause.

Lest ye forget, the steps to participate are

1) on the www.itoldtwofriends website, click to buy two copies of Melanie Wells best-selling thriller, My Soul to Keep, and send them to two friends.

2) ask them to do the same!

3) lather, rinse, repeat – It’s that simple.

4) sign up by clicking on “Be Part of the Solution” to receive updates and join ITTF contest.

If we start with 1000 readers and keep the strings going (you tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on and so on…) we only need 6 iterations to reach our goal.  Let’s make it happen!

Oh – and don’t forget to send us your photos and videos.  We’d love to post videos of you telling us who you are, where you live and how many friends you’ve told.  If you’re really serious, sign up for the contest and you could win a $700 pickup just like Dylan drives – among other fabulous prizes.

Thanks for being part of the solution!  Let’s keep it up!

Here’s how you can participate in the I Told Two Friends campaign:

1) On the right-hand nav bar, click to buy two copies of Melanie Wells thriller, My Soul to Keep, and send them to two friends.  Let them know about the campaign and ask them to do the same.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

2) To follow the campaign or sign up to win fabulous prizes by tracking your sales & having the longest string of participants, click on Be Part of the Solution and sign up on the right-hand nav bar.

3) A little extra help:  We’re trying to get on the Ellen Degeneres show to promote the I Told Two Friends Campaign!  You can help by emailing Ellen and encouraging her to have Melanie on the show to talk about the campaign.  Go to www.ellen.warnerbros.com and click on “Email Ellen.” Beg if you have to.

We can do it!  She has a heart for good causes and our cause is great.

You guys rock. The books are already selling!  Hurry! We’ve only got until September 30!

“In the U.S., 30 million people over age 16 — 14 percent of the country’s adult population — don’t read well enough to understand a newspaper story written at the eighth grade level or fill out a job application.” - ProLiteracy fact

Getting a job in an economic slump is hard for anyone. But imagine trying to get a job in an economic slump and not being able to read, like the 30 million adults in this country who are illiterate.

Today is the day to change that! Saturday, August 15, is the official launch date of Melanie Wells’ I Told Two Friends campaign to help end adult illiteracy in America. Be part of the solution!

I Told Two Friends is an online campaign led by Dallas author, Melanie Wells, to rally book lovers to help fight adult illiteracy. Readers are invited to join our effort to raise $100,000 for the cause by purchasing Melanie Wells’ novel, My Soul To Keep, and encouraging two friends do the same. 100% of the author’s profits will go to ProLiteracy, an international non-profit whose mission is to end adult illiteracy worldwide.

Here’s how you can help 14 percent of the country’s adult population learn to read this blog:

1) Click to buy two copies of Melanie’s psychological thriller, My Soul to Keep. (You can also purchase at your local bookstore.) Give the books to two friends and tell them about how they can help support adult literacy by each purchasing two books and giving them to two friends….then they tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on, and so on… 100% of Melanie’s profits from these sales will go to ProLiteracy, an organization dedicated to teaching adults worldwide to read.

2) Sign up through the e-mail form on the Be Part of the Solution page to receive e-mail updates about the campaign. To participate in the contest and earn the glory of raising the most funds for literacy, remember to sign up for the contest as well. Both forms are listed on the right side bar of the Be Part of the Solution page.

3) Make sure you keep track of who you tell and who they tell (this is what we call a “string”) because the people with the longest strings will get some wicked prizes. This is where your creativity comes in. We don’t care how you show us, but you’ve got to show us! It could be through pictures, video or even a long laundry list. This way we will know who gets bragging rights for raising the most funds for literacy! We’ll post whatever you send us to show which readers are committed to the campaign.

4) Follow us on Twitter for other updates: www.twitter.com/itoldtwofriends

5) Tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on and so on … and help thousands of eager adults learn to read this sentence. Tell two more friends and repeat steps 1, 3, 4 and 5!

Telling a Friend is defined as purchasing two NEW copies of Melanie Wells’ My Soul to Keep from any retailer, and giving them to two of your friends. And then asking them to do the same. (Don’t cheat and buy used – authors get no royalties for those and it would defeat the purpose) Other books in the Dylan Foster series will count, too.

And here’s some swag for you guys. The person who creates the longest sustained string will choose from the following prizes:

1) A $700 pickup, just like Dylan drives. We’re not kidding. Oh. And a big, fat, thank you on the acknowledgements page of Melanie Wells’ next book. That, too.

2) A year’s supply of Dylan’s favorite cleaning products. Yes, it’s true. Oh. And you get to name a character in her next book. That, too.

3) A signed glossy photo of Melanie and a signed bottle of Faberge shampoo (if we can find one – we’re working on it).

4) The first signed copy of Melanie Wells’ next book (plus signed copies of the first three, natch.)

5) One chapter of the marked-up manuscript of Melanie’s book. Signed by Melanie, of course. (This is actually pretty cool because you get to see the process and listen in on the fights between Melanie and her editor.)

Runner up picks from what’s left. And so on, and so on… Anyone in the top 5 can also suggest a substitute prize that’s appropriate for your level of participation. Who knows? You might convince us. Then someone else could have the shampoo. And we’ve got groovy t-shirts and I Told Two Friends buttons for you.

Oh, and if we reach our goal, the top 100 participants will be invited to a Big Fat Party in Dallas, hosted by Melanie and featuring great music and crazy fun. We’re not kidding. And even if ALL THAT doesn’t motivate you, you get the priceless satisfaction of knowing that you helped an eager adult learn to read this sentence.

Did you know that 44 million adults in America can’t read this sentence?

For twenty (five) bucks and two friends, you can help an eager, able adult learn to read. For the entire duration of the I Told Two Friends Campaign, Dallas author Melanie Wells will donate 100% of profit from sales of her novel, My Soul To Keep to Pro-Literacy. (You read that right – 100% – That’s about a buck a book.) All YOU need to do is buy two copies of that book and give them each to a friend or get two friends to buy their own books. Then tell them what we’re up to and have them do the same! (Sorry, loaning doesn’t count.)

If 100 readers Tell a Friend and then they each Tell a Friend (and so on), it takes 16 iterations to reach 100,000. If we start with 1000 readers who Tell Two Friends (and so on), it takes only 6! Get it?

(If you don’t know what an iteration is, ask someone who does. And then buy them a book so they can Tell Two Friends… )