Next Thursday, December 18 at 1 pm EST, Paws PR will be hosting the #PawProtectors Twitter Chat to raise awareness of a great cause. We chatted with Nikki Tetreault, the Director of Marketing for Curiosity Quills Press. Nikki is the campaign manager for the Quills Don’t Kill campaign.
Tell us about this exciting program to raise funds for no-kill animal shelters.
Quill Don’t Kill is a way for book and/or pet lovers to help support no-kill shelters and save animals by purchasing a book (or more). It started out with the release of two best selling anthologies (bragging rights: they beat George RR Martin’s anthology!), which we decided 10% of the profits of which would go to no-kill animal shelters. We then decided to take it a step further by creating an Indiegogo to produce a hard cover special edition of the anthologies, and each donation amount has perks/costs built in so that the contributor gets high-valued perks while still donating almost all of the overhead funds raised to shelters.
What inspired this campaign?
Over 3 million healthy animals were euthanized in 2012, which cost taxpayers close to 1 billion dollars. According to the Ryan Newman Foundation, if we instead spent just 5% of this money on low-cost spay and neuter clinics, we could open over 200 clinics and sterilize 4 million animals a year. The goal of the Quill Don’t Kill campaign is to donate a percentage of profit for every single CQ novel to animal shelters or other charities by the end of 2014.
How can readers and animal lovers participate?
Readers can participate in the Tweet Chat by answering questions and asking their own (there’s a giveaway). They can participate in the Quill Don’t Kill by visiting the Indiegogo and contributing ($20 feeds ~2 animals for a week and gets you both anthologies) or sharing with their friends and family to spread the word to those that can afford to contribute. We are always updating the Indiegogo page, so readers can check in often so see updates—and what’s new.
Tell us about #PawProtectors.
It is the hashtag we use to share updates on Twitter/Facebook and the chat # for our Tweet Chat. A “Paw Protector” is what we dub every supporter of Quill Don’t Kill and using books to support animals. People can participate by joining in the next chat on Thursday, December 18, 2013 at 1 pm EST, checking the updates, and sharing their own story explaining why they became a #PawProtector. The shelters we are helping are in NY, VT, OH, WA, and CA, so these states in particular can share their experiences about their own no-kill Humane Societies. Since the eBook and paperback formats of the anthologies already donate 10%, they will continue to donate to the shelters even after the Indiegogo is finished, for the next two years (when the author rights must be re-contracted).
Mark your calendar and join us on December 18, 2013 at 1 pm EST and follow #PawProtectors on Twitter and help us raise awareness.
Want to learn more? Tweet Nikki @NikkiTrex or us @PawsPR
Let’s raise funds for a great cause!