257 a:5:{s:8:"template";a:3:{s:21:"pb_ui_donate.tpl.html";b:1;s:21:"pb_uc_header.tpl.html";b:1;s:21:"pb_uc_footer.tpl.html";b:1;}s:6:"config";a:1:{s:17:"castermaster.conf";b:1;}s:9:"timestamp";i:1214147130;s:7:"expires";i:1214150730;s:13:"cache_serials";a:0:{}} Why should I donate? .

Why Should I Donate? - Updated 12/3/06

This isn't going to be a tear-jerking plea for your cash, and I'm not going to try and convince you that starving authors will continue to go hungry if you don't pass some bucks his or her way. Instead, I'm just going to tell you The Master Plan of how you can make the world a better place.

I'm a child of capitalism, just like many of you. Truth be told, it's supply-side economics, which is a conversation for another time. As good little capitalists, we expect to pay for things, and we expect to get paid for things. Groovy.

We've also become accustomed to artists and creative types getting shafted by The Man. Drop $15 bucks for the latest CD by your favorite artists, you just gave the band a nickle. Which they have to split. Five ways. That beautiful new hardback you just shelled out $24.99 to read? The author saw just under two bucks. Another dinner at Taco Bell™ is in order.

So we've taken that model of accepted commerce, and turned it on it's head. With Podiobooks.com, you decide if something is worth supporting. The author spends time, energy, and often times very real dollars on making each of these chapters. Here on the back side, the costs to do all the tech stuff are greater than zero. But that's OK. We're not begging. Authors and techies alike are doing this to get good books spread around far and wide.

But if you want to donate, you can. We use PayPal to handle all of our payments, and the bulk of your donation goes to the author, not the site. We started out giving half of the money to the author, and now we're up to 75%. That's before PayPal fees, by the way. We absorb those costs (and many others) on the back end.

And if you have issues using PayPal, you can send us your donation via snail mail:

Please make your check out to ASW Consulting Services and please include the title of the book in the memo field or somewhere else so we know where it goes!

You may notice a few ads here and there on the site and may even hear a quick audio ad play before a chapter begins. Those things help us keep Podiobooks.com afloat, and may one day allow us to actually pay our every growing staff a real salary. So we hope you'll pardon us for that necessary evil, and keep on contributing to the books you love. Oh! And tell a friend or twenty, would you?

UPDATE: The response to our recent increase in our payments to authors (they now get 75% of your contributions -- up from 50%) has been great, but many of you are asking the same question: How can I donate just to the staff of Podiobooks.com? Well, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If you want to donate just to the staff of Podiobooks.com, you can do that on the form below. Now remember, this is just for us and none of these donations will be split. If you want to support the authors of the books you love (and I hope you do), then donate on any book page. Now that that's perfectly and painfully clear:

Give some cash the staff of Podiobooks.com!

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-Evo