Tuesday, April 14, 2009

How to Request Sponsors for “Books for Inmates”

Hope this finds you doing well. Thanks to everyone who has pre-ordered books already. To help get more of our books into jails, prisons, and youth detention centers, we are asking everyone to send e-mails and/or letters to churches, service groups, ministries, and individuals to sponsor a box of books for the inmates in their local correctional facilities.

Below are links to two 1-page files. One is a PDF file of our order form. The other is a Word file with a typical letter requesting funding that you may edit and tailor, to ask churches, service groups, and any group or individual to sponsor a box of books for the inmates in your area. If you prefer to have the files sent to you as attachments, send me an e-mail requesting that.
http://www.tomlagana.com/images/OrderForms-2009.pdf
http://www.tomlagana.com/images/SPT-Sponsor-Letter.doc

We can send the books wherever the sponsor desires. If someone wants to sponsor a box of books, but isn’t able to facilitate the distribution, we will contact appropriate staff at that facility who are able and willing to accept the shipment and get the books into the hands of inmates. We don’t tell staff how to distribute the books. Some will place them in various libraries, others will use them in a program, and some even give the books to inmates to keep. We simply trust that the books will get to where they’re supposed to be. God will take care of it from there.

We welcome your questions, comments, and especially creative ideas to help inspire those incarcerated. Thanks for making a difference.

Continued Blessings,
Tom
Co-author "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul,"
"The Quick and Easy Guide to Project Management,"
"Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul," "Serving Time, Serving Others"
and "Serving Productive Time" available July 1, 2009
Tom Lagana ~~ (302) 475-4825 -- PO Box 7816, Wilmington, DE 19803
Tom@TomLagana.com ~~ http://www.TomLagana.com
"Tom is a professional speaker, trainer, engineer, consultant, and author
. . . helping people become their best."

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

A Chaplain's Request in Texas -- Books for Prisoners -- TDCJ Lane Murray Unit

A Chaplain at the TDCJ Lane Murray Unit has asked for help in getting more of the following books there. Can you ask the local churches to sponsor some of these books so that she can use these with her inmates? The books are:
- Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul
- Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul
- Serving Time, Serving Others
- Serving Productive Time (new)
New and used copies are available at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. Even just one copy sent to the chaplain is appreciated. Please send the books to:

Chaplain Garcia -- Chaplain's Office
TDCJ Lane Murray Unit
1916 North Hwy 36 Bypass
Gatesville TX 76596

Quantity discounts are also available:
Receive a FREE BOX of 24 "Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul" books when you purchase 12 copies of "Serving Time, Serving Others."
For $259, you will receive 36 books. This price includes shipping and handling of both boxes. Send check or money order payable to "Success Solutions" and mail to:

Books for TDCJ Lane Murray Unit
PO Box 7816
Wilmington DE 19803

Reserve books by replying to this posting or by phoning 302-475-4825.

Feel free to copy and distribute the following pdf files as you see fit.
http://www.TomLagana.com/images/SPT-Ad.pdf
http://www.TomLagana.com/images/SPT-1-page.pdf
http://www.TomLagana.com/images/PS-STSO.pdf
http://www.tomlagana.com/images/PS-Recipe.pdf
http://www.TomLagana.com/images/Crossroad.pdf

Friday, April 3, 2009

One Book Can Make a Difference

Even though more than 150,000 copies of our books are in circulation in jails, prisons, and youth detention centers, we continually receive mail from inmates, as well as chaplains, teachers, counselors, and librarians requesting our books for the inmates they serve. They simply do not have the money to purchase our books.

If you are willing to send just one book to one of the persons requesting one from us, please reply and I will e-mail you an address to send one of our books. Please specify if you prefer to send a book to an inmate or to a staff person. You may order a book through Amazon or to order a copy of Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul directly from our publisher, click on the cover below:

Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul

Below is an excerpt from a story in our upcoming book, Serving Productive Time that quotes Adam who wrote to me after reading one of our books:

“I sold Ecstasy for only four months . . . but I got busted. After being drug-free for twenty-nine years, I screwed up my life, and now I’m facing a sentence of up to twenty years,” he explained. “When I went to prison, suicide was a very real option. Soon after I was locked up, my mom sent me a book—Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul. I read it in one day. It was then that I realized that I could make it.”

Thank you for helping to make a difference.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Book Request from the Chaplain at Pendleton Correctional Facility

A chaplain at Pendleton Correctional Facility would like donations of “Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul” and "Serving Time, Serving Others" books for the inmates incarcerated there.

New books may be ordered through Amazon and other sources and sent to:
The Chaplain's Office
Pendleton Correctional Facility
4490 West Reformatory Road
Pendleton, IN 46064-3395

For details on quantity discounts and free books with a purchase, contact the co-author, Tom Lagana through website: www.TomLagana.com or call 302-475-4825.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Pre-Order -- Serving Productive Time

Our publisher has informed us that although the official release date for “Serving Productive Time” is July 1, 2009, we will have full boxes (of 30 books each) ready to ship in early June (possibly sooner). The cost is $216. Please see the Order Form linked below and order a box or more of this worthwhile book.

Please note: Checks and money orders sent to us will not be deposited until the books are shipped. We will hold the checks or money orders until then. When necessary, we will accept purchase orders.

Credit cards are usually not acceptable, but for large orders, arrangements can be made through a third-party. Credit card purchases will only be accepted in cases where that is the only viable alternative for payment.

Please consider asking churches, service groups, and individuals to help sponsor books for you to use in your ministry and/or to send some books to a correctional facility in your area.

Below are links to three 1-page PDF files. One gives details about our book, another is a sample of the contents, and the third is an order form. We have begun mailing hard copies of these flyers when we reply to our constant stream of correspondence from prisoners. Feel free to print and distribute these pages as you see fit.
http://www.tomlagana.com/images/SPT-1-page.pdf
http://www.tomlagana.com/images/SPT-Ad.pdf
http://www.tomlagana.com/images/OrderForms-2009.pdf

We hope you share this message with anyone you think would benefit by its content. Thank you.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Need Your Help Marketing New Book for Prisoners

Your help is needed to create an awareness and buzz on the Internet about a new book to help inspire inmates to prepare for a successful release and become productive members of our society.

It's the follow-up book to "Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul" and "Serving Time, Serving Others." The title of this new book is "Serving Productive Time: Stories, Poems, and Tips to Inspire Positive Change from Inmates, Prison Staff, and Volunteers." It will be officially released on July 1, 2009. The Foreword is by MARY V. LEFTRIDGE BYRD, deputy secretary, Washington State Department of Corrections. The book is being published by Health Communications, Inc. and is already listed on Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites.

Your creative ideas to get the word out will be greatly appreciated, as well as your help to implement them.

Although there is no pay for your help on this project, the co-authors will gladly give you a reference based on your help. If you are in a position to sell books, there is an opportunity to make some money this way, as the authors will give you a substantial quantity discount for you to resell them. That of course is optional.

Your response is appreciated. Thanks for helping to make a difference.