Patrick Ness, the award-winning children’s author of The Rest Of Us Just Live Here and Chaos Walking, hit Twitter yesterday to raise support for the refugees caught up in the European crisis, saying he would “match donations up to £10k to do *something* to help”. He began a fund-raising campaign for Save The Children – and it’s taken off in a very big way! Here’s how it started:
Okay, I don't know if this'll work but I'll match donations up to £10k to do *something* to help this refugee crises http://t.co/iDgBrCNTUc
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 3, 2015
Even though he was unsure if this Tweet would even work, he was soon surprised…
I did the first £10k, @johngreen is doing the second & now @DerekLandy has pledged the match the 3rd! http://t.co/iDgBrCwj2E WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 3, 2015
Mega-authors John Green (The Fault In Our Stars) and Derek Landy (Skulduggery Pleasant and Demon Road) added to the fund and were soon joined by adult author Jojo Moyes. And together with pledges from Patrick’s followers, the fund rose to £80,000. And it didn’t stop there…
Just got the email . We've passed £50,000. That includes Jojo, so plus the matching from me, John & Derek, we've raised £80,000. In a day.
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 3, 2015
I mean, you people. Seriously. You lovely, lovely people.
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 3, 2015
After saying how “lovely, lovely” his fans are, Hank Green (yep, John Green’s brother and vlog partner!) joined in, pledging another £10K!
The amazing @hankgreen is matching funds! Another £10k! Let's get that total to £80,000! http://t.co/iDgBrCwj2E
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 3, 2015
And then this happened: a group of US authors got involved, with Jenny Han, Rainbow Rowell and Maureen Johnson all began adding their own support!
NOT ONLY is @hankgreen matching £10k from £70-80k, but a group of American YA writers will match £10k from £80-90!!!! http://t.co/iDgBrCwj2E
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 3, 2015
Jenny Han, author of books such as The Summer I Turned Pretty and Burn For Burn, asked that instead of buying her a birthday present, making a donation to the fund “would be so great”!
I'm joining a group of U.S. YA authors to match the next £10K donated to Syrian refugees. Please help up us hit 110K! http://t.co/Vt3bsuSexu
— Jenny Han (@jennyhan) September 3, 2015
And Rainbow Rowell, author of Fangirl and Eleanor & Park, started sorting her characters into Hogwarts houses for every thousand raised (by the way, we might be able to help here Rainbow!)
I will sort 1 of my characters into Hogwarts houses for every thousand £s donated here, starting with 107K. http://t.co/nd7mDqDJ8Z
— Rainbow Rowell (@rainbowrowell) September 3, 2015
Maureen Johnson, author of The Shades of London series, gave out “A CUSTOM NICKNAME and PUBLIC PRAISE” to anyone who gave £10!
To get a nickname, give £10 (or more!) here. I will give you A CUSTOM NICKNAME and PUBLIC PRAISE. http://t.co/5Q6bPUx5sw
— Maureen Johnson (@maureenjohnson) September 3, 2015
As more authors joined Ness in promoting (brilliant people such as Richelle Mead, Libby Bray, Ally Carter and Leigh Bardugo to name just a few), he tweeted this:
All those authors banded together, promoted, cajoled, bribed and have either already donated their part of matching funds or will soon!
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 4, 2015
Before thanking his followers:
Mostly, though, thank you to you guys. Unbelievable. Hugs to everyone who wants one.
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 4, 2015
As the fund grew and grew towards £160k, David Nichols, author of One Day and Us, joined in, pledging to add another £10k!
David Nicholls (author of One Day and Us) is not on Twitter, but we love him. He will match £10k from £160-170k http://t.co/iDgBrCwj2E
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 4, 2015
The fund-raising continues, with Rosamund Lupton (author of adult thrillers), David Nicholls and Andersen Press, Marian Keyes, Francesca Simon and Walker Books pledging to add more money to the total...
My glorious publishers @WalkerBooksUK have just donated £10,000! http://t.co/iDgBrCwj2E Which means, @MarianKeyes, we did it!
— Patrick Ness (@Patrick_Ness) September 4, 2015
Patrick Ness thanked his audience, saying they have “made me proud to be in the YA community, the book community, and the lovely community of all here”. Not surprising since, at the time of writing this newsflash, the fund hit £220,000 (way over if you count GiftAid).
Wow, it really is an amazing time to be part of the bookish community! Especially as the fund-raising for the refugees and Save The Children continues!