Operation Book Drop was first conceived by Mr. Ed Patterson, author of The Jade Owl. Mr. Patterson posted a thread regarding the matter on the Kindle boards forum. Authors: Kindle Book Gifts for the Troops

Here is an excerpt from the thread:

Today on Amazon I bumped into Joe Terry, a soldier currently serving in Iraq, who was explaining that he had a Kindle without Whispernet, but used a router to get purchased books onto a computer and then used the USB connection to his Kindle. I suddenly had a thought (being a citizen who benefits from Joe Terry's service and a veteran) that I should make contact with him and gift him my entire Kindle library of 13 books. He accepted gratefully and off they went this morning in a nice 3 MB zip file. I also asked Joe Terry of he knew any other service personnel in Iraq with Kindles, suggesting that other Indie authors might want to gift books to our brave men and women in the Armed forces. I am awaiting his response. Still, I would like to ask the authors here if they would be willing to gift some books for at least my one contact, and perhaps more. It's just the kernel of an idea, and as such I have created a poll, which anyone can take to validate whether it would be a worthwhile effort.

I'm one of the authors who has responded and joined Mr. Patterson and the many other authors out there who are working to support the deployed troops. We are seeking the names and email addresses of deployed troops. Quoting Mr. Patterson again, this is how the system works.

If you want to participate and are a deployed member of the coalition Armed Forces, just drop me (edwpat   at   att.net) an email with your name, unit and location (and a little feedback - our authors enjoy some feedback), and I'll set you up on the program.

If you're an author and want to join the ranks of the givers, publish your book(s) on Smashwords and set up a 100% discount coupon and then drop me a line at edwpat   at    att.net and I'll forward you the troop list and set you up for all new incoming troop book requests.

This program is only a month old and happened by chance here in the Kindle community. Indie authors care and we want to make a difference by thanking our troops for their efforts.

Edward C. Patterson
former Sp5 E. Patterson, USAR 6th Batallion, 60 th Artillery (1966-68)"

This is a good cause. If there are authors out there wanting to join the effort feel free to do so. If you are a deployed member of the armed forces feel free to sign up for the books. We want to show our support for you. God bless you and thank you for your service.

Sincerely,

Ricky Sides

Author of the peacekeeper series.

The Birth of the Peacekeepers by Ricky Sides