What we do
Each of our programs puts money behind a different corner of the Tri-Cities reading life. Here's what they do and how to be part of them.
Your gift underwrites author visits to the Tri-Cities: honoraria, travel, lodging, and the small things that make a good author experience into a great one. Gifts of any size add up here, from a warm welcome for a visiting writer to bringing a debut novelist out to read.
How it works. This is our central fundraising vehicle, and it's what pays for the events that put readers and writers in the same room. Every gift is tied to a real cost, from a $25 welcome for a visiting author to $500 to bring a debut novelist out to read.
Every quarter, readers vote on a book by a local or regional author. We buy the winner from a Tri-Cities indie bookstore and place copies in free libraries across the metro.
How it works. Each submission is read against the published criteria first, a pass-or-fail check with no taste in it. Endpapers members then pick the quarterly theme and choose which three qualifying books go to the public vote. Every $5 vote is a donation that goes straight to buying the winner from a local indie bookstore, and each copy gets a Folklore bookplate and lands in a free library around the Tri-Cities. Books by board members or their close family never qualify.
Who's eligible. Books published in the last five years by an author in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho, orderable through a Tri-Cities indie bookstore, written for young adult or adult readers. Current bookstore partners: BAGG Books, Wildflower Fiction, Ink Drinkers Bookshop, and Adventures Underground.
When a Tri-Cities book club is reading a regional author's book, we buy the copies from a local indie bookstore of your choice. Vendor-direct, so no money touches the club.
How it works. Tell us about your club and the book you're reading. We confirm eligibility against published criteria, pay the bookstore directly at full retail, and your copies are ready for pickup.
Who's eligible. Local, open, free book clubs reading a Pacific Northwest author's book published in the last five years, for young adult or adult readers, available through a Tri-Cities indie bookstore. In year one we're supporting up to four Round Tables, with up to 12 copies each.
We also run on the less-visible work: licensing fees, insurance, venue rentals, and the dozen small things that keep events going. A gift here lets us put your support wherever it's most useful at the moment.
How it works. Not every cost fits neatly under a named program. A gift to the general fund covers the everyday operating expenses behind all of them, and lets us move quickly when something comes up.