The Book Thing has officially entered the 21^st century. After prolonged discussion we have concluded that the Internet is not, I repeat, not a fad. The question, now, is what to do with it. How do we blend moveable type - 16^th century technology - with today’s?

The Book Thing plans to use one to support the other.

The Book Thing has a business model different that any other. And when you're doing something no else has done, you need to be creative. This website has aspirations of becoming a home for book lovers, a place to support a love of all things written.

In my first blog posting last week, I talked about doing something to help others with no detriment to the giver. Today I want to continue in that vein with a great example, "affiliates programs" and how they work. Say you're going to buy something on Amazon or search for something on Google. Stop here first because both sites have these "affiliates programs." What it boils down to is that if you click on their links from our site, The Book Thing receives a percentage of your purchase. It doesn't cost you anything; it just rewards us for "directing" you to their site. This is the type of thing I was referring to in the first blog posting. If there is no detriment to you but can help someone else, do it.

Book observations this week:

No one ever donates just one diet book at a time,

Authors must sell at least 1,000,000 books before their pet can be in the photo on the dust jacket

This is the time of year when teachers clean out their classrooms.

I do not know who designs the covers of middle school textbooks but they have never met a middle-schooler.

If you were to pile all the National Geographics in one place, would they change the Earth's axis?