Note from the Founder

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are fast approaching. If you’re like me, your “To Do” list seems insurmountable. Just when you’ve tackled your holiday shopping list, decorated your tree, and planned your celebrations, suddenly the tooth fairy needs to make an appearance! I suppose it’s time to take a deep breath, sneak in a few DailyLit installments — hint, hint — and at least try to enjoy these last few weeks of the year.
Cheers — to happy holidays and a happy new year!
-Susan

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger[at]dailylit[dot]com
Twitter: @susandanziger, @dailylit

Holiday Reads

Here are a few classic holiday tales to sneak in during a coffee break or while waiting in line:
-The Gift of the Magi by O.Henry
-Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
-A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
You can also check out the Holiday section of DailyLit for more holiday reads.
You may even want to send one of these holiday books to a friend for the holidays, together with a personalized note. You can do that on the sign-up box found on any book page where you’ll find a tab that reads “Gift this book”.

Vacation Pauses

If you’re traveling this holiday season or just need a break, remember you can suspend your books and have them automatically resume for when you return. Just click on the link at the bottom of any book installment that reads: “Need a break? Suspend delivery of this book”. You can also suspend your book (or multiple books) by going to “Your Settings” after logging in to DailyLit.

2012 Literary Resolutions

Which book would you like to read as part of your 2012 New Year’s resolution? That’s our recent Question of the Week. Anyone up for tackling War and Peace?

If you missed this holiday question, I asked which have been your favorite literary gifts (I’m try to get some last minute ideas); you can still answer it here.

Twas the Night Before Christmas Challenge

Whenever I read A Visit from St. Nicholas I think of my old, worn out pop-up book version of this poem that I loved reading and re-reading as a child. This new creative challenge asks you to finish the line “Twas the night before Christmas…” and come up with your own verse. Here’s the entire poem by Clement C. Moore; I hope it brings back your own magical memories:



Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap–



When out on the lawn there rose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter,

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Gave a lustre of mid-day to objects below;

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;



“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On! Comet, on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blitzen–

To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall!

Now, dash away, dash away, dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So, up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With a sleigh full of toys–and St. Nicholas too.

And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof,

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.



He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack;

His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;



His droll little month was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face, and a little round belly

That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.



He was chubby and plump–a right jolly old elf;

And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself.

A wink of his eye, and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle;

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected the #1 Book Website by The Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 47 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, tablet or iPhone.

Here’s the latest news from DailyLit:

What’s in here –

Note from the Founder

What does a scary MBA student wearing a wrap dress have to do with DailyLit? Well, not much. Except that this month I’m featuring a brand new series on Fashion Classics; a sequel to our popular MBA Mondays series; and some scary reads just in time for Hallowe’en.

So cheers, to a scary, chic, business-savvy month!

-Susan

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
Twitter:@susandanziger, @dailylit

Fashion Classics

Anyone else as clueless as I am about fashion styles? How happy was I when one of our readers, Alexandra Suhner Isenberg, suggested a mini-course on Fashion Classics. In just 10 installments it features stories behind the most legendary fashion items from the polo shirt to the wrap dress. And while you’re thinking about your wardrobe, you can answer this week’s question: what’s the one thing in your closet you’ll never throw away? Enter your closet keeper here.

MBA Mondays II

If you enjoyed MBA Mondays, you may now be reading the sequel, MBA Mondays II. It continues the “little business school in your inbox” with daily (or weekly, as you like) lessons from well-known V.C. Fred Wilson. And if you missed the original MBA Mondays series, you can still sign up for it here.

50 Word Fright

Get in the Hallowe’en spirit (so to speak!) by composing (or is that de-composing — sorry, couldn’t resist) your own frightful story in exactly 50 words. Check out others creepy tales and enter your own chiller here.

Inbox Thrills

Give your inbox a thrill with one of these scary reads:

-Washington Irving’s Legend of Sleepy Hollow; come on, how many times have you heard about this story and never had a chance to read it — I’m in; how about you?

-A collection of Edgar Allen Poe’s scary reads that feature The Tell-Tale Heart; The Masque of the Red Death; and The Raven — all in just 7 installments.

-Famous Modern Ghost Stories — a classic collection with “terrifying tales of revenge beyond the grave” and “touching pieces of love and devotion that know no (earthly) bounds”.

-Check out our Horror Category as well for our other scary reads.

In past newsletters I’ve neglected to include a description of DailyLit so in case you’ve forgotten (or want to forward this to a friend — and please do!), here it is:



DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected the #1 Book Website by The Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 47 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, tablet or iPhone.

In case you miss our latest news (arriving in inboxes today), here it is:

NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER
There I was at my college reunion, about to hurl myself into a deep gorge. Well, not exactly into the gorge. And OK I was tethered to a zip line. But the line looked pretty flimsy, and I still had to jump. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. With my husband and kids breezily zipping away, I was not going to let fear get the best of me. So I committed to taking the plunge (besides, who wants to be shown up by a nine year old!). It made me think about what else I haven’t tackled. And then I thought of those “should have but haven’t yet read” books on my list. (OK, I realize that was a tenuous segue but what the heck). In any case, I’ve decided to tackle at least one book I’ve been wanting to read. How about you? Any leaps you’d like to take this summer?
Cheers — to a summer of leaps!
-Susan

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger@dailylit.com
Twitter:@susandanziger, @dailylit

GOING AWAY? SUSPEND YOUR BOOKS
Now that you’re finally able to take some time off, don’t forget to suspend delivery of your DailyLit installments so they don’t pile up while you’re away. You can even set your books to automatically resume for when you’re back. All you need to do is to click the “Suspend delivery of this book” link at the bottom of any email installment and go from there (or you can log in to DailyLit and go to Your Settings.) Make it a guilt-free vacation and a trouble-free return.

THAT ONE BOOK
What’s that one book you should have read but haven’t yet? For me, it’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Well, no more putting it off. I’ve committed to reading it this summer. How about you? Any of these books on your must-read list? They’re all ideal for summer.
-Huckleberry Finn
-Tom Sawyer
-Wonderful Wizard of Oz
-Anne of Green Gables
-Robinson Crusoe
-Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
-Call of the Wild
-Treasure Island
-War of the Worlds
-Jane Eyre
-Wuthering Heights
-Great Expectations
-Tess of the D’Urbervilles
-The Scarlet Letter
-Gulliver’s Travels

CLASSIC SUMMER READS FOR KIDS
Now that the kids are getting out of school, you might be thinking about which books they could read this summer. The National Endowment for the Humanities created a list of recommended classic summer reads for kids. I’ve highlighted on DailyLit’s blog the ones we carry; you can find recommended books for Kindergarteners through 6th graders (5-12 year olds) here; books for 7th and 8th graders (13-14 year olds) here; and books for high school kids (15-18 year olds) here. In fact, it might be fun to read a book together this summer (either out-loud or on the same schedule ).

JULY 4TH: BE THE SMARTEST ONE AT YOUR BBQ
Be the smartest one at your BBQ this 4th of July. In just 6 installments, you can read the Declaration of Independence; The Gettysburg Address; John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address; and other inspirational reads that define a nation. They’re part of America’s Greatest Hits.

CREATIVE CHALLENGE: DECLARING INDEPEDENCE
In the spirit of the upcoming 4th of July, I thought I’d make this creative challenge about independence. So, here goes: “In 50 words or fewer, describe a time in your life when you experienced independence.” You can declare your independent moment here.

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 40 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

In case you missed it in your inbox, here’s the latest news from DailyLit:

In this issue:
-Note from the Founder
-Big Read: Margaret Atwood’s “White Horse” Story
-New: Story by Acclaimed Crime Writer
-Seth Godin: Unboxed
-Question of the Week: Taking off to Lilliput
-Creative Challenge: Over to You

I’ve been horsing around recently with a couple of authors. Well, not exactly. But I am featuring Margaret Atwood’s short story, “White Horse” as this month’s Big Read. And I did meet her a couple of month’s ago. I can tell you she’s one smart, passionate and wonderfully formidable woman. And then there’s Seth Godin. He invited me (along with about 12 other women entrepreneurs) to spend a few days in his office where he inspired, challenged, and pushed us to take risks and take action. I hope you’ll be as inspired by the “Seth Godin: Unboxed” series I just launched as much as he inspired me.
So cheers — to taking risks and taking action!
-Susan

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger@dailylit.com
Twitter:@susandanziger, @dailylit

BIG READ: MARGARET ATWOOD’S “WHITE HORSE” STORY

I can’t tell you how many requests I’ve had to feature work by Margaret Atwood. When I ran into her a few months ago and she generously offered one of her short stories, “White Horse“, I couldn’t believe my good luck. One of our readers, “lilfel” tweeted this week: “Don’t normally dig short stories, but got super attached to the characters in White Horse.”

NEW: STORY BY ACCLAIMED CRIME WRITER

Crime stories are not usually my cup of tea, but I have to say I enjoyed “A Moment of Wrong Thinking“, a short story by Lawrence Block. It reminded me of one of those old black and white movies with wonderful characters, intrigue and, thank goodness, no blood. Sometimes it’s good to shake things up.

SETH GODIN: UNBOXED

Having spent an intensive few days with bestselling author Seth Godin, I’m as impressed and inspired by him as ever. In this brand new series, “Seth Godin: Unboxed“, I’ve taken an excerpt from his new book, Poke the Box, and combined it with his most popular blog posts — that is, ones that were most tweeted or “liked” on Facebook. This series is meant to give you that kick in the pants we all need from time to time to take action.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: TAKING OFF TO LILLIPUT

As we start to think about summer travel plans, the question this week is: “which fictional place (from a novel or story) would you like to travel to this summer? You can enter your destination here.

CREATIVE CHALLENGE — OVER TO YOU

My new creative challenge is, admittedly, a bit self-serving. I’m looking to find ideas for new creative challenges and weekly questions. So, for this new challenge: “which questions or challenges would you pose?” You can enter your ideas here.

Oh, and in case you’re feeling a bit cheated, here’s a recent creative challenge I posted: “combine ‘heads’ and ‘tails’ in one sentence”. You can enter your sentence here.

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 40 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

In case you miss it in your inbox, here’s the latest newsletter from DailyLit:

What’s in here:
Note from the Founder
New: Poetry Collections
Earth Day, Every Day
Creative Challenge: Shaking Up Shakespeare
Survey Says…

NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER

Is there any rhyme or reason to this month’s newsletter? Absolutely! The rhyme comes in our celebration of Poetry Month with a Shakespearean creative challenge and the launch of two poetry collections. And then there’s reason. Reason to celebrate Earth Day, Every Day, a collection of stories that highlights moments in everyday lives when folks woke up to changing the world in their own unique ways.
So cheers — to both rhyme and reason!
-Susan

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger@dailylit.com
Twitter:@susandanziger, @dailylit

NEW: POETRY COLLECTIONS

In honor of Poetry Month, I’ve just launched two poetry collections to light up your inbox. Each has been collected and edited by a world-renowned publisher: one by Knopf and the other by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. You can find highlights from Knopf poets here and Farrar, Straus and Giroux featured poets here.

EARTH DAY, EVERY DAY

I’ve been lucky enough to work with a woman who has been a pioneer in the eco movement — Sharon Rowe, founder of Ecobags. She’s compiled and edited Earth Day, Every Day, a series of “waking up” stories from people like you and me who woke up one day and changed the world around them. Thanks, Sharon!

CREATIVE CHALLENGE: SHAKING UP SHAKESPEARE

In honor of Shakespeare’s birthday, here’s the latest creative challenge: write a line that Shakespeare might have written about life today. You can post the line here in our forum.

And if you need some inspiration, you can find Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets here. I also have a Shakespeare Sampler that gives you a taste of some of his works — now that’s much ado about something!

SURVEY SAYS…

Been wondering who else has been reading via DailyLit? I sure have. So, (drumroll please…) here are the results of our recent survey:
-Age: You come in all ages — there are about as many of you 26 year olds as there there are 65 year olds (love that range!).
-Male or Female? Most of you are women — over 76% (I hope that doesn’t scare off some of you guys!)
-Level of Education: we have an educated lot among us, with a majority of you having at least a Bachelor’s degree (4 year college) or Master’s degree (beyond college).
-You’re also serious readers: almost 75% of you have read between 10 and 50+ books in the last 12 months (puts me to shame!)
-You’re also avid book buyers: over 1/2 of you have bought between 10 and 50+ books in the last 12 months.
-You’ve been reading your installments on either your laptop or desktop (pretty evenly split) — and then about 20% of you are reading on your mobile devices.
-Categories you’re most interested in reading: literary fiction followed by historical fiction, thrillers/mystery, history and biography/memoirs.
-And you prefer to use DailyLit to read long books such as novels or biographies where installments need to be read in the correct order and in their entirety. That’s followed by your interest in short stories and essays. That said, almost half of you like to read stand-alone content such as poems or business tips where you can dip in and out of installments as well as extremely short stand alone content such as a “quote of the day”.
-I’ve also had lots of interest by you experts out there in creating series. Apologies for the delay in getting back to you if I haven’t yet reached out. There’s been more demand than I originally anticipated, but I do plan on responding.
-Finally, the wonderful comments you’ve left about how much you appreciate DailyLit have made my month and keep me going. I really appreciate it. And thanks also for the helpful feedback on how I can improve DailyLit.

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 35 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.

Here’s the latest news from DailyLit:

In short, you’ll find:
-Note from the Founder
-New: Short Story
-Happiness Quotations
-DailyLit Survey: Still Open
-Seeking Experts for Mini-Courses
-Creative Challenge: Spring Incarnated

And here it is:

NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER

Many thanks to all of you who’ve taken our survey. I continue to be blown away by your enthusiasm for DailyLit, and I’ve learned so much, including your appetite for more literary fiction. Just to show I really listen, this month I’m featuring a short piece of literary fiction. If you haven’t had a chance to take the survey, don’t worry, there’s still time. Make your wishes known here. And speaking of wishes, I wish it would turn warm (I suppose “Spring” didn’t get the warm weather memo). So, to get us through these last cold days, a bestselling author on happiness has put together a month’s worth of Happiness Quotations designed to boost your happiness.
Cheers — to a happy Spring!
-Susan

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger@dailylit.com
Twitter:@susandanziger, @dailylit

NEW: SHORT STORY

I really enjoyed this short story by Urban Waite. It’s about a family in turmoil, dealing with the ups and downs of love. In the course of one afternoon on a desolate beach, two brothers are forced to face the complicated relationship of their parents and find a way to move forward. You can find this story (called “The Life and Death of Seals”) here.

HAPPINESS QUOTATIONS

To cheer us all up on these last cold days, Gretchen Rubin, author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller, The Happiness Project, created a month’s worth of Happiness Quotations from writers, photographers, presidents and philosophers. Imagine each day being treated to the words of Virginia Woolf, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Diane Arbus, Walt Whitman, and even Leonardo Da Vinci. Thanks, Gretchen!

DAILYLIT SURVEY: STILL OPEN

Thanks to all of you who’ve completed our survey. There’s still time for those of you who haven’t had a chance to take it; it’s a really helpful way for me to learn what you’d like to read and the kinds of books and stories I should be featuring on DailyLit. You can take it here. Thanks for your help!

SEEKING EXPERTS FOR MINI-COURSES

If you’re an expert in a particular field, perhaps you’d be interested in creating a mini-course for DailyLit. I’m open to your ideas — could be anything from a course on wine appreciation to a mini-language or history course. If you’re interested, please send me an email at: sdanziger@dailylit.com and include “EXPERT” in the subject line. There’s also a place in the survey to express your interest, but please don’t forget to include your contact information (some of you forgot to include your contact details!).

CREATIVE CHALLENGE: SPRING INCARNATED

In honor of the changing seasons, here’s a creative challenge for you: if the season, Spring, were to take human or animal form, what would it be like? You can post your description here in our forum.

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DailyLit is the leading publisher of serialized books in digital form. Selected to be the #1 Book Website by the Sunday Times, DailyLit has sent over 35 million book installments. DailyLit’s books and series are all free and feature bestselling and award-winning titles. Installments can be read in fewer than 5 minutes and can be read wherever you receive email, including on any computer, Blackberry, or iPhone.