The Book Inscriptions Project is looking for a new champion.

If you’re passionate about books and love imagining the stories behind found objects, plus you’re pretty good
with web design, this could be a dream gig for you (or you and a friend). I’m looking for someone to take over
the site, and be the new voice of The Book Inscriptions Project. This is an unpaid volunteer position, but
damn will it be fun.

Post new inscriptions, thank people for the inscriptions they send, find new inscriptions, talk to bloggers
and journalists who love the site, answer the questions of inscription submitters, drive traffic to the site, be
really nice to fans, and, importantly, redesign the site at your own pace. Maybe if it looks cleaner and sleeker,
more people will visit, put their feet up, and read and enjoy the incredible inscriptions.

While this has been a communal project since it was started in 2007, the website itself has almost always been
run by one person. And as you can see, the design is outdated, the archive is old-fashioned (terrible), and new
posts have been too infrequent. In short, I haven’t given it nearly the love it deserves. There is currently a backlog
of great inscriptions sent in by people from around the world, and new ones keep arriving in the inbox.

I would love to see the site grow. Instead of a few thousand unique views a month, how about 50,000 a
month, or 200,000 a month? Instead of a new post a week, how about a new post every day? Or two a day?

If you’re a book-lover, and story-lover, and book-inscriptions-website-lover, or if you’ve always dreamed of
curating a unique art project, please send me an email at shaun@bookinscriptions.com. Or if you know
someone who would jump at the chance to turn a neglected flower into a beautiful forest of found book
inscriptions, please send them my way.

Tell me why you should be the next proprietor of a one-of-a-kind website and ongoing art project. I’m hoping
to find someone who absolutely loves the idea of the project, who can modernize the website, post regularly,
boost the hits significantly, make more people aware of the site, and grow the collection.

I’d love to hear your ideas. Do you want to host book inscriptions readings? An art show of inscriptions? Got
any ideas for a new, not horrible layout? An app? How will you promote the site? What’s the best inscription
you’ve ever found? Or written? (This is my favorite.)

Please pass this around to anyone who might be a good fit!

FAQ

Will I be paid?
I’m sorry, but this is an unpaid (awesome) job.

Will I have to pay anything?
No, I will continue to pay the URL and hosting fees.

How much freedom will I have?
A lot.

What’s the story behind the site?
See here, please.

How many hours a day or a week will it take?
It depends on your schedule. The more leg work you put in, the better the site will be, which is
exactly why I’d like to pass on the keys to the Book Inscriptions-mobile.

How many hits does the site get now?
Not nearly enough. Roughly 3,000 unique views a month. Some months it gets up to 10 or 20,000 uniques.

Has it ever gotten any press?
Yes, it’s been written about in many blogs and several newspapers, including recently at The Dish,

What if I get bored after six months and don’t want to be The Book Inscriptions Project hero anymore?
Just let me know anytime, and I’ll find someone else, though I’m hoping the new champion will want
to do it forever, and give up the role only over their dead body.

Dear Joanne,

I love you more
with every passing
day. You’re such a pip!

xxxx
Leo

Shibumi by Trevanian

Found at A Castle of Books.

Happy Birthday – 1993

Sylvia

No sugar baking
is only one of the
good things we’ve
learned from you.

Glen + Chili

The “I Can’t Believe This Has No Sugar” Cookbook by Deborah Buhr

Found in NYC.

To My Good Friend Darlene,

This book has more
of impact on me than any
other Woman writer in a long
time. I thought the title
was great and felt you
get a big kick out of it
and of course the very good
poems herein. From the first
poem to the last I was
riveted by her state and
true revelations of a woman
who will SURVIVE!

J.L.

The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems by Diane Wakoski

For my WONDERful mother
on her WONDERful 47th Birthday,
here’s to your WONDERFUL presence in
my life and all others around you…
Never forget your own ‘Cabinet of Wonder’

Love,
your WONDERful daughter
October 3, 1996

Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder by Lawrence Weschler

Thanks to Leah, who says: “This might not be one of those
inscriptions that’s immediately poignant, but here’s the good backstory:

A couple of years ago, I was in San Francisco and just starting work on my Graphic Design thesis when
I saw a page in an artist’s book that read: ‘Seeing is for forgetting the name of the thing one sees.’

I intuitively knew there was some kind of relevance to my own design/artwork within that phrase, so I
googled it and came across the book ‘Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees’ by Lawrence
Weschler. I checked the book out from the library – it’s a series of conversations with and about the artist
Robert Irwin. That book and it’s ideas eventually became the crux of my thesis and had a huge impact on my
creative process in general.

After graduating, I moved back to the east coast and spent a month at my mom’s house in upstate New York
while looking for a place to live and a job in NYC. I found one of Weschler’s other books, ‘Cabinet of
Curiosities,’ on her bookshelf, not realizing that my mom was also a fan. I was shocked when I opened it and
read an inscription that I had written to her 12 years earlier, when I was 15 – I didn’t remember writing the
inscription, but it was a good reminder that who I was then is not that far from who I am now.

When I was a kid, my mom has always made me inscribe books that I gave as gifts. I’ve fallen out of that
habit, but I will certainly resume it after coming across the BIP. It’s good to know that there are other people
out there who take an interest in this type of thing. Thanks for maintaining such a great project.”

To Daniele,

With your good
Minnesota background,
this language should
be easy to learn, and
you can practice with
your Dad.

David
12/94

How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor’s Guide by Howard Mohr

Found by inscription world champion, Erik Cooke.

May your fondest
dreams be realized.
A sincere wish to
Jim Snider from his
high school coach (A.H. Smith)
Xmas, 1949

Notre Dame Football: The T Formation by Frank Leahy

Thank you to Cheryl of Stella Used Books, who says, “Love your site…
the world needs more reasons to remember why books are wonderful.”