Ray’s Day is scattered across the web, and the links listed on the They’re participating in Ray’s Day ! page are sometimes inaccessible a year later or do not link to the right page (especially blogs).
To solve this problem, we have set up a digital library, located at https://raysday.net/b/. It will host all the epubs that authors will want to submit and keep accessible… as long as this site will last!
You don’t have to use a free license to see your work in this library (although it’s rather encouraged) : you just have to contact us via the form on the site and we’ll arrange to get the file and integrate it in the library on Ray’s day.
Of course, if you’d like to help us fill the shelves a bit by sending us your production for Ray’s Day , you’re welcome !
The Ray’s Day digital library, in addition to its web interface, also offers its catalog in OPDS format at https://raysday.net/b/opds/, allowing you to add it as a book source to your e-reader (this is not available for all models unfortunately), tablet or smartphone (for example with the FBReader app).
For the technically curious, our digital library uses the free software BicBucStriim, which allows you to build your own digital library.
NB : if you want to offer a free epub only on Ray’s day, it will not be possible to integrate it into the library. This one is managed manually via the Calibre software, we can’t commit ourselves to come by the next day to delete the temporary files.
Since its inception in 2014, Ray’s day has been scattered across the web, and that’s one of its strengths 🙂 . But it’s not always easy for reading lovers to scour all the social networks to try and find as many participants as possible…
Let us know about your initiatives in comments or via the contact form on the site, we will relay them.
Whether you are a reader, an author or an editor, whether you write a short text especially for Ray’s Day, whether you make one of your works freely available, whether you hold a public reading or place books around your town, it doesn’t matter, there is no set format, no limits to your imagination!
We remind you that this site has a digital library and that you can upload your entries (epub, pdf, etc. All formats accepted by Calibre are accepted) by sending us a short message on the contact form, and we will arrange to retrieve the file and integrate it into the library on Ray’s day.
Please share!
Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.
Ray Bradbury flew away to Mars for good (carelessly, he forgot to buy a return ticket) and now that he is gone, we miss a book lover of a rare kind.
The passion Bradbury had for books, libraries, and more generally reading, was contagious. The wet blankets will say that he did not like computers and e-books, but this is not an issue: when you love reading, the medium does not matter. There are no e-writers or “paper writers”, there are only stories; and in the end, we should forget a little about this industrial war and agree on the fact that what we love the most are books and reading.
On August 22nd, Ray Bradbury would have turned 95 years old. More than being a book lover (one has to be to write Fahrenheit 451), Ray was always an eternal child and a downright optimist. Even though he passed away, we cannot help but want to celebrate his birthday. August 22nd is a beautiful date to do something: our minds are still filled with memories from the summer, but already getting ready to “go back to school”.
There is a Book and Copyright day on April 23rd, but it is rather a day to celebrate the book industry and the copyright – another way to do some marketing and business, as a matter of fact. It is not a real celebration of the act of reading and those who make this communion possible: the authors and their readers.
So, why not dedicate this beautiful day of August 22nd to reading? Declaring this day as an international day of anything is out of the question. Let us mock these commercial abuses and take this opportunity to celebrate Ray’s Day in a way that Ray would have liked, like a giant birthday party in the garden, with balloons and blueberry pie.
The idea would be to spend the day celebrating reading, whatever the medium is. No paper book vs e-book war; what matters are the stories, their authors and the readers. Everyone is invited, as long as they respect the other guests. This day cannot be used to do business and commercial things: August 22nd has to be the day when we offer and share reading, freely and for free. The authors can post an exclusive short story on their websites, or offer one of their books only during that day, or post a live reading on YouTube. The craziest ideas are allowed, and even welcomed. Publishers can also offer one of their books for free all day long, ask their authors to participate, offer goodies or imagine creative ways to promote the act of reading without any commercial agenda. Bookstores and libraries can organize readings or meetings. And readers will have several ways to participate: sharing their favorite book, telling more about themselves, posting pictures, sharing their experience via blogs and social networks.
We will identify our all our contributions via a single hashtag on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Mastodon (#RaysDay), and this site will help you discover initiatives you might otherwise miss. No hierarchy: anyone can take part in any way they want, and celebrate reading the way they like. It might be an opportunity for everyone to test free licenses, in a definite will to share, just for one day, to dip a toe into it. What is essential is that it remains free and shareable. That is how we imagine things. Of course, anyone can bring new ideas to this in the way they deem the most interesting; all good wills are welcome and more than appreciated.
Anyone can contribute as he can and as he wants. There is no limit. All that matters is telling, expressing and sharing the reason why we love reading so much.
