Jason Merchey considers it an honor to give books away at no cost to the recipient. To date, over 1,000 books have been donated/gifted, including hundreds to Books for Africa. At present, Jason considers psychotherapists, philosophical counselors, libraries, Goodwills, and political/economic scholars the main “target markets” for the three books in the Values of the Wise Series
Jason does his reading, blogging, and packaging of books from his home office, but a single book costs $3.35 to mail and $.75 to package (less for larger quantities). Two of the books were printed in 2005 and 2006 and are on-hand, and the 2016 book Values & Ethics: From Living Room to Boardroom is printed nowadays for the cost of $6.
If you would like to contribute to this work of getting wisdom out there into the world and inspiring others to live “a life of value”, any amount is welcome ($4.10, for example, would package and ship one book). Your contribution of funds could be in exchange for a book or for a letter from Jason (“donations” to Values of the Wise are not tax-deductible). You could also physically mail Jason stamps, and the most useful ones are the $1, $2, and $5 denominations. Get stamps here and enter Values of the Wise, LLC ,1605 Central Avenue, #6-321, Summerville, South Carolina, 29483 as the shipping address.
Jason sells no books or products and takes no profit from Values of the Wise, and has spent much of his own money over the years supporting the enterprise. The work is of value, he believes, which is why fifteen years after founding VOW, Jason still carts books to the post office and writes essays in ten different subject areas without compensation. He believes the work speaks for itself and takes great pride in the way the books have affected folks over the years:
The late, great historian/author/civil rights pioneer Howard Zinn said of one of Jason’s earliest books, ”The Values of the Wise Series is a treasury of ideas, thoughts, & feelings that represent the best of humane ideals. I hope it will be widely read because it could be a wonderful influence on the thinking and behavior of us all.”
And Samuel Oliner, the emeritus professor and author of the book Do Unto Others: Extraordinary Acts of Ordinary People said: “As someone who is writing on altruism and compassion, apology and forgiveness, this book has become very useful, and I highly appreciate this valuable compendium of quotations. I can confidently recommend it for anyone who is interested in kindness, compassion, and social responsibility because it throws some light on the need for wisdom and caring.”
Other endorsements of the work can be found here.
Blogs can be read here.