The Next Best Book Club discussion

I've noticed over the months that some of our fellow members have had books they were looking to find a new home for. And I thought that perhaps it would be easier to organise if we had a specific place to list and track them.

Here is how I would like to see this folder work.

-If you have books you are looking to relocate/give away/swap, you can create your own thread under this folder.

-Post a photo (if you can) of the books you are looking to relocate/give away/swap. Even a spine shot of the pile of books would be helpful for those of us who are picky about the condition of the book.

-It is up to you to update your thread as books become unavailable, or if books are being added. Updating the status will make it easier for those who are looking to aquire your books.

-You decide how you want to manage your books. You can choose to just give them away (charge or no charge to the receiver), you can set up a swap (this for that)... Be sure to clearly mark your thread with how you plan to release the books, so that members are aware of the circumstances.

-Be sure your thread contains how you would like the members to contact you when there is a book they are interested in, whether it be posting to your thread, sending you a private email, ect...

-Also be sure to post what country you reside in, and what countries you are willing to ship to so that people who are outside your "shipping comfort zone" don't post to you for books.

-Do NOT post your home address here on this group site. Once you have decided who gets your books, work out the final details through private message.

-Don't forget to close your thread once all the books have been given away. Clean, easy, straight-forward!


Have fun with this.
This is a first for us, as a group, and I think it has lots of potential :)

Let me know what you think by posting to this thread. Am I forgetting something? Does it sound ok?

this sounds great!! i'm going to go get my books together right now!!

Jen, I just peeked at your thread. I want to thank you for jumping right in, and please give me some feedback as you go along. Let me know how it works out for you.

This is the first time I have ever had anything to do with a swap or book give away program. I would be interested to know how it works out for everyone.

Yay!

Lori, this is great!! I'm so excited about getting new books! it's great, cause i have several books that i'll either never read, or didn't really like and don't mind parting with them. and in exchange i'll be getting some books that i've had on my tbr list for a long time!! this is great!

Wow, Lori! This looks great already!

Thanks. This is really the first time I have attempted something like this, and Jennifer, it looks as though it is working... Yay for us!!!

Thanks Jessica... I whipped it up really quickly after mentioning it to you. You know me and my OCD :)

Thank you so much for setting this up! I'm a big user of book swapping websites, and I like the idea of having another venue for that activity.

Lori -- I know I'm not over here as much as I used to be, but I think this is a great idea! I've been tinkering with the idea of joining some of those other book swapping sites but just haven't been able to sell myself completely on it...knowing I can swap with my TNBBC friends seals the deal :)

Hi Katie, Happy to see you back here :)

Yeah, a couple people have posted swaps and giveaways before and you know me and my OCD.... I had to give it it's own home. I am interested to see how well it takes off. I think it's great to share good books with one another!

Your Welcome Kat!!!

Lori wrote: "I've noticed over the months that some of our fellow members have had books they were looking to find a new home for. And I thought that perhaps it would be easier to organise if we had a specific ..."

Lori,

How does this not just duplicate "Bookmooch.com" and/or "Paperback Swap" and/or "Bookcrossing.com". I have 322 books listed as available with Bookmooch. It would be a hell of a job to transfer them here.

Maybe I'm missing something.

Ed

Ed, nobody is saying that you have to transfer your list from Bookmooch or PBS to here. You don't even have to participate if you don't want to, or if it's inconvenient for you.

This folder is available for people who want to swap or give away their books. It's not meant to take the place of BM or PBS if users also use them, but is a place on GR where people can trade with their friends or people they know from the group or whatever.

Use it for what you're comfortable with or not at all, and let others do the same.

Could you post a link to your Bookmooch page?

Becky wrote: "Ed, nobody is saying that you have to transfer your list from Bookmooch or PBS to here. You don't even have to participate if you don't want to, or if it's inconvenient for you.

This folder is av..."

Got it.

Oh, btw, something else that would probably be helpful to people posting their books up...mention where you would be willing to ship to. for instance, if you live in the US, say so and that you don't want to ship internationally. Because the international shipping price is almost the same as buying a brand new book!

Ahhhh... good point Jennifer. I will have to adjust my rules page for that! Thanks :)

Ed. I did this because members had already posted books they were looking to get rid of, or trade here in the past. I was just giving them a convienent place to post it and keep it organized. That's all.

I wouldnt have thought this up on my own, because it's not something that interests me personally. But I saw a need for it, and I am always looking for ways to keep this site interesting and exciting for my members :)

Sara wrote: "Could you post a link to your Bookmooch page?"

My Bookmooch inventory page is:
http://www.bookmooch.com/m/inventory/....

I think you must join in order to access it, though.

Ed

Jennifer -- It's funny that you mentioned that because it was the first thing I thought of...and that I didn't want to seem like a jerk because I only wanted to ship within the US! *L*

ha, ha...ok, i'll be the jerk...i kinda feel bad, though. but if i'm going to spend $10 on shipping, i'd rather just take that to B&N and get a brand new book!!

Jennifer -- We'll be jerks together than...I just have to figure out how to get pictures of my books on here! *L*

Ooh, I'm tempted. I have a box full of books waiting to go to the used bookstore. Could someone give me a rough estimate how much it costs to ship a paperback? Sounds like we have some old pros trading books, and I'm still a little green about trading books.

Katie, take a picture of your books, upload to a site like photobucket.com and then they'll give you the html code to post on here. Copy it from there, post it here, and voila! Your pictures are posted.

Amy -- It's based on weight, but if you send them media mail, it's usually under $2 (at least within the US.) It says that it takes up to 2 weeks to arrive, but I sent something that way in early December (close to peak Christmas shipping time), and it got there in two days!!

Thanks, Katie!

This sounds like a great idea! I end up giving mine to the library. I always get paperbacks when they come out, then end up with brand new hardcovers I don't read because of it. (I have a gozillion books I haven't read yet) :)

Katie wrote: "Amy -- It's based on weight, but if you send them media mail, it's usually under $2 (at least within the US.) It says that it takes up to 2 weeks to arrive, but I sent something that way in early ..."

Media mail rates start at $2.38 and go up from there based on weight of the package. There's a handy chart here: http://www.usps.com/prices/media-mail...

If you're just mailing one book or 2 small books, it's a good idea to check the first class rate before assuming that media mail is the cheapest way to go.

I ship things via Media Mail a lot and they've always seemed to arrive well under that 2 week mark.

I use swaptree all the time. Lately it has been cheaper for me to mail first class than media mail ( only like 10 cents) but it gets there quicker too!

I'd like to mention http://www.bookcrossing.com. It's kind of like the "Where's George" site for tracking the movement of dollar bills, only for books.

You go to the site & register your book, creating a unique book ID for it. You then either put a book plate in it (purchased or printed from the site) or write a note, asking the person who finds the book to go to the web site & make note of it. Then you leave it somewhere.

In theory, someone finds the book, goes to the site & says where/when they picked it up, & then releases it back into the wild for someone else.

I live in Portland, Oregon, and my books have made it as far as New Jersey. It's just kind of a fun way to get rid of excess books.

I just signed up for both bookmooch and bookcrossing. I've been on PBS for a few years now. I can't wait to see how these work as well. I love all the neat ideas for trading books. Yesterday in order to cut down on clutter I donated a box of 50+ books. It was great to free up the space but now I wonder if I should have waited. Since there are literally thousands of books in our house I think I'll be fine!

I'm not a big fan of BookMooch. It is slow, and cumbersome, their search capabilities leave a lot to be desired, and when I can find an available book I want, which is rare, I'm never QUITE sure of the edition I'll be getting. =\

But many people like it, so maybe it's just me. I hope it works for you Jill!

Neither of them seemed as user friendly as PBS but I'll have to give it some time to see if I like them or not and how they really work. Thanks for the feedback though.

Yeah, PBS is by far my favorite of them. :)

bookcrossing would be great if more people in my area participated.

I have to give some props to Swaptree. You can trade books, DVD's, and video games interchangably. You enter your books by ISBN, so you know what edition you are getting but the quality/condition of the book is dependent on individual perception, despite having a pretty decent & clear rating system.

I am on PBS & BookMooch as well but will confess to not having much luck on PBS and I've only traded on BM two or three times (as someone else said, I feel that the condition of these books is a lot more all over the map...I've also found some members I've tried to communicate with are downright rude!)

I've never heard of bookcrossing before now so I'll have to check it out!

I have swapped two times on goodreads. Most people I email asking to swap just ignore me tho so this is a great idea! I just posted mine. I listed the condition rather than take pictures of them all.

I have a book to give away, no swap needed:
It's a nice hard cover copy in great condition with dust jacket:
"Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

It has a Bookcrossing sticker on the inside cover, but otherwise looks like new. Includes 12 stories, some illustrations, 307 pgs. Free to first taker (USA only).

I created a new folder for this thread...

Are people willing to accept ARC? Or even unedited manuscripts? I've won a few I could pass on.

I dont mind ARCs at all.......

Susan wrote: "I dont mind ARCs at all......."

Diddo. As long as you tell them it's an ARC before you send it/they accept, I don't see a problem.

Most people are willing to accept ARC's especially if they are signed by the author

Judy, I'll take you up on your "Adventures of Sherlock Holmes book" believe it or not, I've never read it oO

There is a bookswap feature on this site: http://www.goodreads.com/swap

You don't actually have to swap books. You can just request any books that other people have listed, and if they agree to give them to you, you just pay the postage. If you have any books you want to get rid of, you can list them there too and anyone who wants them can request them.

Tad wrote: "There is a bookswap feature on this site: http://www.goodreads.com/swap

You don't actually have to swap books. You can just request any books that other people have listed, and if they agree to ..."

Now that's cool.

I have The Shooting by James Boice and The Rumor by Elon Hildebrand that I will ship to someone in the US.