(hat tip to Georganna of Writer’s Edge)
Read any good books lately?
If you have, you may want to join PaperBack Swap.com and trade your favorite titles with the site’s users.
The 10-month-old book-swapping site works like an online library. After registering, users put at least nine of their own books into the site’s database, which carries 39,000 titles. When a user requests a book, the site e-mails a printable page (that also serves as a makeshift book wrapper) to the user who posted that title.
(full story from Newsday.com)
What is PaperBackSwap? We are a group of real people who have formed a Club to swap paperback books with each other. No gimmicks. No spam. No advertising. No kidding. We are not a large corporation trying to sell you something. Just a group of real folks who wanted a way of trading paperbacks with each other through the U.S. mail. Please read the testimonials and you will understand that this book club is for real.
When another member requests one of your books, you mail it to them. Yes, you pay for the postage. But then another member returns the favor when you request a book from them and they mail it to you. And that way the books are always free because we are all trading books with club members!
While I think this is a great idea, I do have a problem with it. But it’s the same problem I have with banks too. It’s paying for a service then paying to use that service.
However, if I think about it hard enough, it’s not that big a deal or bad an idea. My yearly fee would enable me to get access to books without leaving my home and I get to share my books (vs collect dust on already crowded shelves) with like minded folks. For that, the fee is worth it by a long shot. I like sharing. Sesame Street taught me to share.