What's Meetup? Find out!
Real groups make a real difference
Meetup Groups meet face-to-face to pursue hobbies, network, get support, make friends, find playgroups or even change the world!
Get on the Internet to get off the Internet!
Join The NYC Bookcrossing Meetup
You'll get invited to our Meetups as soon as they're scheduled!
Next BookCrossing Meetup in Sept.; tips for BooKCrossing
| From: | Josh Karpf |
| Sent on: | Friday, August 10, 2007 12:46 PM |
Hi, BookCrossers. Our next Meetup will be in September, not this month, since attendance always drops in late August and I'm happily drowning in freelance work right now.
In the meantime, here are some tips on how to make the most of BookCrossing, which is a great way not only to get and give books, but to keep track of them after you've released them.
If you're not on BookCrossing.com already, you can sign up (it's free) there. Once you do that, you can start "registering" books (entering their ISBN number to get a BookCrossing ID, a "BCID," to write in the book) and "releasing" them (sharing them at Meetups, scattering them in the city as several of did after July's Meetup, or getting involved in postal-mail exchanges/sharing like "Bookrings" or "Bookrays.")
Everyone does it their own way. Personally, I never do the Bookrings or Bookrays because, but some specialize in those because there's a greater chance of getting not only a feedback e-mail, but exactly the book you want, even just as a loan. I love "wild releases," leaving my registered books for strangers to find and hopefully give feedback on when they type the BCID into BookCrossing.com.
BookCrossing sells BCID labels and other gear at:
http://bookcrossing.com/store
. . . which is how it covers its expenses. It also offers PDFs of labels that you can print for free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/labels
They're designed for purchased blank adhesive labels, but I just slice 'em up and use tape. I printed thousands for myself just before I got laid off in March.
Wish lists are a little complicated, but a good way for any individual BookCrossing user to show what books they want, rather than just what they have. The site:
http://bcwish.cliff1976.net
is where you can maintain your wish list, and it shows how to embed your wish lists into your BookCrossing home page "bookshelf." Out of the blue, a BookCrossing Meetup gave me a fantastic book that I'd put on my wish list several months ago.
Some people will only trade books, especially by mail. When you register books on your BookCrossing home-page "bookshelf," you can say whether each one is "traveling" (no longer in your possession), "available" (kept for others to ask for), part of your "permanent collection" (I'm keeping what Sara gave me), and so on. If you register a stack of books as "available," then when you search other BookCrossers' pages for THEIR available books, and find one you like, you can write them and ask if they'd like to trade for one of YOUR available books. And if they have a wish list too, then you already know what they want, which you might already have.
Clear as mud, right?
See y'all after Labor Day (date TK), and stay dry,
Josh
[address removed]
In the meantime, here are some tips on how to make the most of BookCrossing, which is a great way not only to get and give books, but to keep track of them after you've released them.
If you're not on BookCrossing.com already, you can sign up (it's free) there. Once you do that, you can start "registering" books (entering their ISBN number to get a BookCrossing ID, a "BCID," to write in the book) and "releasing" them (sharing them at Meetups, scattering them in the city as several of did after July's Meetup, or getting involved in postal-mail exchanges/sharing like "Bookrings" or "Bookrays.")
Everyone does it their own way. Personally, I never do the Bookrings or Bookrays because, but some specialize in those because there's a greater chance of getting not only a feedback e-mail, but exactly the book you want, even just as a loan. I love "wild releases," leaving my registered books for strangers to find and hopefully give feedback on when they type the BCID into BookCrossing.com.
BookCrossing sells BCID labels and other gear at:
http://bookcrossing.com/store
. . . which is how it covers its expenses. It also offers PDFs of labels that you can print for free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/labels
They're designed for purchased blank adhesive labels, but I just slice 'em up and use tape. I printed thousands for myself just before I got laid off in March.
Wish lists are a little complicated, but a good way for any individual BookCrossing user to show what books they want, rather than just what they have. The site:
http://bcwish.cliff1976.net
is where you can maintain your wish list, and it shows how to embed your wish lists into your BookCrossing home page "bookshelf." Out of the blue, a BookCrossing Meetup gave me a fantastic book that I'd put on my wish list several months ago.
Some people will only trade books, especially by mail. When you register books on your BookCrossing home-page "bookshelf," you can say whether each one is "traveling" (no longer in your possession), "available" (kept for others to ask for), part of your "permanent collection" (I'm keeping what Sara gave me), and so on. If you register a stack of books as "available," then when you search other BookCrossers' pages for THEIR available books, and find one you like, you can write them and ask if they'd like to trade for one of YOUR available books. And if they have a wish list too, then you already know what they want, which you might already have.
Clear as mud, right?
See y'all after Labor Day (date TK), and stay dry,
Josh
[address removed]
Asst. Organizers:
Other nearby Meetup Groups
