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Archive for December, 2005

Hello All You Book Lovers! Newsletter – December 2005

Wednesday, December 7th, 2005

We hope your Thanksgiving holiday was delightful. Another month has come and gone…so many books and so little time! As you can see, our library continues to grow exponentially. This growth benefits all members as we all have more books to read. However, we aren’t stopping now! We need your help in getting the word out. Do any members have friends or family in the media business? Do you have connections to help us place articles in newspapers and magazines or obtain coverage on your local talk shows and news stations? Remember, book availability is proportional to the number of members. The more members, the more choices.

We wish you many joyous moments this upcoming holiday season. As you move into one of the busiest times of the year, don’t let the rush of the holiday overcome your spirit of the season. Be sure to take time for yourself, your family and a few good books.

Richard and Robert
Co-Founders, PaperBackSwap

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You’ve Been PM’d! Newsletter – December 2005

Tuesday, December 6th, 2005

Doesn’t it just bring a smile to your face when you see that you have a new PM? The PBS Personal Message feature has opened the lines of communications for so many members. Many of you have used this feature to send a note of thanks or suggestions for new book reads or ideas for wrapping books. Occasionally, there is a wrong book sent or a question about a request. By PMing another member, you help answer questions before they become problems, thus cutting back on all the feedback that we must address daily. Thanks to all of our great members for using this feature!

New changes coming to PM:
Soon you’ll be able to keep a permanent record of PMs sent to you. In the future, you will be able to download PMs to your computer. Your account will hold the last 60 days of communications. Should you wish to keep a record of past messages, you’ll be able to simply download them for your records.

Also coming will be Conversation Progression. This means that when you receive a PM from another member that you’ve previously PM’d, it will have the prior communication attached. Now you can remember what you’re both talking about!

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Quarter of a Million!!!! Newsletter – December 2005

Monday, December 5th, 2005

An Expected 250,000 Titles Expected By Year’s End
According to posting activity, we anticipate 250,000 or more titles to be posted by the end of 2005. This doesn’t mean total posted over the year – this means actual titles active and on hand…ready to be requested! Just think how all of our wonderful members are helping their PBS library to grow. This means more choices for you daily. Don’t forget, we are the largest virtual paperback library in the world! Now, does anyone have a Guinness Book of World Records on hand?!?

Of course, we can’t mark this milestone without one of our famous “Contests”! Each member will be given the opportunity to guess the date and time that we hit 250,000. Look for details of this contest on the site soon.

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Postal Rate Increase Will Have Minor Effect on PBS Members: Newsletter – December 2005

Sunday, December 4th, 2005

The USPS postal rate increase will take effect January 8, 2006. The single-piece rate for First-Class Mail will increase from 37 cents to 39 cents. For PBS members, this means that the rate for media mail packages up to one pound will increase from $1.42 to $1.59. The Media Mail rate for items from one pound up to two pounds will increase from $1.84 to $2.07.

There are many ways you can slice and dice this increase…using many different combinations of stamps to mail items. When the rate goes into effect, members may want to purchase the 3 cent stamps to use in conjunction with 4 of the 39 cent stamps. This will equal the new media mail rate for books under 1 pound. (.39 x 4 stamps = $1.56 plus one 3 cent stamp = $1.59)

Truth be told, you can also use any leftover 37 cent stamps you still have on hand. Five of them are equal to $1.85, which is more than the new media mail rate.

We’ll be sure to send you a friendly reminder when this change takes place.

Link to USPS Rate Increase information: http://www.usps.com/communications/news/press/2005/pr05_097.htm

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Forum Moderators Now In Place: Newsletter – December 2005

Saturday, December 3rd, 2005

You now have a new friend in the Discussion Forums. Due to the large volume of Discussion Forum topics as well as the increasing amount of feedback, we have empowered anonymous Forum Moderators to answer many of the questions and to clarify issues that may arise in forum topics. These moderators are seasoned members, dedicated to the success of the club. They have been selected based on their knowledge and ability of the club and are in direct contact with the Founders. We are very grateful that they are willing to volunteer their time and efforts to help us bring you better services for all of our members.

Because the task of a moderator can sometimes involve conflict, we have asked these members to pledge their anonymity. This will help to keep emotion and personality factors to a minimum. Please do not speculate who they are nor attack them for serving the club. Should conflict arise, they will be asked to make recommendations to the Founders for any actions that need to be taken.

As members, let’s continue to assist each other in providing the best book swapping experience on the internet.

Book Wrapping Reminders

* Use the wrapper whenever possible.
* You may want to use Saran Wrap to protect your books (to keep them from getting wet) before wrapping. Plastic bags, wax paper or plastic grocery bags also work well. But please do not use Press and Seal.
* Be sure to include the Request ID. If it isn’t on the package, you will not receive credit.
* Be sure Media Mail is prominently displayed on your package.
* If your package is one pound or more, it MUST go to the post office due to USPS regulations.
* Use packing tape to wrap the wrapper. Do not put tape on the book. If you must use tape to hold it to the cover, please use scotch tape.
* Do not place tape over stamps.

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What is Box-O-Books™? Newsletter – December 2005

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

We are beginning the process of introducing a number of new features designed for all members to select from new “paid for” services. The funds generated will help us to maintain and run the club. Many of you have asked how you can help with financial support of PaperBackSwap.com – well this is your chance. By enrolling in Box-O-Books™ ($8.00 per year), you can support the club and help pay the costs of maintaining the site while at the same time trade books using no credits and reduce your postage costs. You actually SAVE money by using this new service. How cool is that!?
Box-O-Books™

Now you can ship books for LESS MONEY and NO CREDITS are needed. A new and exclusive feature just for participating members here at PaperBackSwap.com!

Here’s how it works:

If you are a participating member of Box-O-Books™, you’ll be able to access a list of other participants and browse their bookshelves. Once you find a participant that you’d like to swap a box with, you begin the process by selecting as many books as you are willing to trade with that member. Let’s say they have 55 books posted and you select 10 of them. You then “prioritize” the books that you want from 1 to 10 in the system (with 1 being the most important, and 10 being the least important).

The system then sends an email invitation to the other member asking them if they would like to trade up to 10 books with you. Next, they go to your bookshelf and view all of your books. Then you both agree on the number of books that you want to trade (10 for 10, or any other combination).

For example, let’s suppose that the other member only wants to trade for 7 of your books (and not 10). So you both agree on which books to exchange based on the priority of the books you listed. You each box up your books and take them to the Post Office. You mail your 7 books to them, and they mail their 7 books to you! How cool is that? No credits needed, and you save on postage as well!

Of course, if you still want the remaining 3 books, you can use your regular book credits to order them from this member through the regular PaperBackSwap process…visit their bookshelf and using your credits, order these 3 directly.

We hope that once we roll out this new feature, you will enroll. It is a terrific service which will help to maintain and pay for our great site. At $8 per year, you can save money on your very first exchange using Box-O-Books™.

This feature is in Beta testing and will be released to all members in the very near future.

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In Conclusion … Newsletter – December 2005

Thursday, December 1st, 2005

We are excited about what the future holds for PBS and our book family. Each day we see challenges turn into features and opportunities. Look for these exciting additions to come in the near future. Many thanks to all our members for making PBS what it is today… The Best Book Club in America!

Sincerely,
Richard and Robert
And the PaperBackSwap Team

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