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Archive for October, 2007

Dear Members, Newsletter – October 2007

Thursday, October 4th, 2007

We were listening to music (a classic Smashing Pumpkins CD that we got from SwapaCD) and we got to feeling really Hallowe’en-y. It must have been some subliminal association with the word “pumpkins”. We were humming along, but instead of feeling Smashing Pumpkins’ full of rage or like rats in a cage, instead we started getting in the mood to give out yummy stuff for free. So we buckled down to work and put some new features on the site–some that we have been thinking about and working on for a while, and a couple that just came to us out of the blue. You can find the new “treats” on the site–the Recipes page, the Instant Credit feature, the Tags (read more about all of these below). Yep, Hallowe’en at PBS is all Treats, no Tricks. No carbs or cavities, either.

The moral of the story: Be careful what you listen to…music has the power to drive all kinds of behavior. (Where would the new iPod Nano be without Feist?) Harness that power for GOOD, people!

What’s on your SwapaCD Tower?

Have a great October,

The PaperBackSwap Team

Instant Credits & Book Tags: Newsletter – October 2007

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

Instant Credits are here. Yes, if you print your postage through PBS (you can choose this on the Wrapper Settings page), you will get credit as soon as you mark the book mailed–no waiting for USPS to scan or for the member to receive! What’s better than clicking a button and getting a credit? You can read the FAQs About Printable Postage in the Help Center, to learn all about this feature.

Tag–you’re it! Now you can apply Book Tags to any book in the database, pretty much anywhere you see the book listing. What are they used for? Tags let you put your mark on any item in the database, and create any number of one-click “custom searches”! Tag books you liked…books you hated…books with an antihero…books about the Russian Revolution…books you think have a good moral message…biographies…books you read in school…books you were supposed to read in school…books you have on your nightstand…books you would want with you on a desert island…pretty much anything goes! You can apply any number of tags to an item. and you can click on any tag to see a list of all the books bearing that tag. (We will soon have a way to view the available tags without having to see them on a book listing first.) When you look at a book in the database, you will always see the tags you applied (and you can remove them from there too), even if no one else can. You will also see the top 15 tags that members have applied to that book. Read more about Tags in the Help Center document Book Tags.

What’s Cookin’? Well, a whole lot! Newsletter – October 2007

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

* First, the PBS Recipes page (under Community) is a place where you can enter recipes to share with others, and get ideas for your next meal! You can search by keyword (Hmm…I’m in the mood for something kinda Mexican), meal type (examples: “dinner” or “Quick and Easy”), dish (main ingredient, examples: chicken, tomatoes), cooking style (gotta use that crockpot!), or nutritional info (lowfat, vegan). When submitting a recipe you can even link a book to the recipe by entering its IBSN.

* We also have a cookbook author among us–well, many cookbook authors, and one very hardworking editor. Sherry N. (royaltech) has been gathering recipes from PBS members for quite a while now, and there was so much interest in a “hard” (not digital) copy that we are looking into publishing it for PBS members to buy from the PBS Store. The PBS Cookbook can only happen if we get enough pre-orders to put in the order with the publisher. The book will be in a hardcover with a comb binding (so the book lies flat when open! very handy), and will cost 12 dollars, shipping included. Pre-order your PBS cookbook in the Kiosk now, and when it comes in we will send it to you. You can even submit a design for the cover if you like. If you have specific questions about the book, ask Sherry, who has done an enormous amount of work getting all of this together!

Member of the Month – October 2007

Monday, October 1st, 2007


Sherry N. (royaltech)

We swear, we didn’t choose her, although of course she is a natural!  We got a ton of nominations for Sherry this month.

Members cited her patient and excellent advice regarding the submission of Data Corrections, her kind and helpful posts in Forums, and her generally all-around PBS-ness.  We think she embodies the friendly, sharing spirit of PBS really well, and as the Co-Coordinator of the Data Correction Volunteer group, she has had a huge part in improving the site for everyone!  She has recently started her own PBS Local Chapter, and we expect that group will soon be hopping with fun events.

Sherry, we appreciate everything you do, and now you know that the members do too!  We don’t know how you manage to accomplish it all, but PaperBackSwap thanks you.