Facebook

PaperBackSwap Blog


Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

News: Try Delivery Confirmation, PBS Cookbook, New Business Cards & More…

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Share and Share alike. trade your books icons <—Those icons are now at the top of every page, under the blue banner.  They allow you to tweet a link, send a link in an email, display a book listing on facebook or myspace…or a ton of other options.  Wanna tell everyone on facebook what you’re currently reading?  Click the icon when you’re on the Book Details page for that book, choose Facebook, type in a comment if you want, and boom!  it goes onto your facebook page.  Tell people what books you’ve mailed out, what books you’re wishing for…whatever you want to share.

Try it…you’ll like it. Don’t forget that if you have never used PBS-DC before, you have 3 free trials of the feature!  The 19-cent USPS e-DC fee still applies (you pay that with extra postage applied to the package) but the 27-cent PBS fee is waived for three separate shipments if you want to try this out.  PBS Delivery Confirmation comes with Quick Credit (and with Guaranteed Credit for accounts with good sending records).  To try this out, choose “Print with Delivery Confirmation alone” (the middle option on the Wrapper Settings page) and your wrapper will print out with a DC barcode. The offer is good until October 24th. You can read more about PBS-DC here, in the Help Center. Printable Postage is not included in this offer –it’s just for PBS-DC.

PBS Store NewsPBS Cookbook final proof has been approved and printing is in process  – Members have been flipping over the BookFlips (get ’em while we still have ’em!) –  and now that cooler weather is on the way, it may be time for a cozy PBS sweatshirt.

Recycle Books Hoodie

Richard wearing his awesome PBS Sweatshirt.

APO/FPO/DPO members: For those of you at military/diplomatic addresses, you know that you have had to use the mandatory Requestor Conditions (RCs) on your accounts.  But what about the requests to APO/FPO/DPO addresses that are submitted by stateside members?  We have changed things so that if a request is submitted to be sent to an APO/FPO or DPO address, the Requestor Conditions will be applied automatically.  If you have other text in your Requestor Conditions, that will be included – it will appear above the mandatory PBS text on the request.  You can read the text for the mandatory PBS APO/FPO/DPO RCs at the bottom of the Help doc here.

Be a card-carrying member… of all three sites!  The Omni Business Card is hot off the presses: it can be customized with your name (you can choose NOT to show your name!), nickname, join date – as you like.  It’s a great way to refer new people to all three clubs and get referral credit!  You can download and print these for free from the Spread the Word page.  Check out the PBS business cards, bookmarks and flyers also available for download from that page, under Community at the top of any page on the site.

News! -What’s New?

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

We have winners of the Twitter Background Design Contest!   Check out the PBS Blog for the winners, and links to the winning designs.

Speaking of the Blog…did you see the recent author interview with Mindy Friddle?  We plan more author interviews for the future, so keep checking back on the blog.  There’s a lot going on there!  You can reach the PBS Blog from the link under Community at the top of any page on the site.

Smarter, faster, more productive…it’s the Bionic Search! The Search has been improved, so that you can more easily find the books you are looking for.  Not only will the search results display to show more relevant results at the top, but also if you make a typo while entering your search terms you will be offered an option to see the results for the spelling the system thinks you might have intended.  Try searching the site for “Charlene Harris”  or  “Harry Poter”  to see what we mean.

PBS Store News: Car Magnets are finally here!  Members have been asking for these forever.  It took us a long time to find a vendor who could provide quality at a decent price.  The rectangular magnets are 8 inches x 5 inches and won’t mar your car like a bumper sticker would.  We also have a new stock of soft bookcovers in the Kiosk, in four sizes and many patterns.  These items sell fast, so get your order in!   These keep your reading material private, as well as protect your books and make them easy to hold.

News: Better Browsing, Postage Increase, Survey, Twitter BG Contest, Requestor Conditions & Caps!

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Holy Better Browsing, Batman! Check out the new browsing options on the Member Homepage.  Click Home in the top menu to get to this page, on which you can choose up to 3 favorite genres for your sliding display of available books; below that, you can now also browse available books in other genres – just one click displays the genre you choose from the list.  What used to be the Recently Posted Available Books display is now viewable by genre – so you can look at cookbooks — mysteries — Libros en Espanol — whatever you like.   One click “refills” the display with available books in the genre you have chosen.  There’s no quicker way to browse for your next great read!

Postage Increase THIS MONDAY. Effective Monday, May 11, postal rates will increase slightly.  The price of a First Class letter stamp will increase from 42 cents to 44 cents (so stock up on those Forever stamps this week!).   A 1-lb Media Mail package will be $2.38 (up from $2.23). Download the USPS’ new price list, or read the information at USPS‘s website.  Please note that PBS Printable Postage will shut down for Sunday May 10th, so you will not be able to print the “old rates” on that day.  It will be enabled again on May 11, and the new rates will print out.  Remember to mail your books  you have agreed to mail on or before Saturday the 9th of May, so that you are not sending packages with insufficient postage!

We’ll give you something to talk about…. We’re looking for member input on the club, and we will be sending out survey emails to random members in the next couple of weeks.  When you get one of these emails (it will come from librarian@paperbackswap.com and it will have the PBS logo in the message body), click the link inside to take the survey.   The surveys will be short, and your responses will help us make decisions about what direction to take new features in the club.   So if you get a survey email, please take a few minutes to take the survey.  Your opinions could have a big impact!

So you think you can design? Prove it in our upcoming Twitter Background Design Contest!  We want our members to be a part of representing the club on our Twitter profile @paperbackswap.   The contest begins May 7th and ends June 7th. You can submit your entry on the site http://www.TwitterBackgroundsGallery.com after May 7th.   Winners get cold hard cash, credits, and Swap Money as well as unending glory!  And those of you who dont design…you can still get in on the act by voting on the submissions. There will be “people’s choice” AND “PBS Team choice” winners!   For more about how to submit, the prizes, and all the nifty details, check out the PBS Blog. A huge thanks to TwitterBackgroundsGallery.com for helping us set this up & use their website to run the contest.

Oh, we didn’t mention the Blog? It’s just a little somethin’ we threw together…. You can find it under Community at the top of any page on the site.  It has info from previous newsletters, plus stuff you can’t find anywhere else on the site, and you can comment on the items there.  Check it out.

Requestor Conditions Refinement. Now when you request a book you will have the option NOT to apply your Requestor Conditions to that request, during the process of submitting the request.  No need to go into your Account Settings to turn them off, then back to the request, then back to your Account Settings to turn them on again.  This new streamlined option should make things easier for those who use the Requestor Conditions feature.

And to top it all off… PBS Caps are in the Kiosk!  100% cotton in black or mustard, and a sueded cotton blend in stone.  Don’t tell us you don’t love them.  It’s not possible not to love them!   Ten bucks to protect your face from sunburn and proclaim your membership in the best online bookclub on the planet?  It’s ridiculous not to buy these.

Dear Librarian

Monday, March 9th, 2009

Dear Librarian- I worry about the authors–your website promotes swapping and not buying books.  How are the authors to survive?   — Worried in Waltham

Dear Walt,

We do understand your concerns!  We love authors too and we don’t want their income to be compromised.  So we are glad to tell you that we have many authors who are members, and who love PBS.  They have explained to us that PaperBackSwap is a great way for an author to find his or her public – members who would not take a chance and buy an unknown author will request unknown authors’ books here, since the investment is only a credit and that can be regained by re-swapping the book.  In this way, members find new authors to love, and are more likely to buy their books in the future (we all know there are some books you just can’t wait for!).   We have heard from many members, telling us that they have found new favorites here; and from many authors, thanking us for this way to get their books out to readers.  We think of PBS as kind of like a library – just a huge one, with no “due dates” to return the books you get.  It’s not a way to replace bookselling, but a great way for readers to get books and “meet” authors they might otherwise never have encountered.

Dear Librarian-  I recently moved to a small town and was saddened to leave behind the used bookstores of the city. Then I found paperback swap. I love it – I can get my used books (and for less than I was paying in the city). I tell everyone about this site and the service you provide for us.  — Rural Reader

Dear Roo,

Thanks for sending this message in! We are so glad the club is working to get books for you.  This is another reason why authors love PBS – because it opens up a world of books to so many who might otherwise be cut off!  A lot of America is still rural; not everyone has a bookstore or even a library nearby.    We are humbled by letters like yours, Roo, which remind us that PaperBackSswap is playing a really big part in some of our members’ lives.  It’s wonderful what the internet has made possible, isn’t it?

A whole lotta tweeting goin’ on. Follow PBS news on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/paperbackswap