PaperbackSwap.com: 4 Million And Growing
The Examiner/Atlanta (Website) - 10/25/2009 by Barbara Bryn Klare
A Facebook friend of mine recently revealed her true passion to me: she loves the classy look of fine black print on a page, the smell of a new book, the feel of the creased spine in her hand. The Kindle leaves her cold (it does just as little for me - I gave mine to my sister). She's what we used to call an "avid reader"- consuming as many as three books a week or more. It wasn't an insult back then; maybe a bit on the spinsterish side, but fine enough. Okay, so she also cares passionately about things like when to use an em-dash, but no need to go there (okay, when do you use it again?).
For her and all the other old-style voracious readers out there, I dedicate this post. (For all you editors, I have peppered this post with completely inappropriate and whimsical em-- and en-dashes, gratuitous grammatical decisions, and whenever possible, an ampersand or two.) Enjoy!
You can satiate your paperback-book (and audio book and hardback and textbook) appetite and keep your hard-earned green while keeping your house bookpile-free. How? Join PaperbackSwap.com. There's a nifty online "book" tutorial that takes you through the easy steps page-by-page, but it basically comes down to some pretty simple rules:
--Mail a book.
--Get a book.
--Any book you request is yours to keep, share or trade.
--Every time you mail a book to another member, you can request one for yourself.
Richard Pickering, the founder of PaperbackSwap.com, and its sister sites, SwapaCD.com and SwapaDVD.com, graciously offered to speak by phone, but due to my time constraints, I was unable to interview him -- but I did get to congratulate him on reaching the 4-millionth book milestone.
Members can transfer credits between sites - & it's easy to register on all 3 sites at once. If you like the site enough, consider spreading the word and earn free credits and PBS money.
Look for them in all the usual places, like Twitter and Facebook, and check their blog for author interviews, contests, and more. Then at the risk of sounding like a corny library poster, Sit Back, Enjoy and Read.
For her and all the other old-style voracious readers out there, I dedicate this post. (For all you editors, I have peppered this post with completely inappropriate and whimsical em-- and en-dashes, gratuitous grammatical decisions, and whenever possible, an ampersand or two.) Enjoy!
You can satiate your paperback-book (and audio book and hardback and textbook) appetite and keep your hard-earned green while keeping your house bookpile-free. How? Join PaperbackSwap.com. There's a nifty online "book" tutorial that takes you through the easy steps page-by-page, but it basically comes down to some pretty simple rules:
--Mail a book.
--Get a book.
--Any book you request is yours to keep, share or trade.
--Every time you mail a book to another member, you can request one for yourself.
Richard Pickering, the founder of PaperbackSwap.com, and its sister sites, SwapaCD.com and SwapaDVD.com, graciously offered to speak by phone, but due to my time constraints, I was unable to interview him -- but I did get to congratulate him on reaching the 4-millionth book milestone.
Members can transfer credits between sites - & it's easy to register on all 3 sites at once. If you like the site enough, consider spreading the word and earn free credits and PBS money.
Look for them in all the usual places, like Twitter and Facebook, and check their blog for author interviews, contests, and more. Then at the risk of sounding like a corny library poster, Sit Back, Enjoy and Read.
