Dear Members,

So...you've waved goodnight to the last trick-or-treater, blown the candle out in the Jack O'Lantern, and set your clocks back.  You know what this means: the season of madness is here!  Yes, that wonderful, harried, chock-full holiday time.  The next couple of months will be so busy: shops will be crowded, traffic insane, and your To Do list will seem endless.   In the middle of all the rushing around, do try to take time for yourselves, to savor the things that make you happy.   A chat with a good friend; great music from your iPod while you rake leaves; that moment of anticipation when you first open a good book to start reading; the laughter around the dinner table.   Little opportunities for thanksgiving come every day. 

We have those opportunities too--we are reminded every time we get happy feedback from a member.  We are thankful for every one of you: the members who volunteer their efforts to help the site, those who have made the Discussion Forums feel like a giant, wacky family, and of course all of the members who keep posting and swapping books.   Each of you contributes so much here--your books, your time, yourselves.   We don't forget that you are the club.  In other words, we may set the table, but you bring the pumpkin pie!

We wish all of you a joyous Thanksgiving season. 

Richard and Robert
and the PaperBackSwap Team

NEWS:

We hear the pitter-patter of...movieswappers?  More like a stampede!  We have heard from a ton of  folks who are chomping at the bit to start swapping DVDs.  We are happy to tell you that the Swap family is expecting-- SwapaDVD  is coming to join PaperBackSwap and SwapaCD.  We hope to have the site ready before the end of the year.  Yes, that does mean Robert might be eating his Thanksgiving dinner in front of the computer.  But we are really motivated!    Keep an eye on the Forums because after initial beta-testing is done, a "sneak preview" of the site will be available to a limited number on a first-come, first-serve basis.  When you see the post in the Club Members' Thoughts Discussion Forum, you'll have a chance to register EARLY for SwapaDVD.   We've had a lot of questions about how DVD swapping will be structured; we won't give everything away, but we can tell you this: SwapaDVD will be the PaperBackSwap for DVDs.  We think you're going to love it.   

No excuses.  How can you say you don't want a PBS Cookbook?  You say you can't cook?  There are recipes for every ability level.  You say you don't like to cook?  Someone you know does!  Why not give them a copy and they can cook for you?  You say you have enough books?  Okay, we didn't even hear that.   For goodness' sake, get to the Kiosk and pre-order a copy (or two or three) now.  You can even be one of the authors (contact royaltech if you want to submit recipes) or illustrators (submit a cover design here)!  We have some great submissions for the cover art so far, but hardly anyone has voted on them, so we have extended the contest deadline.   If we get enough images, we might use some of them inside the cookbook, for the section dividers.  Submit your design here, and vote on submitted designs here.   The book will go to press when we have 250 prepaid orders.  We are about halfway there.   C'mon, c'mon!  We can't wait to get our copy!

Speaking of Recipes...  Many of you are enjoying the Recipe feature on the site.   However, there are some who are submitting recipes without entering the ingredients properly in the list format provided.  Submitted recipes that don't have the ingredients properly entered (in the Ingredients list, not the Directions) can't be indexed and will be removed from the site.  So make the extra effort to enter your recipes properly, and ensure that they will remain on the site and be useful to other members.  You can go back and edit any recipes that you submitted incorrectly before December 1st when the "purge" will take place.

Book Festivals

Keep in mind...  The fires in Southern California last month caused a lot of upheaval.  We have heard from some members that their incoming mail has been delayed.  A member from Southern California wrote in to us "Please let everyone know that most of us are fine but large areas needed to evacuate for safety."   So if you sent a book there, or requested a book from a member in that area, please be patient.  We are glad that things seem to be contained now, and we send our best wishes to all who were affected.

PBS (W)rap.   Ahem.  Mike on?  Testing, one two three...

Members write to us with things they want to mention/And we thought we'd put them here, just to get your attention.

If you're sending an audio or a bound book in the mail/Try to wrap it up so it gets there without fail.

Check out the Help Center info on wrapping your book/You may have read it already, but it's worth a second look.

Now we're not talking about spending money on materials/You can get creative--try an inside-out box that once held cereal!

Your book needs protection to keep it safe on its trip/Think of the postal machines, and what can cause a rip.

If it's going where it's rainy, use an inner layer of plastic/The book will get there dry, and that will be fantastic.

If you use the manila envelopes that have the metal clasp, these can scuff/The cover of the book, and it arrives looking rough./ Cover up the metal with just a little piece of tape/And your book will get to the requestor's mailbox in terrific shape!

If you're Wishing for a book, the way that works best/Is to set that item to Auto-Request.

We know you're really busy, but don't send your books out late!/Put them in the mail within a day of the deadline date!/If your shipment is delayed for an unavoidable reason--we don't doubt it/Just send a Personal Message telling the requestor about it./People won't re-order a "lost" book if you tell them that it's coming./Send that PM, and keep the swapping process humming.

And above all, the most important thing to remember--Don't offer a "bad book" to another member./Don't post books that don't meet the guidelines for Book Condition/It's not okay to post and then send a PM description!/If the book doesn't measure up, you can't put it on your shelf--instead/You can offer the book in the Book Bazaar Damaged Book thread!

We know that that this whole thing was pretty lame.  Oh, well/We are good at wrapping, not rapping...thanks for reading LOL

PBS Store News: We have added more Bookmate I colors and patterns to the Kiosk.  Check them out below: Aztec, Fusion Stripe,Crystal Sunset, Onyx Marble, Burgundy.  We will also be getting in the larger-size LightWedges soon. These have been really popular!   We are in the process of selecting more items for the PBS Store--PBS stuff makes great presents for booklovers.   We search very carefully for good-quality, great-value items, so it takes time to add new things.  But we have some in the pipeline, so watch that space!

Member of the Month.  This month, the honor goes to...

Sharon H. (ShareBear)

Sharon has been a member of PBS since March 2006.  She has sent and received a lot of books here, as well as dozens of books in Box-O-Books swaps, and she has never had a problem swap.  She has contributed numerous Book Reviews to the site.  She has been praised by members for her extra effort in looking for books they might like.  As one member, Earl (squirrelly) wrote "She is ... already like a family member when we correspond."  That is PBS spirit in a nutshell, squirrelly! (sorry, we couldn't resist that.)  

Sharon, you get a big thumbs-up from us!

If you have any nominations for Member of the Month, submit them to us here.  Your nomination will not "expire"--anyone you nominate will have a chance at getting Member of the Month if enough nominations accumulate over time.  So go for it! Tell us who's helped you in the Forums, who's been a great swapper, who in your opinion is a credit to PBS.  We are keeping a list of all the nominated members.  Who knows--one of them might be YOU!

DEAR R&R:

Dear R&R--I love printed postage!  Thanks for adding this to the site.  Now for the problem: I sent a book to a requestor but she hasn't marked it received yet.  Because i used Printable Postage I got credit immediately after marking the book mailed (another great feature!), and I know this book was delivered because the DC barcode was scanned.  She got the book, but is lying and saying she didn't get it!  This is so dishonest, and now it looks like I didn't send the book.  What should I do? --Puzzled in Pennsylvania

Dear Penny,

Thanks for the kind words about Printable Postage.  The feature is really being used!  We are glad we put the work in to make it available.  About your book--it is possible that the requestor hasn't gotten the book yet.  She may be away from home, or the book was scanned as "delivered" at her local PO and hasn't made it out to her residence.   It is even possible that the book was misdelivered.  You can't presume that she is being dishonest.  She could even have forgotten to mark it received.  You can contact her via Personal Message (use the PM button on the lost book in your Transaction Archive, linked from your My Account page) to ask if she got the book.  If you don't hear back from her within a week, let us know.  We do monitor "incoming" and "outgoing" loss rates automatically on accounts, and we will intervene if someone's loss rate is too high.   Don't worry about your account status; your account will show that you sent the book because you used Printable Postage from PBS and the scan information is recorded with the swap.  If this book is declared Lost, and we have to review your account for any reason, we will see that this book was scanned as delivered, and it will not count "against" you.  You can read more about this situation in the Help document "If a book you sent hasn't been marked received yet..." in the Help Center. 

Dear R&R--I printed the postage on a wrapper, but now I can't find the book to send.  I think I may have lent it to my sister. I cancelled the request after printing.  Can I get a refund for the postage I won't be using? --Disorganized in Dallas

Dear Dizzy,

Unfortunately, printed postage isn't refundable.  The funds are transmitted to USPS and endicia.com when you print.  That's why the Wrapper Settings page contains this information, and you are asked to confirm that the postage amount is correct before you print.    We are really sorry about this.   Please be sure you have the book that is requested in hand before you print with postage. You can read more about  PBS printed postage in the FAQs About Printable Postage in the Help Center.

Dear R&R--I had an issue with another member, and it really upset me.  But I talked to a Live Help Tour Guide and she really made me feel better.   I am new to PBS and would probably have quit the club if it hadn't been for this kind Tour Guide who was friendly and sympathetic, and took the time to explain that even though there are some bad apples in the bunch, most of the members are really nice, and she was sure I would have better experiences that would help me get over this one.  She was right!  I have had many swaps since then that have been great, I have met many nice members in PMs, and I have tons of books to read.  I am so glad I stayed with the club!  --Happy in Honolulu

Dear Lulu,

What's not to be happy about?  You live in Hawaii!  Just kidding.  We really appreciate you writing in about this.  We think our Tour Guides are wonderful.  They are experienced bookswappers, and they can save you a lot of time figuring something out on the site.  They really show the best of PaperBackSwap.  We are so pleased that the Tour Guide was there when you needed her.  We are so glad you stayed too!

COMING SOON:

• Do we need to say it? SwapaDVD!
• Changes to SwapaCD that you will really like... 

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