Play Book Tag discussion

Here's how it works.

1. You must sign up for the swap and submit your title by 10/18. The swap will begin on 10/21.

2. When you sign up, you must provide the title and author of the paperback book you will be donating to me via private message.

3. Paperback books may be used or new, but should be in good condition. Please try to pick a book you know you LOVE and that you'd really enjoy sharing with a fellow PBT member.

4. Here's how the swap will work.

- The order of play will be generated at random.
- The first person will select a number from a list of numbers that I provide. Each number is affiliated with a book title. I, then, announce which book the first person has opened.
- The second person can either steal the opened title from the first person. Or, they may pick a new number and open a new book. If they steal the first person's title, then the first person has the opportunity to select a new number.
- The third person may then steal either one of the open titles, or select a new number to open.

We continue ad infinitum until all the books are opened and distributed.

NOTE: The person who contributes the book title that is stolen the most will receive 50 participation points as a prize for providing the most popular choice.

5. Each person may possess a given title no more than three times total.

6. If a player steals a book from you, you may not take it right back immediately, but must select a different book. You may steal it back at the next opportunity.

7. One title will come with a $25 Amazon gift certificate provided by PBT. At the end of the swap, we will announce which title includes the gift certificate. There may also be other mystery prizes attached to specific books.

8. You must check the status of the swap every 24 hours or assign a proxy person to do so for you so that if it is your turn, you take it in a timely fashion.

9. Because of the gift certificate, this swap is only open to (North American based) PBT members who are existing members as of October 1st, or who are WELL known to an existing long term PBT member who is willing to vouch for you.

We love new members and will be very happy to have you participate in upcoming activities and celebrations - - many of which have prizes - - but this is a significant prize, and we really intend it for people who have been participating here and/or helped PBT become the great group it is today.

9. Book should be shipped within one week of the close of the swap.

Personal contact information must be exchanged between the two parties involved - - privately - - in order to complete the shipping of the books. Not shipping your book is grounds for being removed as a PBT member (holy smokes I seriously hope I never actually have to implement that!).

Please note that we've had very successful swaps in the past with little or no problems.

Admins may participate (but I will not as I am running it and will know all the books).

PLEASE SIGN UP AND/OR ASK QUESTIONS BELOW.

Thank you for doing this Anita! And since it was me who threw this out there to do, I am happy to be the first to sign up! WOW! and prizes??? I did not expect that!

I will have to get back to you with my book-need to rummage around and see what I can find, I did know it had to be paperback so my first choices are out(can the person putting the book out there do a hardcover on their own?)

Edit: found PB-forget what I said about hardcover

Sign me up! Will pm you title shortly.

The main issue with hardcovers is shipping them, possibly internationally. So, they are acceptable, but please let me know if you are providing a hardcover instead of a paperback. It will be denoted when the person "opens" the book. Otherwise, we assume paperbacks.

Oooh, this sounds fun. I shall have to ponder a title.

After jittering between 5 different paperbacks, I made my pick for swap.

I don't own any books anymore. I use library, ebooks, audiobooks, borrow from friends, and the few books I do buy, I donate after reading. :(

I don't own very many books because, like Jason, I use the library a LOT! I'll have to check my shelves (where I have reference-type books) to see if I have anything that might be of interest. If I do, I'm in. I've done this before and it is fun! If I don't join, I'll be lurking. :-)

I'm in! I promise to privately let you know the title....

This is based in the US? I would love to join, but for some reason post to/ from the States is really expensive when in Europe.

I’m in!

For those who don't own books (and I myself am pretty much in the ebook only camp), I will point out that you can buy a cheap, used paperbook on Amazon that some PBTer will love for under $10.

If you really just want to be part of the action or have a chance at the prizes.

Frankly, I could probably collect 20 books that need new homes from neighbors and friends in a pinch . . .

But no pressure obviously! We usually have plenty of "players".

Johanne wrote: "This is based in the US? I would love to join, but for some reason post to/ from the States is really expensive when in Europe."

Great question! So, we do have people in the group worldwide that participate, but unfortunately not enough people to segment everyone into groups by geography. So participants need to be willing to ship internationally. And most of our group is U.S. based. You may ship the cheapest, slowest way . . .though we ask that you retain proof of shipment just in case it is taking forever and someone is wondering where their book might be . . .

In addition, if the international folks win the gift card, it will be for the Amazon U.S. website by default, but I can ship an actual card if that is better, or work with you on an equivalent option i.e. Book Depository which is more international in scope.

So far, we have:

Amy
DianeMP
Doughbirl5562
Hebah
Joanne
KateNZ
Theresa - title received

If we get to 10 members, the swap is definitely ON. Usually we end up with close to 20. It is even doable with 8 if no one minds.

I'm in!

Thanks for being acommodoting, and it's a great idea, but I'll pass this time :) Have a blast with it!

*acommodating

Johanne wrote: "Thanks for being acommodoting, and it's a great idea, but I'll pass this time :) Have a blast with it!"

Totally understand!

Count me in!

Anita- What time frame would the swap be happening?
I'd love to join, but will be travelling internationally in the near future and can't commit to checking PBT daily.

Joi wrote: "Anita- What time frame would the swap be happening?
I'd love to join, but will be travelling internationally in the near future and can't commit to checking PBT daily."

It is nearly impossible to predict how long it will last. Sometimes it goes on and on. The start date is the 21st. However, you can designate a proxy to help you with the swapping while you are out of town. Basically someone who is willing to be active on your behalf. Your call!

I'm in. I will look through my books and decide which will be the best choice and then I will pm you the title.

Booknblues wrote: "I'm in. I will look through my books and decide which will be the best choice and then I will pm you the title."

Yes! you are # 8

I'd like to sign up. But, I do need to check to see what book I might donate. I'll confirm once I have a book picked out.

drumroll-we have # 9

I think I'd like to join in - I mostly read from the library these days though, so don't have many books on my shelves - I'll PM you to check whether the one I'm thinking of is suitable...

I got rid of several boxes of books in the last month, so I'm searching for a suitable one...

Do we have any restrictions on the books? Publication dates not to be older than xxxx, non-fiction allowed or not, etc?

I know I'm hardly here anymore, but I can make a point of checking in daily for this. I love our book swaps.

I’m away in New Zealand atm and have international guests till 18.10 but will join. I just have to get back home (in 3 days) and look through my shelves.

How does it work? These days books are so easy to come by - what kind of books do you usually use?

Updated participant list. Please give me a shout if I have missed you.

Amy
annapi - title received
BooknBlues - title received
DianeMP
Doughbirl5562
Hebah
Idit
Jason - title received
Joanne - title received
KateNZ
Kimber
Meli
Nicole - title received
Nikki - title received
Sara - title received
Theresa - title received

annapi wrote: "Do we have any restrictions on the books? Publication dates not to be older than xxxx, non-fiction allowed or not, etc?"

I would say the only restrictions are that the books should be geared toward adult readers.

Idit wrote: "I’m away in New Zealand atm and have international guests till 18.10 but will join. I just have to get back home (in 3 days) and look through my shelves.

How does it work? These days books are so..."

I think the first post describes it pretty well. Obviously, the best books are ones that a typical PBT member would LOVE. Those get stolen the most and make the game the most fun. You want to supply a book that will be popular to own.

Of course, with a diverse group of readers that can be hard to assess, but bestselling literary fiction (aka something like Beartown) and popular memoirs (i.e. Educated) usually do well.

When we did this a few years ago, the star of love and techno, and Rules of Civility were being swapped all over the place. Like five titles were getting so much attention! That’s what put Tsar on my radar. Too bad I already gave away Where the Crawdads Sing. That is not my title. I will ask Anita’s advice.

Jason. I thought you would pick your family member’s book. It’s on my TBR.

Amy wrote: "When we did this a few years ago, the star of love and techno, and Rules of Civility were being swapped all over the place. Like five titles were getting so much attention! That’s what put Tsar on ..."

I donated it to the library. I will get another one for the book swap. Great idea Amy, thank-you

Sign me up!

I am in as well, but I will need to DM later tonight or early tomorrow when I peruse my shelves to find a good title... Ah, to be the lucky one to get 50 extra points!!

So in full confession, I actually have a stack of books that I have kept just for this purpose. Because I had remembered the book swap three years ago, and I have a small pile of books that I thought would be ideal for something like that, and/or that I thought that I might lend them to somebody because they were beloved books. I gave like eight title names to Anita and asked her opinion. But I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

Sign me up! :)

For those of you living in the US, heads up that USPS gives discounted rates when shipping books! I send out a lot of them around Christmas for nieces and nephews and they always go out really cheap, even in hardcover.

Nicole wrote: "Sign me up! :)

For those of you living in the US, heads up that USPS gives discounted rates when shipping books! I send out a lot of them around Christmas for nieces and nephews and they always g..."

Yes, you can send them Media Mail-it will take a little longer to get there, but it is a lot cheaper. And you still get a tracking #

Nicole wrote: "Sign me up! :)

For those of you living in the US, heads up that USPS gives discounted rates when shipping books! I send out a lot of them around Christmas for nieces and nephews and they always g..."

Yes - media mail in US is very cheap. I keep meaning to see if there is an international media mail. Something for those of you outside the US to check - is there media mail or book rate mail? These typically take a couple of weeks or more -- I joke that they are going either by mail steamer or pony express.

I chose a book that has been around a long time but may not be on anyone's radar and was a fun quirky read. It also appeals to fiction and non-fiction readers. AND, I read it before joining PBT...so you have not even seen my review of it. I tried for some intrigue...

You can count me in. :)

Joi wrote: "Anita- What time frame would the swap be happening?
I'd love to join, but will be travelling internationally in the near future and can't commit to checking PBT daily."

Joi ... I'd be happy to be your proxy during the time that you are unable to check daily. Just PM me details of your preferences ...

I won't be participating myself this time around. Last week I took a boatload of books to the Friends of the Library for their upcoming sale (which will happen after this game starts ... so I can't go buy another book to enter). Bad timing, but that's life....

I have no idea what media mail is, so I don't think we have it... The prices I looked up differ greatly, but it seems the cheapest would be alright for me if the book fits in the 'letter' size category and regular mail, and I think that could work (around $15). I don't know about the other way: I wouldn't want to put anyone in a situation to send anything that's too expensive. Will you check your possibilities of sending a book to Denmark if it's not too much hazzle?

Updated participant list. Please give me a shout if I have missed you.

Amy
annapi - title received
BooknBlues - title received
DianeMP
Doughbirl5562
Hebah
Idit
Jason - title received
Joanne - title received
KateNZ
Kimber
Meli
Nicole - title received
Nikki - title received
Sara - title received
Theresa - title received

I completely spaced looking for a title to share last night!

I will check and get back to you when I can tonight.

Johanne - I took a quick look at the USPS website and it looks like the lowest shipping rate from the US to Denmark is $45-$65 USD. I don’t know if this is accurate or if USPS would be the ideal shipper, but it’s the most commonly accessible.

Urgh that's what I thought...I had a hunch - my husband is a record collector and he has mentioned the hazzle of getting things sent from the US. I'm out then - have fun and thanks for checking.

Nicole wrote: "Johanne - Looks like the lowest shipping rate from the US to Denmark through USPS is $65 USD. I don’t know if USPS would be the ideal shipper, but it’s the most commonly accessible."

What! We send to Sweden all the time, and I would not if it was that expensive-let me ask my husband(whose sister is the one that lives there and ask how he ships)