I think I might be a bad person. Gosh darn it! Not ANOTHER enviro-existential dilemma!
I love you! Is it so wrong?
Here’s the thing… I LOVE Paperbackswap. It’s this cool, low-key website where you just list the paperbacks — well, any old book you have lying around the house that has an ISBN really — online and forget about it.
Then someday, magically, you get an email from some stranger! And voila. You can print out a mailer and off the book goes to a new home where it is loved.
Yes, you do pay postage to send the book off. But here’s the thing. Everytime you send the book away, YOU get a credit for a book yourself! Then YOU can be the mysterious stranger asking for things in someone else’s email. Cool! AND paperbackswap. com starts you out with 2 free welcome credits, so our yearning for instant gratification is fulfilled!All for the low price of US postage book rate.
Right now, charter members (I’m one! Well smart Colin is…) get the service for free, though founder/prez Richard Pickering is hinting that there will eventually be a $10-20 service fee per year. Like an co-op I reckon.
Dilemma Revealed: Am I Shooting Myself in the Foot?
So naturally this does NOT seem at all like a bad thing, eco-speaking. For actual paperbacks, there generally requires no packaging other than the printed mailer sheet. And even larger books can be sent in padded envelopes that you can then REUSE (who doesn’t love that?) on the next book you send away.
BUT, I mean, as much as I love the whole “free” thing, I have to admit– I would like to get paid (hint, hint!) for writing SOMEDAY! Won’t this constant cycle of book-cycling keep members from BUYING books in general? What do you think? Publishing death by Paperbackswap? I’m a bit worried.
But.. like my irrational love for Facebook, I suppose that won’t stop me from using this useful and friendly tool until someone gives me a good reason not to. After all, for now I’ll cling to the bizarro notion that any concept that promotes reading of ACTUAL books can’t be all bad.
Added Bonus:
Here’s just a few Great Books that I LOVE, available on Paperbackswap. For free! (Please note that I was not paid to write this post, in cash OR books! If you decide to join, use us as a referral! Our nickname is “howlips”)
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Join Me by Danny Wallace (only one copy!)
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker
Yes, this will definitely kill the publishing industry. Just like the public library did. I guess the three library books on my bedside table make me a traitor to authors everywhere; not sure about the thousand-odd books elsewhere in the house….
Here’s my PBS logic. I spend much less on books now than I used to, even when I bought from the second hand bookstore. So now…I can afford to buy a few new books! Support my local bookstore! Support actual authors! I bought four new ones last week, the first new books since last October. I’ll read them, loan them to family, then post them on PBS. And then, eventually, I’ll buy a few more.
Frugal and economic stimulus, all in one.
I am hooked on paper back swap! Love it! I use mailing envelopes to ship the books, but I am really diligent about reusing them every time I receive a book in the mail. I think it’s a great site.
There’s another book trading place called frugalreader.com, but I’ve found that pbs is way better in the assortment of books available.
We often have to use envelopes too, but it isn’t hard to reuse them, or eventually recycle them. The biggest problem with the site is moving the lesser-known books. I haven’t gotten a solution for that yet.