Do You Swap Books?

Swapping books is an awesome thing. Recently I've been updating my Goodreads page and I discovered that Goodreads offers a swapping option. How cool is that? The only downside about Bookswap is what if you don't have a credit card?
My Experience with Swapping
I've swapped books with a few book bloggers and even though I think that nobody would be interested in my books–it seems somebody always is. Sometimes it is hard to part with a book you don't necessarily want to exchange; I often ask myself... would I really read this again? If the answer is no, then I look for swapping buddies or give them away.  Trading reads is a great opportunity to let other book bloggers read and review more books without having to purchase or request them from publishers.
Trading Etiquette
Just because you might have an old or "unpopular" book it doesn't mean that nobody is interested it trading with you–post it anyway. The best way to swap is to make a list of books you're willing to trade and post it on your blog. Some people post their wish-lists as well but this tends to discourage me from contacting the person to see if they're willing to swap books anyway. If you're unsure about the blogger's reliability have them send a picture via email of them holding the book; this way you can be confidante that you can trust the blogger to send your book to you. How you mail your swapped book is very important as well. If your mail system is run by a bunch of thieves like mine, come to some sort of deal about sending the book priority instead of media mail. Remember! Media mail can be opened at anytime and stolen! If you don't or can't spend the extra money on priority, send it media mail and purchase a tracking number. From experience, this seems to help discourage any thievery.
What If I'm Not a Blogger?
No problem! Just follow the same steps and send your tradable book list via email. Be sure to send a picture of you holding the requested book(s).


Swapping books can be a lot of fun and a great way to enjoy more reading! Be sure to check out ➡my swap list or leave a comment with a link to YOUR swap list!

Much Ado About Book Blogging

Recently there as been a sort of "blogging revolution". It first started (that I know of anyway) with Becky at The Bookette. Although I do not follow or regularly read her blog, Becky's post was brought to my attention by In Which A Girl Read, a blog I recently started following a fews days ago because her very interesting post about YA romance. There was also The Book Owl (who I follow and check regularly) and Staysi at Lost in Ink who I featured on my blog [see post] many months back when she first started. After reading everybody's opinions and distresses I decided to add my two cents as well.


Newbies, Books, and Competitions?
When I first started book blogging a year and one month ago, I had no idea that there was a "blog-o-sphere" of countless other people who had the same idea as I did: write book reviews to express their passion for writing and/or YA books. I also wasn't aware of the complicatedness that surrounded these book blogs. Here I was, an extreme newbie–heck I didn't even know how to change a blog background (that really bothered me by the way)–and I only thought blogs were just for recording reviews, not gaining publicity enough to where publishers were contacting you and giving you free (advanced) books to review.....