Re ideal size: actually, it's the weight that's significant, both for postage costs and for ease-of-use - some people might have trouble manhandling a really heavy box to the post office! And postage costs can be surprising, even at the media rate ["media mail" is a US book- rate; if you're not in the US you'd have to check your postal rates for the best buy]; I got a hefty bookbox once that cost over $12 to mail. Not bad for some forty books (mix of paperbacks and hardcovers) - but one seldom wants to take all of the books in a box, even if you had a matching number of books to refill it with, and if you only take a handful of books you're still going to have to pay to send the full box along. [Of course we do this more for the fun - and to share journal entries - than to save money, but that doesn't mean everybody's willing to pay quite that much to be part of a bookbox.]
I'd say a minimum number of books would be maybe 8-12, to provide a fair selection, and a maximum - well, that 40-book box was a bit heavier than was comfortable for me and I'm in fairly good shape, so it would have been a chore for someone with mobility problems. [It also gave the box a pounding; I had to replace the original box with a new one. You definitely don't want to send out a bookbox in a weakened or flimsy box, at least not if you want the books to actually get where they're going!] While weight and not numbers is the issue, I would think that maybe 25-30 paperbacks or 10-12 hardcovers - or 20 or so mixed - would be as much as I'd want to pack up. Does vary a lot, though! Re creating a bookshelf? I suppose you could - but that would only track the books that you put into the box, not the ones added by others. Well, unless you gave out the login info so everybody could log in under that name to journal books added to the box, in addition to journaling under their own screen names. It is an interesting way of keeping track of a bookbox but I think it's overkill myself. I'd probably stick with a forum thread: just put a link to your bookbox- announcement thread on your profile, to help participants find it when needed, and ask everybody to make a new reply to that thread when the box reaches them. If you want you can ask them to list the books they're taking and the ones they're adding. Or you could just maintain that information on your profile and ask people to PM you with updates as the box travels. Other advice: put something in or on the box to identify it - not just as a bookbox but which one and from whom. If participants are getting several bookboxes they may not be able to tell which one that is, unless it's got a very specific theme for the books. Some people put special labels on the books they put in, but that only works as long as some of those books are still in the box; likewise, if there's a sheet of paper with the mailing order on it (that's legal for media mail as long as it's *just* the mailing order, no chatty notes to friends, which would require first-class postage), that can help ID the box - as long as everybody remembers to put the paper back in the box before mailing it along! If mailing within the US, delivery confirmation might be reassuring; it doesn't cost much extra and, while it doesn't guarantee delivery, it does give people a way to track the box's progress and perhaps soothe their impatience a bit... -GoryDetails Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at: http://bookcrossing.com/friend/GoryDetails --- In [email protected], Michele <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Our little local Bookcrossers group is planning to start a bookbox. I've never done one before and had a few questions.. > > 1) What is the ideal size of the box, ie. # of books > 2) Should we create a bookshelf for our group to track the box? > > Any advise, tips, etc would be greatly appreciated. We're going to gather books at our next meetup in September and I will start advertising it once I get the books. Have you told a friend today? http://bookcrossing.com/tellafriend Archives and email list settings: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookCrossing Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BookCrossing/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
