For Welshamethyst: Labelling Books
Welshamethyst asked “Do you put something in the front cover to urge people to read and release???”
The short answer is “Yes, definitely!”.
The long answer is that the options for labelling books are many and varied. Here’s just a few from the books that happened to be lying on my desk at the moment:
For a start, the Bookcrossing site has free labels that you can download, and print onto sticky labels (or just use plain paper and glue them into the book):
(Note that in this and the following pictures I’ve blanked out the first three digits of the BCID, because they are kept secret so that only people who’ve actually found the book can make a journal entry on it).
Another option is to create your own labels. Every bookcrosser has their own favourite wording for their labels – the only crucial bits are the URL (www.bookcrossing.com) and a space for the BCID (the unique ID number you get for the book when you register it at Bookcrossing.com).
If you can’t be bothered messing around printing your own labels, you can buy nice pre-printed labels from the supply store. They’re a bit expensive, but they have some lovely artwork on them and are great for special books. And of course by buying them you’re helping keep the site running.
At the other end of the scale is the super-cheap option of just writing the information into the book by hand. Personally, I prefer a label, because I think it looks more “official”, so hopefully will encourage finders to go to the site and make a journal entry, but some bookcrossers swear by the personal touch of handwriting – it’s just a matter of taste, really.
As well as the label, I usually write the BCID and URL in a few other places in the book, just in case the label gets torn out or something. It all depends on how obsessive I’m feeling 🙂
And of course, once you’ve labelled the inside of the book, you can also label the outside, to catch people’s attention. Again, there’s a huge variety of labels out there, some home-made, others bought from the supply store. Most say something along the lines of “Free book, pick me up!”
Told you this was the long answer 🙂
Well, if that’s being brutally honest, I’m stronger than I thought I was! That was a very nice review, overall very positive and with much-appreciated honesty. The most encouraging thing of all is that you said you want to read the next one!
One request: if you do notice any typos (and can be bothered – I know you don’t always have a pen handy when you read) I’d hugely appreciate it if you could let me know, and I’ll correct them in future versions. It just goes to show that even the most obsessive editing doesn’t catch everything.
I was going to comment on the other things you mentioned, but I find it hard to in a spoiler-free way. So I won’t. 🙂
Thanks again for going to the trouble of posting a review – and for liking it!
"Too caught up in the story" is an excellent excuse 🙂