IN THIS ISSUE...

• BOOKCROSSING NEWS
  • 5,000,000 and 700,000 and Counting
  • Forum Facelift
  • Seeking Artwork For Future BookCrossing Book Plates - Call for Artists
  • 27th Edition Bookplates Now Shipping: Reading is For Young and Old
  • Stephen King Release Challenge: September 21, 2008
• NEW BOOKCROSSING ARTICLES
• GLOBAL BOOKCROSSING GROWTH CHARTS
• THE LATEST WILD BOOK CATCHES

BOOKCROSSING NEWS

5,000,000 and 700,000 and Counting

What do members Bookgoblin of Switzerland, millycat of the United Kingdom and bookbabe71 of Canada all have in common as BookCrossers? They are the trio who took us up to and over the threshold of 5,000,000 books registered on www.bookcrossing.com. The books, Frauen in Lateinamerika, Banker, and The Princess and the Pea were all registered on August 13, 2008. A short three days later, BookCrossing welcomed our 700,000th member, who is from the western part of the U.S. We thought about publishing that name here, but last time we did that, the newbie got so flummoxed by all the private messages, RABCKs and congratulations, that they ran off to live on a quiet hilltop in the country. So congratulations to BookCrossser Number 700,000! We're glad you joined us! And congrats to our other three milestone makers. Keep on 'Crossing!

Forum Facelift

You've had your say, and we listened! Look for some changes in our forums in the near future. Based on a great deal of member feedback, we've shuffled, renamed, and added to the list of BookCrossing forums. You'll soon see two Announcement forums (and no, you're not seeing double). BookCrossing Site Announcements will be the home for all official site announcements from our management, Support, Newsletter teams and from our Supply Store. Check here frequently to keep up-to-date on such things as new feature notifications, site updates, store items and general "official" BC news. Members may comment in threads, but not post announcements here. A new forum, Community Bulletin Board will be the spot for member-generated news and announcements. Feature Requests will get a new description. A couple of forums will be renamed and expanded to help give a better description to the scope of discussions within them. The Wish List Forum will be renamed Random and Not-So-Random Acts of BookCrossing Kindness and will focus on all the aspects of book exchange that occur on our site. Our Activists will have to move over and make room as the forum will now be called Activists, Enthusiasts, Hobbyists and Wannabees and the forum will be a place to talk about BookCrossing, what we love, what we want want for the site, and what we envision for the future of BookCrossing. Members told us that many were scared off by the "advanced" in the title of the Advanced Questions forum when they had a simple (not "beginner") question to ask. The new name, Site Questions: Basic and Advanced should be a bit more welcoming to all with questions.

We'll be reordering the forums, too, at some point in the near future, and have bumped the two Announcements forums, Conventions and Meetings, Introduce Yourself, Newbies, and the language-based forums to the top. All else will come below in alphabetical order. We know that some people will love the changes, and some people will grumble, probably loudly, about many of them. However, we've done this with member feedback guiding us, in an effort to make our forums a little more descriptive and accessible to all members, new and old alike.

Seeking Artwork For Future BookCrossing Book Plates - Call for Artists

Our BookCrossing Supply Store is now accepting original artwork for future BookCrossing Bookplate Labels. Put on your creativity cap and choose your favorite media method to start work on what could be the next BookCrossing masterpiece! Many of our most popular labels come from you, our members. For more information, or to find out how to submit your artwork, use the 5th option at Contact & Support" ("I'm an artist and I'd like to submit my work for consideration for your bookplate labels") to begin a dialog with our Supply Store Manager.

27th Edition Bookplates Now Shipping: Reading is For Young and Old

Our new 27th edition bookplate labels, Reading is for Young and Old by Aime Sacrez captures the pleasures of a lifetime of reading. Reading is for Young and Old is now available for you, exclusively in our Supply Store. Remember, every purchase you make at our Store directly supports the BookCrossing movement, helping to cover costs for the hardware, software, bandwidth, and of course humans to keep the site and database running smoothly. Help support BookCrossing by making a purchase today. (And yes, shipping is still free on orders over $30.)

Stephen King Release Challenge: September 21, 2008

How do you say "Happy birthday" to one of the most prolific writers of our time? If you're a BookCrosser, you join in the annual Stephen King Release Challenge, hosted again this year by Wyando. Many BookCrossers (full list can be found here) released one — and just one! — book written by Stephen King* on September 21, the day Stephen King celebrated his birthday. More about this challenge can be found in the Release Challenge Forum and translations exists in Deutsch , Nederlands, Italian, Francais, Suomi, Greek, Svenska and Portugues
* Richard Bachman, as his alter ego, was of course allowed too :)

NEW BOOKCROSSING ARTICLES

A GLOSSARY OF NEW FEATURES, PART II
Basic Blurbs about the new features
by bcsupportteam

The BookCrossing Support Team, just like the rest of the BookCrossing world, is busy exploring all the new features recently introduced on the site. (After all, we're BookCrosseers, too!) We've taken that old adage of "two heads are better than one" and gone one better. Three of us have put our heads together to summarize the new features and help you along your learning curve. (Previously existing features are not detailed below; just the ones introduced in July 2008. The full list of member features, both basic and for Members Plus subscribers, can be found here. More details on the release options and profile features can be found in A Glossary of New Features, Part I.)...

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3045]

CONFUSED BY THE NEW RELEASE PAGE?
Here's a step-by-step explanation.
by Moem

We all know that changes can be hard to deal with. Especially in things that we've grown accustomed to over the years. So yes, the way the Release-a-Book page is set up now can be confusing. But I found that it actually works quicker once you've got the hang of it.
Here's a step-by-step explanation of the process for a wild release. I hope it will be helpful....

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3049]

STEPHEN KING RELEASE CHALLENGE
September 21st, 2008: Call for participating at the yearly based Stephen King Birthday Release Challenge!
by Wyando

What do these BookCrossers have in common?...

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3053]

ESCAPING THE DREADED BOOKCROSSING SLUMP
How I caught the BookCrossing bug - again!
by scriptophobia

It’s not something I’m proud of, but I recently fell victim to the dreaded BookCrossing slump. Just shy of having registered and released a hundred books, I suddenly found days, weeks, and eventually months, passing without a single registered or released book. I no longer rushed to the computer to check my email several times a day in hopes of a new journal entry or skimmed the forums for new book recommendations. Other things seemed to always get in the way of my BookCrossing passion, and after several weeks I was no longer scanning my surroundings constantly for a wild book just waiting to be snatched up. Fortunately, though, all bad things will eventually pass, and I have happily found my way back to BookCrossing. ...

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3026]

SERENDIPITY STRIKES AGAIN
Passing Along The Love
by Lynn Nicholas (hotflash)

Destined for the dustbin. Dumped in the dumpster. Trundled to the trash. Nothing but a useless pile of cast-off, unwanted books. Rejects. No. Wait a minute here. Rewind the reel a bit. ...

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3037]

POLSKA VS. BOOKCROSSING!
Polska Strona Pomocy rozwija się
by Bluemchenblatt

Dwa miesiące temu Polska Strona Pomocy ( http://bookcrossing.yoyo.pl/ ) na nowo ujrzała swiatło i całkowitą odmiane – i coraz więcej się rozwija. W tym czasie juz 200 różnych osób odwiedziło stronę, która wolniutko jak ślimak, idzię swoją drogą : najnowszy gadzet to forum, więc sposób na więcej komunikacji miedzi członkami i droga na zwycięstwo BookCrossingu na polskim terenie. Poza samą stroną z dołaczonym forum istnieje także lista dyskusyjna emailem (aby zapisać się wysłać emaila na bookcrossing-w-polsce-subscribe@googlegroups.com lub przez stronę http://groups.google.pl/group/bookcrossing-w-polsce?hl=pl ). Ale najlepiej to sami zobaczcie co się dzieje i dajcie znać o waszych opiniach ! Polsko-języczni z poza Polski chętnie widziani....

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3047]

BOOKCROSSING EXCHANGE: ROUND TWO
There and Back Again: Netherlands to New Zealand
by discoverylover

Late last year, Skyring posted a message on the BCNZ Yahoo! site asking for the name of a New Zealand BookCrosser who we thought would do a great job promoting next year's Anniversary Convention in New Zealand at the London Convention. This was the beginning of what was to prove an exciting trip for not just one, but two NZ BookCrossers to London. After a week or so, we had enough serious nominations of people who would be able to go to start voting. And a week later we had two names, FutureCat and Otakuu, with the difference of only one vote between them. And then Skyring made all our jaws drop once again, by suggesting that we should just send them both. So we did....

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3061]

WATCHING YOUR WILD BOOKS START THEIR JOURNEYS
How my releasing confidence has grown
by Scarlett17

Until the London convention in April this year, I'd been a steady but shy wild-releaser of books. I was always convinced that everyone else was watching me and thinking I was crackers. After all, abandoning books in public places is hardly sane behaviour. But in just two months, my releasing confidence has grown so much that now I'm the one wanting to watch everyone else....

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3024]

THE WIDE WORLD OF BOOKCROSSING
Experiencing the diversity of local BookCrossing meetings
by ResQgeek

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending three different BookCrossing meetings, in three different cities, all within a five-day period. One of the great things about being a part of BookCrossing is being able to meet with other members when travelling. It's a bit like having an instant group of friends whereever you go. While we all share a passion for books, BookCrossers are an incredibly diverse group of people, with no limit to the interesting stories they can tell. I tell people that meeting a new group of BookCrossers is like meeting old friends for the very first time....

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3050]

A DAY IN THE PARK
How two BCers hand out books to strangers
by Jozii

About a week ago, a fellow BookCrosser and I agreed to meet in a crowded park. We had never before met but knew each other from the website. I, a male teen, she, a 60+ woman. What a pair, huh? So what were we going to do? Release books, of course!...

[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/3051]

CALL FOR WRITERS

http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/submit

GLOBAL BOOKCROSSING GROWTH CHARTS

Top 10 Countries All-Time

USA	292,294 (41%)
UNITED KINGDOM	76,437 (11%)
GERMANY	47,532 (7%)
CANADA	43,475 (6%)
SPAIN	35,464 (5%)
AUSTRALIA	31,000 (4%)
ITALY	21,711 (3%)
FRANCE	15,300 (2%)
NETHERLANDS	14,240 (2%)
PORTUGAL	10,266 (1%)

Top 10 Countries Last Week

USA	528 (27%)
UNITED KINGDOM	353 (18%)
GERMANY	136 (7%)
NETHERLANDS	75 (4%)
SPAIN	71 (4%)
CANADA	70 (4%)
AUSTRALIA	64 (3%)
FRANCE	56 (3%)
ITALY	54 (3%)
日本	47 (2%)

THE LATEST WILD BOOK CATCHES

Wild books released by our members are being caught all over the world, every day! Our site watch forum is where members post news of great wild book catches. Here are some of the best from the last few days...

Nochmal ein kleiner Schubser

by Ahoernchen

Re: Äh, sorry... Mist gebaut
> > Ich bin schon ganz scharf auf
> mindestens einen der Jury Krimis. Darf ich
> den "Kennington Smaragd" haben???
> Bittebitte???? Streicht das einfach.
> Ich habe den Bookring( ?) mit einer Box
> verwechselt. Das liegt wohl daran, dass
> immer noch ein Bookcrosser Greenhorn bin; -
> ).
Äh, was soll ich streichen? Den Wunsch nach "Kennington Smaragd", weil ich das Buch ja nicht habe oder die Teilnahme am Ring "Die Treppe zum Meer"? Entschuldigung, wenn ich vielleicht ein bisschen lange Leitung habe,aber ich hab das jetzt nicht richtig verstanden. Schlimm? :)

Edit sagt noch: Herzlich willkommen bei Bookcrossing, ich wünsche viel Spaß dabei. Und Fehler machen wir alle mal, das nimmt eigentlich niemand hier übel!
by waltraudsch

Sure do. TPB is in training for a marathon?

by WingedMan

Well I was sleeping you know *Tryes to get rid of the gum*

by Folde

Re: faut attendre le 14 février
> et faire un lâcher massif ;-o

Même le 14 février ça ne marche pas très bien ce genre de littérature :
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3691611
by Docfrankus

[Suche] rehhaile und Stinger
Beide wegen je einem Ring.. Hat jemand einen von beiden gesehen, gelesen...?
by rotewoelfin

whaaaa!!!! gerade meinen mount-tbr etwas reduziert
und dann kommen sechs bücher an, eines dicker als das andere. hey, was soll das, erst wochenlang nichts und dann alles auf einmal. habt ihr euch gegen mich abgesprochen? wehe!
by Hoelli-Harnsn

Adoro, amo viajar! Digam-me, haverá coisa melhor nesta vida?

by papalagui