I have been on PaperBackSwap for awhile now and have been able to mail about 15 or 16 books out.  However, I have received only a few that I requested.  It seems that the books (mainly fiction) are never available and my wish list is getting quite long.  Don't think there is a remedy for this, just the way it works.  Anyone else having this experience?

Well, I have close to 300 books on my wishlist, so yes, many of the books I want are wishlisted.  But that's what I enjoy most about PBS, the chance to be surprised and pleased by a wishlist offer.

In the meantime, I find MANY books to order that are already available.  All I have to do is use the advanced search feature, set a genre that I like and then put in keywords about places or situations I like to read about--and I find something to order.  So if you want to spend some of your credits, search for topics you want to read about, or check out the genre forums to get suggestions of other books you might like.

Diane

You only have five books on your WL?

Also, Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick is available to order (aka: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?).

I'd suggest adding to your WL if you can't find any books that you'd like to order now. Good luck... I hope you find some great books soon!

You won't get many with a WL of only 5.  I doubt you'll wait long for Catching Fire.  Super popular books like that tend to have steadily moving WL lines.  Anyway the more lines you get in the more books you will get.  I actually usually get the ones with long WL lines quicker than many of the books where I am the only wisher.  Simply becuase the ones with the long line are so popular that more copies get posted.  When the latest Sookie Stackhouse book came out, I moved up like 300 spots in just a week or so. 

Diane and I have similar "problems", lol.  I stocked up using the book bazaar and books that weren't wishlisted and now  pretty much all I get are my wishlisted books. I love the surprise when one comes up. Lord knows I have plenty to read............

As others have said, when you're just starting out, browsing around and ordering something you weren't planning to read is a great way to start.

It's kind of like going to the library and finding out that everything on last week's NYT best sellers list has multiple reserves on it. When this happens, you have a choice to make. Do you stand there among the 5 million books in the building and say 'there's nothing here I want to read"? Or do you put your name on the list, then go walk up and down the shelves and see what else catches your eye?

You'll have a lot more books to read if you make the second choice. I understand the desire to save credits for books that are on your wish list, but if you're at the end of a long line, you can often spend the credit, read the book you get and swap it again before the wish list book becomes available. If worst comes to worst, and you get a wish list offer when you don't have a credit, you can use the Not Now button once on each book to postpone accepting. You can also buy a credit if you just can't wait.

PBS=Patience

-RD

Pasty, you need to confirm that PBS has the correct email before the system will let you order books.  Please also check that the two PBS addresses are listed as not spam on your mail filter.  (We can limit which emails we get under Settings.)

I prefer waiting for the WL rather than just ordering for one reason - I'm a reposter. When I finish reading a book, I repost it. If I order an available book, I may have to wait a year or longer and may never get my credit back since there are a number of that book posted and that book might just languish on my bookshelf. However, once I finish my WL book, I get my credit right back because others have that book on their WL also.

Yes, my wishlist is completely full at 300. 

I have plenty to read at home and from the library, though, so it doesn't bother me to wait.  

Some of the titles on my wishlist are so off the beaten track that I think there are tremendous odds against their ever entering the system.  I put them on the wishlist because a small chance is a lot better than none, and hey, in the meantime I have plenty to read here.  I have more books than I ever had in my whole life owing to the FOL sale and the swap.  Wishlisting these offbeat titles  is more like buying a lottery ticket.  If it doesn't come in, it's not tragic, but in the meantime it's a small but real chance.