I just joined PBS a few days ago and I must say I am a bit disappointed.  It reminds me a bit of a pyramid business.  If you got in early you are probably getting lots of books you want but if you joined a few days ago you are probably person 863 in line on the wish list just like me!  I joined, listed my 10 books and immediatley 5 of them were gone and another one is on a lot of wish lists I guess the person who is number 1 in line just hasn't checked their email lately but that one will be gone soon too.  So I have spent $12 in postage and used all my envelopes and there is not a single book that I want that I won't have to wait forever to get.  I had put a bunch on my wish list yesterday but took most of them off because they are all available at my library which is 5 minutes away!  ANy suggestions or tips for a newbie on how to get good books faster?  Thanks!  Kim

Update:  Well I am not disappointed anymore.  I have gotten 2 books so far.  One of them I read a review for and it sounded great so I requested it.  It was something I never read, Historical Fiction!  So far its very good,  I have also met some really nice people and am enjoying the message boards!  Thanks for all the tips!  Kim S

I guess it can be frustrating at first. I got books that weren't wish-listed at first. After a while, though, wish lists move (at least for most books).

If you can get books at the library, more power to you.

If you get them from here, you can keep them as long as you want, or even forever.

I belong here because I live where you have to pay to use the library, and this is cheaper. I have enough things on my wish list so something's popping every few weeks.

Awww, don't be disappointed. PBS is not a pyramid. Everyone's gotta join sometime, and people are joining all the time. People will join after YOU and be jealous of YOU. It just takes momentum. There's really no way to get "good books faster" than waiting, if you mean wish list books. Some people will post WL books to their buddies, which means they don't have to wait, so if you make some buddies on here, they can keep your WL in mind. I would just scan the available books and see if there are things you can find to spend your credits on NOW while you wait. I can ALWAYS find items to request immediately! Play the jumping game - go to one of the books you want that is not available. Then look at the section that suggests "if you like THIS, you may like THAT." Then see if that is available. Or look up other books by that author. Soon, you will be in the opposite situation - needing more credits to spend!

Yes, it can be disapointing to see your name at the long list of wishers, but for books that are really popular, those lists can move really fast.  Also, while you were waiting for your wishlist books to come up... you can go over the the Book Bazaar forum and there are often offers for bookshelves where you can spend 1 credit and get more than 1 book.   Of course, these won't be wishlist titles, but you can make the most of your credits that way and sometimes take a change on a book you wouldn't ordinarily order.

Also, there are ARC and Damages books that might be offered there as well.  Often it will be something like "order a book off my shelf and get ________ (damaged Wishlist book) as a freebie.

My best word of advice is to always keep a few credits handy for insurance because you NEVER know when a wishlist book is going to pop-up for you and you want to have a credit ready when it does.

Happy Trading!!

The wishlists for books with many wishers tend to move pretty fast.  The books are heavily wishlisted because they are popular (best-sellers) which means that more members will buy copies, leading to more books getting posted to the system.  It's the books where you are 1/1 on the wishlist that you're the least likely to get through the site.

Some of the top posted books from the past seven days (these are books currently available) had really long wishlists not too long ago, such as The Memory-Keeper's Wife and Eat Pray Love.

(I'd love to help you out and post a book to your wishlist but postage isn't in my budget right now.)

Also, the more you look around, the more you'll see other books that you'd like while waiting for those on your Wish List to become available. Sometimes Wish Lists can move very quickly if there's a sudden influx of books or new members.

PBS does work on a FIFO (First In First Out) system, to be as fair to ALL members as it can be, so eventually you'll be higher on the list then newer members would be as far as your current WL books go. This isn't a library or new book store, so there is no guarantee that you can join and get your Wish Listed books right away. If you can find them at your local library then go for it.

I'm sure if you looked around you'd find plenty more books that you might want while you're waiting for your WL books to become available. Also, PBS is a great place to meet and make new friends. I've been here for almost 2 years and I've made tons of friends and traded hundreds of books. Stick around, give PBS a chance.

ETA: if you don't mind different bindings (IE: paperback vs hardback) you might try looking for your WL books in the system under a different binding or ISBN. They might be available sooner then the one you originally had on your WL.

Also hang out on the message boards. I felt the same way when I joined. I had a lot of WL books and sent out over 50 books in the first couple weeks.  It seemed like every book I wanted  had a WL. But I looked around, starting hanging out on the message boards and found new to me authors to try who had books in the system.  Also another benefit of hanging out on the boards is that sometimes people will post WL books directly to you because they like you, like what you post but most of all because they know an active poster is more likely to accept the WL offer and not let it time out.  Also a lot of people will see if they can find someone with more then 1 WL book that they can post to help them save on postage.

And load up that WL!  The more books you have on it the more chances of getting your WL requests filled.

Kim- The only people that are getting in early as those that constantly check when a book is going to be published and are able to get their name on the wishlist first.  Plus the highly popular books WL move very fast.  I find its fun to just choose a book that someone on the Hidden Gems has mentioned and read that while I am waiting. Branch out try new things.

I would recommend getting whatever books you can from the library, saves using credits for things you cant get.

We were all new at some stage, I have not been here since the begining and have recieved several WL books in a timely manner.

And a pyramid scheme would mean only one person benefits from this, and thats not true, everyone gets the book at some stage.

Thanks for all the tips guys!  I didn't know about the book bazaar and so I will have to check that out.  It's good to know that books on the WL move quickly and I will have to check out the hidden gems and try some new aurthors as well.  Hope I didn't sound icky in my first post.  I wasn't try say that only some benifitted from PBS just that it may be awhile (after more folks join or list new stuff) before I benefit.  But I guess I will just try some new things while I wait for the books I want!  Kim S.

Kim,

Welcome and try looking at this from a different angle. Your WL is of the books/authors you know of, but there is so much more out there you haven't discovered.  Since joining, I've only gotten a few WL books (and most of those were from the "Is this on your WL?" threads), but my MT. TBR is probably in the 300-400 range! I have learned of so many new authors/series since joining. If I had the room, I would buy another bookcase (I have 3 tall bookcases). I've probably sent out ~75 WL books and I've been a member for about 8 months, so what you're experiencing is pretty normal (from what I've learned). If you stay, believe me you'll have the opposite problem, too many books;)

Kim,

I signed up to get the Daily Wish List.  Some days there are over 800 books wished for!  Recently I put a book on my WL that I thought would take forwever to get to me.  It took less than a week!  Then there are the others where I can see myself moving slooooowly up the line.

Oh, different forums have places where you can post information about your bookshelf.  In the mystery/thriller forum they have a thread to list your books.  I wrote that I had too many to list and they were older from 2000-2005.  I had a couple of people request books from me because that got them to look at my shelf.  One told me those were "new" to her.

Also, add some more stuff to your WL! Max that sucka out, you can have a total of 200 books. Believe me, it is beyond a thrill when you get that WL offer in your mailbox. Right now you only have 13, so you have lots of room to add more books!

I second Heather!  I joined about two months ago and have both sent and received approximately 30 books.  Look around and see what else you might like.  Go to the forums and ask for reading suggestions.  I'm sure you will find more that you would like.  The history of publishing is 500 years long, I'm sure there is more that you would enjoy that you haven't found yet. 

That said, if you are mostly interested in recently published bestsellers, this may not be the most effecient way for you to get books.  So far I seem to get a WL offer at least once every few days, but my list is pretty maxed out, and I have very few 100+ books on my list.  I would sugest sticking around a little longer, poking about the site, seeing what it offers.  If you decide its not for you after giving it a fair shot, so be it.

I don't know if any of the other forums do this, but in the love and romance forum, we have a running thread of "upcoming books to wishlist." As soon as someone hears about a new book coming out, they post and the forum regulars can get on the wishlist quickly.  It pays to be active in the forums!

Remember, although the WLs for the books you *currently* want are high, new books will be coming out all the time and you have as good a chance as anyone of getting onto the lists for those early. 

Kim,

   Please don't be discouraged.  I think we have all felt like that at first.  I have only been a member about a month, but business is picking up!  Like you, it seemed like all I was doing at first was sending out books.  However, I have now received several books on my WL, with more on the way!   I was actually surprised with the speed at which WL books move. 

   Someone mentioned signing up for the Daily Wish List.  Where do you go to do this?  Thanks!!!

Kim - welcome to PBS.  You'll really like it here.  Don't forget those that are at or near the top of the WL have also been there for quite a while.  I have one book that I want for my DH and it doesn't come out until the end of April and I'm 200-something  out of nearly 500, and I only signed up in January.  Take care.  Pat

Kim, welcome to PBS!  I checked your wish list and I'm sorry that I don't have anything to post to it.

Don't be discouraged and if I were you, I wouldn't take things off of your wish list.  Because things are first in, first out on PBS, when you relist books back onto your wish list, you'll be back on the bottom of the list.  Just be patient, it'll pay off. 

I second the suggestion to look around and see what else is available. There are over 3 million books just waiting for somebody to want them. It's hard to believe that none of them would be a "good book"!

I just wanted to add that for one of the books on my wishlist I went from 645th on the list to the book arriving in my mailbox in just over 2 months.  I was quite pleased because when I was 645th I thought that I would never get it, but the line moved fast.  Plus I enough books during that waiting period to keep me busy reading.

It is true about how fast some of the popularly requested books move.  5 days ago I was #1100 on one book and now I am 1079.  So that is an average of 4 books per day being listed for that particular wishlisted item. 

Sorry to hear your disappointed. I never thought of it from a point of view like yours. I joined without the knowledge of the wishlist, I actually wanted to read some books I missed in a series that were still new, but old enough that you couldn't just go get them off the shelf at the local wal-mart type store. I live in a small town, the nearest real bookstore is 40 miles away. So a couple dollars in shipping to me is worth it, saves on the trip and the actual book. 

Now, I do have a lot of wishlist books, and a couple I'm like # 500 on the list, but since I've been here, the lists have moved quick. And it's like Christmas when you get a wish list offer in your inbox! I save some credits for WL books, but most of my credits have been spent on books that are readily availiable that without this site, I would have never known about or bought.

Kim, I felt like you do now when I first joined.  All of the books I currently wanted were a specific sub-genre of a specific book category, and there were none here to order.  I sent out all of mine and got nothing back... 

...but I put the books I wanted on my WishList and waited.  One book, like Valerie mentioned, I was in the 600s in the WishList line and I received a beautiful copy in just two months.  In the time I have been a member here, I've since gotten over 300 of the books I've put on my WishList.  It really is just a matter of waiting, the books do come.  And all members are equally able to receive the books they want due to FIFO.  Your seniority on the site doesn't make a difference to the FIFO line, all that counts is when you join the line.

As Britney said, sometimes it is the book where you are 1/1 on your WishList that takes forever to be posted...  So, please don't be discouraged yet, and give PBS a chance.  I'm sure given a little more time you'll come to love this site too!

Hey Kim!  One of the benefits of posting in the forum is that you can advertise your bookshelf as well as your wishlist.  When I saw how sad you were over being far down the list on books you want, I checked out your wishlist and found that one of your books is one I own, just waiting to be read.  I started reading it tonight and I can't put it down.  I've posted it to your wishlist, and I'll mail it as soon as I finish reading it.  :)  Enjoy!

All of us who have been here awhile also had to wait in line for WL books and still do. How long we've been a member has nothing to do with when we get the book. When we put the book on our list is what does it.

If your library has the books you want, then you should get them there if you can get them quicker. I just went the other day to my library and got about 12 WL books I've been waiting a while for. Not because I'm impatient, but sometimes I just like to see what they have. Turns out about four of them were stinkers and I took them off my WL.

Check out the various forums. People are always posting books, even WL ones, and you might find something just as interesting while you're waiting. You're frustration will ease once the WL books start coming in. Don't give up. It's worth the wait.

Adding my "welcome" and my encouragement.  I remember that dread at seeing a huge WL line, but honestly after being here a few years I now dread seeing a short wish list line more than a really long one.  The long ones usually move swiftly while the shorter ones can take a while... sounds counter intuitive but trust me, your line will move.  I add a book to my WL and then I go read something else and before I know it my turn has arrived.  =)