Hey,

I've been a happy member for several years, so I hope this doesn't sound whiny.

Lately, I have been feeling frustrated because most of the books I post are new books that I read once, then post. But I'm never quick enough to get forthcoming books onto my wish list. As soon as I hear a favorite author has a new book coming out, it seems there are already several hundred requests for the book!

Is there any way to truly swap, so that I get a 2012 book for a 2012 book? Should I try to find buddies in my favorite genres? Even then, wouldn't their books be snapped up by wishlist requests as soon as they posted them? And Gold membership doesn't look as if it would help. Hmm. I suppose I could find buddies, and we could have a gentleman's agreement to exchange credits for our books--but that seems underhanded, and is probably prohibited by PBS.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Amanda,

If you have buddies, you can just post books to each other's WL. 

I recommend that you follow the blogs/twitter/FB of your favorite authors.  They will tell you MONTHS (sometimes years) in advance about the books they are working on so that you can add them to your WL as soon as an ISBN is assigned.

You can also watch the Amazon new releases list.  Books are often listed before they're actually published.  I try to run through it once a week or so and add new books to my wishlist that way. 

I appreciate the buddies tip. I've put things on my wishlist as long as 8 months before a book's release date, but there are always many, many people ahead of me. Oh, well.

I have also had that happen, that I hear about a new book coming out and when I come to PBS to wish for it several hundred people have gotten there in front of me. (At that point I often put it in my wishlist anyway, but look to see if my library is getting it too. Then I can read it more quickly from the library, and decide whether I want to get a keeper copy from PBS later.) Fortunately, the kind of book that has that many wishers tends to end up with a lot of copies in the system if you wait a little while. But that doesn't solve your want to get it quick problem.

Isn't there a wishlist virtual box in the Games forum? Depending on what genres you read that box or some of the genre-specific boxes might be worth participating in. I got some practically new and recently published romance books when I was in the romance virtual box, much faster than I would have gotten them FIFO.

you can also follow fastasticfiction.com.  You can follow your favorite authors ... also, if you like mysteries, try Stopyourekillingme.com.  You can follow your favorite authors and/or your favorite characters

I would recommend you get the Gold Key membership.  I post 2012 books, brand new, to many friends here.  Look for others who have your similar reading tastes and friend them.  For example, I post many cozies and I looked in the games forum for the Cozy Book Swap Forum and sent request to the participants.  Most were automatically accepted.  I also post a lot in the Club Member's Thoughts Forum (CMT) and in my siggy line I advertise what types of books I carry.  And I also put that into my profile.  Take a look at my profile and get some ideas.  If I were you, I would put that I am looking for members who can post the newer 2012 books of such and such directly to me.  Be creative in your profile and siggy line.  Hope this helps.

I second Linda's suggestion for the fantastic fiction website.  I check in there every  few days--to see if any of my favorite authors have upcomnig books.  They usually list books quite a while before they're published.  Then I check Amazon for the book to get the ISBN.  (Sometimes it takes Amazon a little while to get the actual listing. )  Once I get the ISBN from Amazon, I place the book on my Wishlist here.  Quite a few of the books on my wishlist aren't published yet, but I'll be close to the front of the line when they finally do get posted here.  (I actually spend way too much time looking for new books--I have plenty to read right now as it is!)

The mega long WL books often end up being the book that has hundreds of copies available not long after it's release.  They're so popular that they can often move 50-100 spaces a week when they first come out.  I remember last year when I bought Dead in the Family, between the time when I added it to my TBR here and posted it about a week later the WL had already dropped by a few hundred people.  People WL those books here, other trading sites and their library.  Or they they WL it just incase even when they know they'll end up buying a copy.  You'll find you probably won't have to wait that long for those books afterall. 

Case in example: when I posted a copy of New Moon that I found at a thrift store, there was a huge WL line for it.  My copy was damaged and I offered in the book bazaar for a credit and had a bunch of PMs for it almost immediately.  There's over 1100 copies of just that edition in the system now. 

I don't even WL those books anymore because I know I can probably get it in a deal from someone if I'm just patient.  Or I buy it new and get it read and posted while it's still WL.  I use the WL for those books that are harder to find and are pretty much always WL. 

I just sent you a friend request.  I only went through the first 2 pages of your WL but I found 2 books that are in my TBR.  I don't know how soon I'll get to them. But it you accept the friend request and they're still on your WL when I post them, the Gold Key will tell me.

Okay, cool! I didn't know about the games forum (see, this is why I posted--I figured there must be things going on I didn't know about!).

I'm a writer myself, and have met a lot of my favorite authors and follow them on FB and Twitter, but I still don't do well in the wish list race. Don' t know why.

Will try to figure out a good sig line, but I often don't bother to post a book unless it's wish listed. Guess I need to change that!

All great comments above. Just a few additional ones --

Some WL books on PBS you're just probably not going to get. Frequently these are nonfiction or craft type books that people tend to want to keep. At least in my mind, I think these books trade very seldom, and when they do, they only make one trip. What I do periodically is go through my shelf and look at the date last posted. If it's N/A, and the book was release more than a year ago, and I'm anywhere higher than #5 on the list, I delete it from my WL. (Can vary depending on how much I want the book).

Some books just trade realllly slowly. So you might be #30 but only one or two copies are going out per year. Some of these books may speed up wtih age, or later editions - and some of them just may never come your way. I try to delete WL's that have been on my shelf for more than a couple years (again, depending on how much I want it, whether I can buy it, or whether I can get it from the library).

And then some books - MANY books - and frequently the really popular ones where you're at position #200+ - you might have less than a year's wait on.

What is NOT going to happen? Getting a copy of that new book published in 2012, the one that you can't wait to read, a week or two after it is published :)

It's all a fun game, right?! I feel like I have a 'win' every time I get a WL book in the mail :)  Hope this helps,

Bev

The Gold Key membership really does make a difference.  I always check books against my friends' WL and contact them first before posting something on their lists. 

But the reason I jumped in on this subject was to suggest looking at the 'Multi-WL thread" in the Book Bazaar.  It's a great way to pick up newly published books without a long wait in the FIFO WL line. 

I agree with Ann Marie, I find a lot of newer, heavily wished for books on the WL multiples thread. I also tend to post my newer books there because it saves money to ship in multiples.

I agree with all of the above posts. Since I joined Gold Key, I received WL books posted to me from friends. I always post my WL books to friends if possible.

I have also used the multiple WL thread and have posted and received WL books. Nice way to save shipping and get good books.

Another good thread is the ARC thread. You can get ARC's of popular WL books. You cannot post them to the main boards but you can always re-post them to the ARC thread.