I’ve been trying to find something I read on the forums a little while ago. Somebody came up with a very clever way to post soon-to-be-published books to your Wish-List, as well as books that don’t appear in the PBS system when you try to find them through ordinary searches.

Does this technique really exist? Or did I just imagine reading this?

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but pretty much as soon as a book can be found on Amazon you can WL it on PBS.  You just use the ISBN and search "All Books".  More than 1/2 of my WL, I think, is made up of books to be released.

Yes, if it doesn't come up in search, go to your TBR pile and add a book, type in the ISBN and it will appear. Then you can click on the book and put it on your wish list. For some reason, the TBR data base is always the first one to get the ISBN's. Go Figure.

I also saw someone who would put their shelf on hold and then post the book to their shelf. That would draw the info into the system. The she would delete the book from her bookshelf before taking it off of hold and add it to her WL.

Most of the time, if Amazon has it on pre-order, it will show up here at PBS.

But otherwise, I do the "add book to TBR" trick and 9 times out of 10 I can then add the book to my WL by finding the book on my TBR, clicking on the details and then hitting the WL button. And then I dont have to fiddle with putting the shelf on and off hold or worry about deleting it so someone doesn't order it. Sometimes though, it won't even allow adding to TBR or shelf, I don't know if it's just too far out there or what.

Cheryl

If I find a book on Amazon that I know is new, I will copy and paste the ISBN into the search field. If it doesn't come up, I wait about 10 minutes and do the same thing and the book will come up.

Hey, that's fascinating, thanks for sharing!

On a similar subject, what are short ISBN's and how do they get into the system?  Example, Queen of Song and Souls (#4) by C.L. Wilson is due out in the fall.  I added to my WL and several months later a buddy mentioned that I had a short (incorrect) ISBN and the real ISBN was now in the system.  I promptly switched to the correct ISBN, but feel really bad for the several dozen members with the number listed (and no way to contact them)...instead of patiently waiting their turn for this book, they are waiting in vane for something that will never be posted to that incorrect ISBN.

Or, you can do what I do.  Just lurk on Spuddie's WL and add books your WL from hers! Heh. :D

Thanks for sharing these suggestions.  They work not just for pre-release books, but other titles too.   I've been looking for an (apparently) obscure book that wouldn't come up when I did a search.  Amazon has the book for sale, so I added the ISBN to my TBR pile, and it worked!  Now it's on my wish list.  Of course, it may be so obscure that it will never get posted, but one can always hope! 

Rebecca C. : Yes, if it doesn't come up in search, go to your TBR pile and add a book, type in the ISBN and it will appear. Then you can click on the book and put it on your wish list. For some reason, the TBR data base is always the first one to get the ISBN's. Go Figure.

Ah, that's what I was referring to. Thank you all!

That is very strange that TBR gets the info first. Every website has its little quirks...

OK, what am I not getting here? If you have the iSBN and input it in advanced search, the book will come up and then you can click the wish button. That's how Ive been doing it with no problems.

Kathy:

If a book hasn't been published, sometimes if it's too far away from the release date Amazon has an ISBN & info about it, but PBS doesn't yet recognize the ISBN as valid.

The previous replies explained how to "trick" the PBS system into acknowledging the ISBN.

The TBR and/or posting to your shelf can recognize books before the search will recognize it. But, once it's on someone's WL, it will show up in the search.

Clear as mud?

I had a book being released in the fall that searching the ISBN from Amazon would not bring it up for anything so I dug up the old thread and did the shelf hold thing and added it there, WL then removed it and removed hold. Now it's in the system :)

How cool is this?

Yesterday I added a few books to my WL using this new (to me) “TBR trick” and already one of the wishes has been granted! It’s on its merry way to me as we speak.

So I guess you could say I’m glad I asked.

I am Soooo glad I read this info.  Did a little searching....used the TBR trick....and I am #1 on the WL for Nicholas Sparks new release in Sept 2009......The Last Song!!!   WooooHoooooo!!!!!

Thanks for asking this question!!!!

The 5 digit ISBNS are generated by PBS.  They are supposed to be only for one copy when a book doesn't haven an ISBN or when the ISBN has been reused for a different binding or a totally different book.  I don't know why a not yet released book would have a 5 digit PBS ISBN. Someone must have only had the title and created a postign for it so they could WL the book.  They will never get a WL offer for that ISBN-unless someone cheats and posts a different version to them.  I would tag the 5 digit ISBN w/the ISBN of the one that will most likely be posted.  Maybe a tag that says "PBS generated ISBN not to be reused-see ISBN #XXXX) or something like that.