I have a book that says "Special Edition Not For Sale" on the cover. I recieved it free as part of a Loveswept promotion. It does have an ISBN. Is it postable? Its from 1986 but is in almost perfect condition.

There was some debate about this one a while back.  Since it say "Not for Sale" it lends one to think that it should be treated like an ARC (cuz even ARC's can sometimes have ISBN's...the ISBN that will go with the final book), but there are some that believe that since it is a part of a promotional deal, then it is simply meant that it shouldn't be sold separately from the item it came with.  So it's not so much the Special Edition part of it, but the "not for sale" part that is a concern....

Off to see if I can get a bit more information...

Interesting.  But isn't the reasoning behind not trading ARC that the text is not necessarily in its finished form, i.e. there may still be edits and corrections?  Not that it was never offered for sale.  I'd be curious to hear what the powers say.

In other news, I have been wasting time like a champ on the boards today.  Must. Do. Work. ;)

You are correct Caviglia....it has to do with uncorrected proof.  I only put that in cuz I knew someone would make a comment about how an ARC is not technically a book yet so it wouldn't matter if it had an ISBN.  LOL  :)

My concern is if it isn't supposed to be sold separately does that make it unpostable/untradeable here on PBS?  I honestly don't know yet... LOL

Here are the rules on what is postable:

Allowed:
Paperback books
Hardcover books (dust jackets not required)
Audio books (must be originals, not burned copies)
Ex-library books
Books with accompanying media
Textbooks/Workbooks
Foreign-language books (if in a language other than English, the language must be specified in the book description)

Not allowed:
Anything that is not a book (this includes calendars, coloring books, blank journals)
Anything that contains advertising
Advance Reader Copies (also known as ARC s, Review Copies or Uncorrected Proofs--these are not the final versions of books)
CD-ROM books/e-books (books that must be read on a computer)
Burned copies of audio books
Xerox or otherwise unoriginal copies of books
Unbound pages
leaflets or pamphlets or booklets* without ISBNs (other members complain at spending a credit for these)
Brochures/Promotional "first chapters" of books - these are not complete books, even if they have an ISBN
Books that require supplementary non-media materials (non-media materials cannot be sent by MediaMail)
Pornography (sex manuals and erotica are allowed, hardcore pornography is not allowed)

By these rules your "Special Edition" should be postable.  There is nothing here disallowing it. 

The only thing I can see that MAY make your book not postable is if there is a lot of advertising in it, although if this was interpreted literally MANY of the paperbacks traded here would be disallowed as they have advertising for other books in the back.

Of course, this is just my opinion and TPTB may disagree.

Just heard the 'official' word!  LOL  This book (and others like it) are postable as long as they are the final copy from the publisher.  Since we're not technically selling books here at PBS (we're tading them) then these books are postable.  The poster just has to be sure it is truly a finalized copy.

Happy swapping!

Let me guess, it's Larger Than Life by Kay Hooper.  There actually IS an ISBN for this book, it's on the back of the title page.  The PBS system does not recognize it though (believe me, I've tried!).

You can post it as a book without an ISBN.  There are lots of copies posted that way.  It's fine to post, it's not an ARC.  It was simply a promotional title that never was for sale in a store.

Let me guess, it's Larger Than Life by Kay Hooper. 

LOL Thats the book.

Thanks for all the help.