Okay, I am still learning around here. So I'm looking for some help.

I have a copy of a newly released contemporary romance. I bought it a week ago and read it once. The day I bought it, my 18 month old ripped the cover. A clean tear, he ripped off a 1 in. by 1.5 inch  off the right bottom corner. So, I asked in the other forum and they said I couldn't post it.

However, I taped it back together, and other than feeling the tape, you cannot tell it was ripped. The book is literally "like-new" otherwise. To me, I'd glady pay a credit for it, but whatever.  Anyway, this book is wishlisted by about 100.  If I wanted to offer it to someone who wanted it, how do I go about doing so if I can't post it?

Thanks!

Assuming it's a WL romance book, you could just post it in "is this on your wishlist #2" thread on this forum, or also on book bazaar. What you should probably do is offer it as a deal (free unpostable copy of _____ with an order from your shelf is what is most commonly used.) That way you'll still get something, at least. :)

Oh aren't babies fun!  I remember reading a book a few years ago....my daughter who was about that age completely ripped out a lot of pages!  I was able to finish it but then had to throw it away!  Irritating. I don't remember the author or the title or even the genre (fantasy?) but it seemed like the first of a series and I always wondered what would have happened next.

Anne

I'm going to go off into something totally OT here, but a lot of cover tears are easily reparable and leave no trace of the tear at all, if it's a clean tear and no pieces are missing.  All you need is document glue - or Elmer's if you don't have that - a small, flat paintbrush, and some wax paper.  What you do is place a sheet of wax paper between the cover & the first page, then put a little glue along the edges of the tear.  You want to do it lightly and just on the whitened edges of the tear.  You take the small paintbrush and evenly distribute the glue, and then clean it iff of the brush.  Then line up the edges of the tear and smooth your finger down along it, pressing it together & flat.  You can also take the brush and swipe it along the mend or dab at it to help the edges to adhere.  Wipe away any excess with a paper towel and then lay another sheet of wax paper over it, and then weigh it down with something large & flat, like a large hardcover book.  It should only take an hour or so to be fully dry & secure, and you can repeat the process if parts of the mend aren't fully mended.

I've forgotten how large a tear can be but  most of the stuff on my wl I'm ok with a tear like that...kinda depends on the book though but don't think Ihave too many recent releases on my wl - I usually break down and buy them!

Kim, your method would have worked perfectly if only I would have stopped and thought about it. I was just in a hurry to get it back together before I lost the corner peice. He may look like one little boy, but when it comes to losing things or tearing them up, he's like an army! lol. I just grabbed my shipping tape and put it back.  

BTW, it's Carly Phillips, Secret Fantasy,

I've done those hasty repairs that I regretted later, Beth.  I'm sure most book owners have.  The main reason I'm such a storehouse of book repair information now is because I put a lot of effort into educating myself on more permanent means of repairing my books.  In other words, I made enough boo-boos to know I needed to find better ways of doing them:P  Tape repairs are ok for a quick fix, but they don't last all that long.  If you have a book you tape repaired 5 years ago, chances are the repair is gummy, maybe the tape has come loose, or gotten brittle and started to peel.  Glued repairs are more permanent, but the type of glue you use is a factor too.  The newer acid-free document glues are best, because they don't yellow over time on paper surfaces, and on shiny covers, they don't leave a crusty residue behind.  Just more fun and semi-useless facts from the book repair nut in the crowd:P

If I have a book in less than my normal good shape, I'll PM the person who will get it and list a later mailing date so they have time to get back to me.  I'll offer them a freebie or the choice to cancel.  (Some of my books have been old and out of print.)  It is my understanding if I (the sender) cancel the book, then they (the receiver) don't lose their place in the WL.  Of course, if you cancel too many books, it does trigger something.   There isn't a button to PM before accepting the offer, but there is a button to cancel it after acceptance.  Am I wrong in this understanding of how things work?

If a book does fit "unpostable" such as water damage, I'd only offer it in the forum.  But some tears fit postable standards. 

Also they have to accept it before you the sender can cancel it. Which can lead to problems, especially if they don't have any credits to accept it with.

Anne

This won't make me popular- but my feeling honestly is that you shouldn't try to repair a cover that's ripped beyond postability.  The reality is that you have no way of knowing how well your fix is going to hold, and you're likely to just pass the problem on to someone else.

Yes, it bites when something happens to one of our books we were counting on posting.  I had a hardcover, expensive WL book once that my DS messed up slightly.  Argggh. 

But, the rules are there for a reason. 

There are a lot of places to get rid of books- even other sites where a book would be postable with that condition.  It's just not the way it works here. 

Like I said, maybe it won't make me popular, but that's what I think. 

I'm with Sara on this one.  Is it really worth the credit to try and find a way around the unpostability of the book?  Just offer the book as a freebie with an order. 

I don't think it's unpopular at all to feel that way about it.  There are lots of reasons to repair damaged books that have nothing to do with posting them here.  Most of the books I repair are for my keeper shelf, or they're repairs I've done for someone else's keeper copy of whatever book.  I don't think any of them ever went into the PBS system.  I don't care so much about making a book postable as I do about rescuing a good or rare book from the trash bin, or preventing further damage to it.  It kills my soul to have to throw one away, so I donate them if I can't save them, and only toss things that are beyond help.  But that's just me:P  As to a cover or page tear, those are easy to fix, and again, if there are no missing bits, the repairs can be nearly impossible to detect.  I personally don't care if I get a repaired book, as long as it's a good permanent repair, and there is no visible damage, but I collect a lot of old books, and the priority is slightly different.

Sara, I don't think your opinon makes you unpopular at all. But I also don't think you realize I'm not looking to post this book, I was asking if there was a way  to find out who has been waiting for it to see if they would like ito have it. 

I don't think I'd feel comfortable posting a book I had to repair without telling the requestor and giving them the option to say no. Thats why I was trying to figure out the specifics in the other forum about exactly what is postable and what wasn't. However, I am not picky about my books. As long as they are read-able, they don't have to be pretty. So I wouldn't mind recieving a repaired one.  In fact, I've actually gotten 2 books that are in way worse shape than I would expect after reading the forums and seeing how particular a lot of people are! I'm not complaining though, like I said, as long as I can read them they are fine with me. 

Too bad I didn't care for this book, or else I wouldn't even be thinking of a way to get rid of it! lol.

Well, truthfully, I think you have the leeway within the rules structure here to use a little bit of common sense.  Unrelated to rips or tears, I recently asked the PBS team about pinhole cracks & separations in bindings - in other words, those little slash/dot cracks between pages that are basically binding cracks.  I was sure this made a book unpostable, but they said no, they were acceptable, as long as none of the pages were loose.  Literally though, those are binding separations, and the rules say "no separation on the inside or outside of the book".  Sometimes there's a disparity between what the rules literally say and what you can actually do, but they did pretty much indicate to me that certain conditions issues had to be left to "common sense".  I have that inbox if anyone wants to see it, btw:P  The biggest problem being that common sense is different things to different people.  You can use common sense and conclude that something is ok if the rules don't specifically say you can't do that, but it can also be said that just because they don't specifically mention something, that doesn't mean it's ok.  The rules don't state anywhere that repaired books are unacceptable to post.  If I repaired a book from unpostable to postable condition, I would think twice about posting it, but what if I received it that way, and never actually realized that it had been repaired?  The fact is that there are certain repairs you can make that are permanent, and render a book in PBS acceptable condition.  A good example of this being page or cover tears.  If I had a book with a tear to a page or cover, over one inch in length, but it was a clean tear, in that the edges fit neatly together and a properly done repair was virtually invisible, I would consider that book to be in better condition than one with an uneven tear that had missing pieces, but was under one inch in length.  If those repairs are done correctly, they are permanent, and again, there's nothing in the rules to say that repaired books are unacceptable, and if it's correctly mended, it's no longer torn.  A binding or other serious repair however, would be another matter, IMO. 

It's possible to repair a cleaved spine, but binding repairs are a lot more fragile, and even if it's successful, it will always be a weak spot in the binding.  Those, I would always say definitely, don't repair them to repost.  Most of the repairs that we'll run across however, are just simple cosmetic repairs, and a lot of the conditions in question didn't have any effect on postability to begin with.  A slight bit of cover lifting at the bottom edge of the spine, for instance; a simple and clean dot or two of glue under the lift to fix, and no signs left of damage or repairs - AND that's not a condition that renders a book unpostable to begin with.  Or maybe the front cover is starting to tear away from the spine at the top or bottom edge, which again, is an easy glue fix using a very similar method to that for rips & tears.  I do cleaning and cosmetic sprucing all the time because I don't like to send out ugly books:P  Nothing that would make them unpostable mind you, but ugly is just ugly, and who wants to receive that?  My point though, being that I don't think it's safe or fair (or nice:P) to presume that the only reason someone would have for making book repairs is to find a way around unpostability issues, but sometimes even writing and underlining can be cleanly & successfully erased, and surface stains from food or liquids can be wiped or sanded away without leaving any signs or damage behind from the cleaning or repairs.  In those cases, I think you have to use common sense, and not interpret the rules too literally to include what was but no longer is there.  But that's just my opinion.  And that doesn't mean that everyone should freak out and start to suspect that anything they get from me might have some hidden repair on it:P  Ok - lol, seriously, you guys.  If I had something in my possession that had been unpostable at one time, and I had repaired it into postable condition, I promise you, you'd know about it in advance:P

I recently asked the PBS team about pinhole cracks & separations in bindings - in other words, those little slash/dot cracks between pages that are basically binding cracks.  I was sure this made a book unpostable, but they said no, they were acceptable, as long as none of the pages were loose.

if i'm reading this correctly, i've been calling a lot of books unpostable that probably aren't.  so if i can see the paper of the spine from inside the book, as long as it's only in a few places (not the whole length of the page, and no loose pages) it's still postable?  because i've been calling that binding separation.

Kim, i'd definitely like to see that note.

Sure.  I'm just going to paste it here so everyone can see it:)

Dear Kim,

We would not consider a pinhole to be a cleaved spine. Books that fall open to a specific page are postable, and almost every paperback book that does that has at least some small separations.

What matters here is if the pages are securely attached. If they are likely to fall out on the next reading, then the book should not be posted. We really cannot clarify this any further. We need members to use their common sense and best judgment about whether a book is about to fall apart or not. This is just not something we can judge without having the books in our hands.

Thank you for being a Charter Member of the best book club in America. Please tell everyone who enjoys reading about our club, because the more members we have the more books for everyone to trade!

Have a great day!

The PaperBackSwap Team

In the past two months I have received the following:

Romance novel with the cover no longer attached AT ALL.  this is a recently published book and looked brand new.

Book that looks like it was once part of a hot fudge sunday.  Brown stains all over the pages and cover. 

Book with very worn spine paper cover.  Tape was applied very neatly along spine.

Hardback with dust jacket taped where ripped at top.

I have read all of these used books.  Two are fairly new and two are paperbacks from the late 1970's.  Except for the one with the brown blotches all over it, they really don't look bad and even that one was completely readable.  I will not post any of them because I am sure they never should have been swapped to begin with, but I have 50 or more credits on my account at all times. I have had two books requested of me that when I took them off the shelf after many years I found that they had pages that must have gotten wet.  One of them had a waiting list of 700 plus members.  I PMed the person whose wish came true that day and she wanted the book more than she minded the 10 wavy pages, so I sent it on.  The other book was declined and I have taken it off my bookshelf.

I think it is important to be considerate of the high standards set by this web site.  I have swapped a couple hundred books and except for the rare exception, I have received CLEAN, WHOLE and practically new looking books.  I am always raving about this group of book lovers and appreciate that we are all on the 'same page' about quality books.  So if you want to ask first before sending, that is fine by me.  I may not mind a corner missing, but I surely appreciate that I was asked first.

I think the trouble with the whole "common sense" thing is that some people just don't have any:P  Or it's all about them & they aren't thinking about the person on the other end.  It's really different with this group because it's more personal, we get a lot of books from each other & sorta know what to expect.  A lot of the WL books coming through this forum are getting passed around among us, and most of us make an extra effort to get them circulated, which makes it nice too.  I appreciate having a tight-knit circle of PBS buddies that I can trust, people who know that a rare out of print book published back in the 70's is probably going to look like one, people who communicate well and support each other because we all share the same addiction.  Not to get too warm & fuzzy about it, but I only started getting the most out of PBS after I joined the ladies in this forum.  You guys are my base:P

My common sense says that brown stains all over is unpostable.  Yuck.  (Unless they are acid age spots on really old books.)  And I really hate taped repairs.  Putting the tape on the inside of the cover rather than the outside does help.  Taped repairs always seem to get sticky.  Unless you get archival quality repair material.  And face it, folks rarely do.  Other than Kim. 

Tape is icky.  I'd rather someone not repair a tear at all than tape it.  Just send it to me & I'll fix it myself:P  But I hate sticky anything on a book.  Stickers drive me positively nuts.  Especially the library stickers, which I think are made to last longer than the books.  That's why it takes me so long to post the books I get from library sales.  After a sale I spend a week or more at the kitchen table removing stickers, cleaning & inspecting.  My hands look like raisins when I'm through:P  The only time I'll put tape on a book is binding tape on a spine, and that only if it needs reinforcing or I cleaned stickers & sticker goo off of the spine and it still feels sticky.