Writers: Enter BookSwim's 2009 NaNoWriMo Competition
Now announcing BookSwim's 2009 NaNoWriMo Competition. Submit your NaNoWriMo novel and have a chance to see your novel in BookSwim's catalog! Send in your work or nominate a friend's.
Brace yourselves, readers and writers worldwide! November is National Novel Writing Month, a huge international event in which over 130,000 would-be writers rush to finish an original 50,000-word novel between November 1st and November 30th. From high school students to professional authors, most of them unpublished, these writers spend one highly caffeinated month writing for the sheer enjoyment of finally finishing that novel.
BookSwim is giving all NaNoWriMo writers the chance to expose their work to thousands of active readers. Now announcing BookSwim’s 2009 NaNoWriMo Competition! All NaNoWriMo winners are welcome to submit excerpts of their work for a chance to have their novels published through print-on-demand technology and made available in BookSwim’s catalog!
Prizes
20 Semi-Finalists: 1 free month of BookSwim
5 Grand Prize Winners: Your book rented through BookSwim!
How to Enter
Start with a bang! Copy and paste the first 1,000 words of your novel into the body of your email program along with your name, brief (3 - 5 sentence) summary of your novel, and your preferred method of contact, then attach the first 10,000 words in an .rtf, .doc / .docx, or .pdf file. Email your submission to the ONE email address that best corresponds to the genre of your novel:
Submissions begin immediately and close December 31st. Make our judges want the rest of the story!
Round 2: The People’s Vote
From these submissions, our judges will select twenty semi-finalists. Their excerpts will be displayed on our site between January 15th and January 31st, and every visitor to our site will be able to nominate one novel from each genre. Make sure all of your friends vote for your submission!
On February 1st, we’ll count the votes for each entry and declare our official winners! If you win, we’ll work with you to print copies of your book, rent them, and pay you each time a BookSwimmer reads your novel.
WANT TO BE A CONTEST JUDGE? Send an email to cobrien@bookswim.com with your name and preferred genres you’d like to review for a free month of unlimited book rental!
Official Contest Rules: Terms and Conditions
1. ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION.
a. This competition is sponsored by BookSwim Corporation.
b. This competition is open to anyone currently residing in the United States and its territories, except employees of BookSwim Corporation, its competition sponsor, advertising and promotional agencies and their respective affiliates and associates and such employees’ family members.
c. Entrants are responsible for compliance with applicable laws in jurisdictions where they reside.
d. By entering this sweepstakes, entrants automatically agree to be bound by the terms of this sweepstakes as listed in this Competition Terms and Conditions.
e. Failure to adhere to the terms and conditions listed in this Competition Terms and Conditions will result in disqualification of any submitted entries, and the nullification of entrant privileges to further participate in the competitions.
2. SUBMISSIONS OF ENTRIES AND DEADLINES
a. The competition will be opened for entry of submissions as indicated by the first written and electronically distributed announcement, hereinafter referred to as ‘First Announcement,’ of any competition by its respective promoter and will continue until December 31st, 2009. All entries must be submitted no later than 11:59pm EST on December 31st, 2009. Late entries will be rejected. To be eligible to participate, entrants must submit their entry to one of the following email addresses: nanospecfic@bookswim.com; nanomystery@bookswim.com; nanohistory@bookswim.com; nanoromance@bookswim.com; nanolit@bookswim.com.
b. Entrants must provide their name, valid email address, and all other required information.
c. Incomplete entry forms will be deemed disqualified and rejected. BookSwim Corporation is not responsible for any lost, misdirected or delayed entries. Entries received by telephone, fax, courier, personal delivery or Customer Service Ticket or any other method other than the official Competition submission email addresses will not be accepted.
d. By submitting any entry, entrants agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set forth in this document without limitation. Entries must not include content that is unlawful, harmful, vulgar, offensive, obscene, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable, the determination of which is up to the sole discretion of BookSwim Corporation.
3. WINNER SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION.
a. Semi-finalists of this Competition will be chosen by designated judges as deemed by BookSwim from among the participants who meet ALL of the criteria and guidelines specified by BookSwim Corporation. You understand that these criteria and guidelines are determined exclusively by BookSwim Corporation. The entries submitted by semi-finalists will be presented on the blog The Literary Life and Grand Prize Winners shall be selected by public popular vote via blog comments.
b. Nature of Prize. A maximum of twenty (20) semi-finalists will receive a $29.95 virtual Gift Code redeemable at BookSwim.com for a monthly rental membership. Gift Codes cannot be exchanged for cash and have no cash value. A maximum of five (5) Grand Prize Winners will gain the right to have copies of their novels printed through third-party print-on-demand services, which will then be made available in BookSwim’s catalog for rental by its monthly subscribers. BookSwim will cover the cost of printing for copies introduced into its inventory. Once winners are announced, BookSwim shall negotiate a separate revenue-share agreement with the winning authors. All copyright and ownership of the work of the Grand Prize Winners remains with the winners. Grand Prize Winners shall grant BookSwim the right to print copies of their work as catalog demand dictates and offer said copies for rental to BookSwim subscribers.
c. Notification of Winners. Semi-finalists shall be notified by email. Grand Prize Winners shall also be notified by email at the time the prize designation is made. Odds of winning a prize will vary depending upon quality of entry as determined by BookSwim’s judges and the number of actual Competition participants. In the event any entry is deemed ineligible or disqualified, BookSwim Corporation may award the prizes to alternate entries as it deems suitable. In the event that the prize cannot be awarded, BookSwim Corporation may withdraw the winner’s title and all unclaimed prize(s) will be forfeited. BookSwim Corporation may then select an alternate winner.
d. In accepting the prizes, the Competition winners acknowledge that BookSwim Corporation may not be held liable for any loss, damages or injury associated with accepting or using the prize(s).
6. GENERAL
a. Releases. All entrants, as a condition of entry into the Competition, agree to release BookSwim Corporation staff and its Competition sponsors from and against any and all liability, claims or actions of any kind whatsoever for injuries, damages, or losses to persons or property associated or sustained in connection with participation in any and all aspects of the Competition, including accessing the Competition, submitting an entry, and the receipt, ownership or use of any prize. Each prize winner bears all risk of loss or damage to his or her applicable prize after it has been delivered.
b. Prize Responsibility. All prize winners will be responsible for any and all federal, state and/or local taxes resulting from acceptance of any and all prizes associated with this Competition. No prize substitution or changes are allowed. All prizes are subject to availability. If any winner chooses not to redeem his/her prize, said prize may be withdrawn and awarded to an alternate entry.
c. Limitation of Liability. Neither BookSwim Corporation or its staff, nor its Competition sponsors, assume any responsibility or liability for (i) any incorrect or inaccurate entry form information, or for any faulty or failed electronic data transmissions; (ii) any authorized access to, or theft, destruction or alteration of entry forms or submissions at any point in the operation of this Competition; (iii) any technical malfunction, failure, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or communications line failure, regardless of cause, with regard to any equipment, systems, networks, lines, satellites, email programs, servers, computers or providers utilized in any aspect of the submission of an entry or the operation of the Competition; (iv) inaccessibility or unavailability of the Internet; or (v) any injury or loss of participants which may be related to or resulting from any attempt to participate in the Competition or download any materials in the Competition.
d. Disputes. To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, to seek injunctive relief, or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this Competition are hereby excluded, and any entrant expressly waives any and all such rights. You agree that you will submit any dispute you may have with regards to the conduct of the Competition, interpretation of the Rules, and/or awarding of prizes to BookSwim Corporation, whose decision regarding such dispute shall be binding and final. All disputes must be submitted in writing to BookSwim Corporation, 211 Warren Street, Suite 305, Newark, NJ 07103.
e. Winners. All decisions are final.
f. Winner Announcement. All prize winners will be contacted by BookSwim Corporation via email for the claiming of their prizes.
g. Privacy: Bookswim Corporation will not share any information provided by Competition entrants to third parties.
h. Age of Participation. Any participant under the age of 18 is required to notify BookSwim Corporation before entering any competition processes. Participants under the age of 18 may be required to provide proof of parental consent, either in writing by postal mail or facsimile transmittal, at any time during the competition process. If a winner of any award is under the age of 18, parental consent in writing by postal mail or facsimile transmittal will be required.
i. Terms. BookSwim Corporation reserves the right to abbreviate, modify, suspend, cancel, or terminate this Competition at any time without prior notice and without further obligation or liability to you. BookSwim Corporation also reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice.
Hello– this is Chip again, back from my hiatus in the land of non-blogging. Apologies for my long silence, but I come bearing gifts: the first edition of Books Bulletin, a weekly post you’ll find here at the Lit Life every Friday morning that will catalog the bizarre & fascinating news of the literary world. From gossip about your favorite authors to the discovery of new works by Shakespeare, I’ll show you the most interesting stories I’ve found in the wacky alternate universe of publishing.
Plagiarism Software Identifies New Shakespeare Play. Word-comparison software is one of the primary reasons I talked myself out of selling college papers in my younger days. I’m happy to see it scoring goodwill points with the English major crowd.
Book reviewer quits over sadistic misogyny. Fed up with the way female characters are treated in crime novels, award-winning crime novelist and book reviewer Jessica Mann has called it quits. What does this say about today’s thrillers?
Hello everyone! As this is my first real post on BookSwim’s Literary Life, I think I will start with a bit about who I am. My name is Nick Ruffilo and I am the CIO/CTO of BookSwim (Basically I oversee all the technology and information that BookSwim has). On top of all that, I am currently running our twitter account (@bookswim), as well as will now be a regular poster on our Literary Life blog. I read quite a bit in high school and in college found myself reading quite a bit. After college, I kept up my reading and did quite a bit of writing as well. Most of my writing was in fantasy - but I did take a break from my normal genre to write a very special book. My wife is a huge reader and I decided that as a unique proposal, I would write her a book. As would seem obvious - she said yes. If you’re looking to get in touch with me, I’m active on GoodReads (http://www.goodreads.com/bookswimnick) or you can leave comments for me on any of my blog postings.
A bit of backstory to this post - my wife is an extremely avid reader. While I’ve never considered myself a voracious reader, I always read a bit more than all of my friends and pride myself on having read most of the “classics.” (Thank you highschool/college). To explain what I mean by avid reader, my wife has - on more than one occasion - checked out the maximum number of books from the library at one time (50), while having a personal library of nearly 800 books (200 of them still unread). She devours nearly 10 to 15 books a month while working a full-time job and partaking in non-reading activities.
The past few months have been busy for me with work as well as a few personal matters and sadly my reading habits became very poor. My wife pointed out to me that I wasn’t reading and in defense I state, “I bet I’ve read quite a few books that you haven’t.” Always up for the challenge, my wife waited patiently for me to list books so that she could proudly say that she’s read it. To both our great surprise, I had read quite a few books that she had not. When it came to some of the longer classics The Arabian Nights: Tales from One Thousand and One Nights and Canterbury Tales, it wasn’t a large shock that she had not read them, but when I came to some of the more quintessential children’s literature, I was shocked to hear she hadn’t read them. Most notably, she had not read The Little Prince, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, or Where the Wild Things Are.
Between my local library and my personal collection, I got a copy of those three amazing children’s novels and selected The Little Prince to read first. My choice was partially selfish as the only time I had read the book was for French class, and I would be lying if I said that I understood more than 50% of what I read. It all started about 2 weeks ago, but now, every night before going to sleep, I pick up where I have left off and I read a few pages of a classic to my wife. I enjoy reading but most of all I enjoy sharing.
An open challenge to all readers: If you have a husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, son, daughter, niece, nephew, or even someone you babysit who has not read any of the following classics, take a few minutes a day to enlighten their lives by reading to them.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
While we’ve waited for the Kindle to spark a culture-wide switch to e-books, fans of the old paper and binding format have busied themselves with anxious questions: does this spell the end of paper books? Is this the device that will truly — gasp — revolutionize the way we read?
Now, it looks as if book publishers are answering: sure — but only with paperbacks.
Some book publishers now release new titles with the caveat that the e-book versions will be delayed, even indefinitely, so they don’t compromise more profitable hardcover sales. The Kindle edition of Harper Collins’ Sarah Palin biography Going Rogue will begin sales on December 26th, with only the hardcover edition available for holiday shopping, while Twelve Books has no plans to ever release a Kindle edition of the Ted Kennedy memoir True Compass (current list price $35).
This hasn’t endeared the publishers to Kindle readers, most of whom expected the expense of new releases to vanish along with paper and dust jackets. Some vocally boycott Kindle books selling above the $9.99 price point, using Amazon’s own tagging system to label books ‘9 99 boycott’ in their catalog. Their argument is that an e-book, little more than an elaborate text file with the ability to show a few black and white pictures, has no visible production costs. Take out the costs of printing, warehousing, and distributing, and the only cost left seems to be the electricity needed to run Microsoft Word.
The cost of an e-book has become such a point of contention because it makes distinct something we haven’t had to distinguish until now: the price of content, independent from its medium. When we purchase that new hardcover at an average list price of $25, it’s easy to think that most of our dollars pay for paper, binding and gluing, warehouse staff. We’re ready to accept these costs because of their tactile results: thick pages, colorful covers, a handsome typeface–in the end, a tangible object, straightforward and perfect at what it does. In its simplest form, though, what we’re really buying when we purchase a book is access to a written work, a means of viewing a verbal record. The physicality of paper books has tricked us into thinking we’re paying for the cost of the physical object, the pages themselves, when what’s really being sold is their words.
The reason this is important? It’s clear what a tangible object costs: the slimy salesman at the used car dealership will sell the Corvette with an engine straight out of The Fast and the Furious for more than the Camry salvaged from someone’s front lawn. Abstract products sell for whatever people will pay for them at that moment. This relative cost of access already takes place in the paper book marketplace, as demonstrated by the Harry Potter novels’ simultaneous rise in demand and price:
* Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1998):24.99
* Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003):29.99
* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007):34.99
According to publishers, the majority of a book’s ultimate sales price pays for intangible costs as well: preproduction (editing, graphic design, etc.), marketing, and author royalties and advances. Money Magazine found that these three made up about 77% of a hardcover’s production costs. By these numbers, a publisher doesn’t save much on an e-book over a paper book: about 23% of existing costs. So maintaining the same profit means a fair price for a $27.95 hardcover in an e-book format would amount to $21.50. Imagine how many ‘9 99 boycott’ tags a Kindle book would receive at that price!
Different pricing needs to match the different emotional, intangible appeals of the two book formats. So: what is the true draw of the Kindle?
The easiest answer is cost savings, but what reader spends $300 and up on a single-purpose machine — unlike, say, a $300 iPod that also sends text messages, takes pictures, and browses the web — expecting to save money? Cost savings don’t sell the Kindle. Its appeal, much like the appeal of its prime offering, is intangible: ability to look up and download titles at any location with cellphone service, portability, and the irresistible promise of having all the books you’ve ever wanted in one place, like a thorough and flawless memory bank — the Holy Grail of every avid reader. Not many readers can afford the buy-in cost of a device that, at its current price point, is suited best to a very specific kind of reader: the kind of avid reader who reads often enough for a $300 reading machine to make sense, who has reason to need the room saved by storing hundreds of titles on a device as thin as a pencil.
With fewer than half of Americans reading regularly (and those readers averaging a modest seven books a year), plus the $250 plus price of every e-reader device so far, book traditionalists have no need to fear the imminent extinction of the paper book. Even those who spring for the Kindle seem to purchase as many paper books as they had before buying the device. But the only way to make new releases profitable on e-readers such as the Kindle is for the reading audience to reevaluate the traditional metrics we’ve used to measure a book’s worth. Past the weight of its pages or the speed of its delivery, a book’s value will remain constant, and with a near-constant price, between paper and electronic formats: in its words.
……Websites are now offering books for rent, similar to the way Netflix rents movies.
……Bookswim.com is another option which focuses on recently released best sellers and then lets subscribers pay second-hand prices to keep the books they like……..
Problem: You spend too much on books and don’t have time to go to the library.
Solution: ……Bookswim.com…. …..lets monthly subscribers keep the books they like, at second-hand prices. The site focuses on recently released best-selling paperbacks and hardcovers. Their starter rental plan, for $19.98 a month, delivers three books at a time with no shipping or late fees. Students also can rent textbooks at pay-per-book semester rates (delivered through a third party, Chegg.com)……
College students often find themselves with plenty of homework, but not too much cash. Our guest on 69 News at Sunrise this morning was Eric Ginsberg. He’s a rental industry expert and vice president of marketing for Bookswim who has a way he says will put more money in students’ pockets.
For avid readers, BookSwim offers a Netflix-like service where sub-scribers “rent” a number of books per month and return them whenever – no late fees. Now BookSwim is offering a free month of books when you sign up for a summer subscription. For full details go to www.bookswim.com/summerreading/.
Renting, instead of buying, is making it easier for many to afford the lifestyle they want in a tough economy. ‘Transumers’ get to use and enjoy many of life’s luxuries a…
The new year brings hope for change. We resolve to live better and do all those things I didn’t do last year, or maybe to improve the world around us. What’s the best book to help you start your life over? What book will you read in the new year to help you accomplish your new year’s resolution?
For the next 7 days, we all have the chance to nominate books for this top ten. Next week’s post will start the voting, so get your nominations in by clicking the “comment” button below.
BookSwim: renting YOU the perfect holiday party accessory.
BookSwim’s Chairman George Burke has worked hard to partner with the Avelle.com - the “netflix of handbags and fashion accessories”
— to provide BookSwimmers with an exclusive, fabulous Holiday deal.
ONLY BookSwim Members get access to Avelle’s Holiday Sale.
Today: BookSwim members can use Avelle to rent a designer handbag, jewelry, shoes (other products to be included), just like you already rent your books, for 50% off. Be the talk of the party all holiday season long. USE CODE “DEC14″
Wednesday: Purchase 4 Avelle.com $25 Gift Cards for your favorite fashionista friends and get a $25 one free for yourself! OR give a $100 Avelle gift card and get a $25 one free.USE CODE “DEC17″
Christmas: In case you missed it, encore of Dec 14th special: 50% off all rentals from Avelle’s “12 Designers of Christmas”. The 12 designer of Christmas are Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, kate spade, Prada, Fendi, Valentino, Kara Ross, Carlos Falchi, Judith Ripka, Pianegonda, and Alexis Bittar. USE CODE “DEC25″
Click to save date to my Calendar
Get alert reminder to act! Download into iCal, Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo or other calendar software so you don’t miss the deadline!
DEALS EXPIRES MIDNIGHT ON EACH DAY!!
1
You can carry handbags like celebrities! Get a fabulous “it” handbag for
an event, special occasion, or even everyday…carry it and then return it!
2
No more “handbag boredom”! Isn’t there always a new handbag that
you want? Now you can change your purse whenever the mood strikes.
3 Husbands love us! Seriously. They’re tired of expensive handbags
piling up in the closet because we’re “over” them.
4
It costs less than you think! You can carry stunning designer handbags,
jewelry, sunglasses and even watches from only $25 a month!
(Hubbies also like that about us!)
5
Best of all: Renting is easy! Browse our collection of purses, totes, satchels,
clutches (and more) and click. Enjoy them for a week, a month or as long as you
wish. And when you’ve had your fun, send them back and rent something new!
Renting books, rather than purchasing, helps lower the number of trees cut down each year for virgin paper. BookSwim also plants trees for every gift card we sell.
As a combination of these efforts, BookSwim has planted or otherwise saved enough trees to reduce 10 TONS of carbon emissions! That’s like taking 14,000 cars - all the yellow taxicabs in New York City - off the street…
…enough cars to fill a parking lot the size of152 football fields!
BookSwim books have traveled over 360 million miles.
That’s like going to the sun and back…TWICE!
BookSwim has shipped over 100,000 books! Just imagine how many gallons of gasoline that’s saved!
BookSwim members have a total of $1,432,183.75 worth of books in their rental pools. That’s money they’ll never spend!
Hello, fabulous BookSwimmers! It’s been nothing but busy here at the BookSwim office recently, and we’ve been delighted to see that your enthusiasm has been on par with our tremendous efforts. Here’s some of what you terrifically appreciative readers have been sending us lately:
Christina Allen: I just wanted to let everyone there know how much I have enjoyed this service. I love to read but I have to drive a hour into town in order to shop in a book store with any type of selection. This solves my problem. You have a incredible selection of books. Also when I first signed up you sent my books overnight so I would receive them before leaving on my trip. I appreciate that gesture more than you will ever know. Thanks again.
Karen Pancoast: We love BookSwim - it has saved us a huge amount of money. We used to go to Barnes and Noble and spend an average of $110 every month buying books. We would wait for our favorite authors to come out in paperback because it was less expensive. Now we pay our BookSwim fee which is about a quarter of what we used to spend AND we get to read all our favorite authors in hardcover as soon as they come out. BookSwim you are the best!
Diane Browne: I’ve sent two emails to BookSwim’s customer service. Each time I was answered promptly, things were resolved well and I felt that I was receiving personal attention. I love your service and when people ask me why I don’t just go to the library, I now have several more reasons to add to the ones I already give.
Cassandra Kawka-Vlahos: I am so excited to be a part of this organization! Not only does BookSwim have an unimaginable selection of books to read, but they also will do anything to exceed a customer’s needs. For a great price and the easiest way to read to your heart’s content, it’s an offer that cannot be refused!!!!
Frank Alfieri: As a high school student, I have a ton of books for school, but I also love to read. With my bookshelf overflowing and money running low, a friend introduced me to BookSwim. It’s amazing! My local library never has the books I want in stock, and BookSwim is so cheap, easy and convenient to use. I can read all I want and never have to worry about space again!
Melinda Owens: I am addicted to reading. I work full time, and have a family, so I know this sounds crazy, but reading is my outlet. I read a book a day. My husband, who is an accountant (so that says it all) freaks that I buy so many books ranging from $7.00 to $15. This is great. I recommend to everyone, I get my books and save money!!!!!!!
Read more testimonials and scroll to the bottom to post your own for the world to see!
Contrary to the current economic downturn, renting books from BookSwim.com has not only been unimpeded, but has actually increased during these recently troubled times. Current subscriber growth has increased by 23% when compared to this same time last year. And contrary to the downward trend other subscription-based services have seen, BookSwim has also seen steadily rising subscriber rates following October’s Wall St. burst.
What could be causing this occurrence, in such stark contrast to the woeful reports of suffering brands pouring in each day? Although BookSwim.com’s service is often compared with other rent-by-mail subscription services, including industry giants, Netflix and Gamefly, movie and video game rentals are seen by many as luxury or leisure services. However, a recent article circulated by Reuters suggests, “Books seem to be resistant to economic cycles — an expression of the fact that they are not luxuries but indispensable to life.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/artsNews/idUSTRE49E78T20081015)
Many long-standing BookSwim members credit their easy and affordable access to such a myriad of books as a key element in keeping up with the latest information in business and technology, and even being prepared for job interviews. New members, as well, are excited at the ability to save time and money by selecting reading material online, rather than being bound to the confines of store-hours, especially during these exceptionally busy times.
Another reason book rental may survive and even thrive this economic deterioration is due to the educational nature of books. In a recent article, BizJournals.com points out the widely understood trend: “In a slow economy, workers may head back to school to develop a new skill set, upgrade existing skills or attend graduate school to become more of an asset in the workplace.” Unarguably, the more we read (as a culture and as individuals), the better informed and educated we become.
Many BookSwim users see their subscriptions as a way to obtain the reading materials needed to advance their careers and to help overcome potential financial hardships in the coming months and years, while also benefiting from the cost-saving of book rental.
“The average NY Times Bestseller list price is $22, but our very popular 3-At-A-Time plan allows subscribers to rent at least three books for $9.95 in their first month, alone. You can’t beat renting a book for about three bucks.” says BookSwim Co-Founder and Chairman, George Burke.
The Warehouse:
You may recall our warehouse mishap last week. With additional help from friends, family members and former interns, not only did we get everything cleaned up by Friday, but we even got ALL of last week’s packages checked in and new ones sent out! We would have e-mailed you Friday, but passing out from exhaustion seemed more appealing at that particular moment.
Yes, as we strolled into work this morning, it was business as usual with everything back on track. We were very fortunate that only a few dozen out of the 50,000 toppled books were damaged. We had their funeral over the weekend. BookSwim co-founder, George Burke, gave a beautiful eulogy.
We would like to take a moment to sincerely thank you not just for your patience, but also for your many letters of emotional support and encouragement as we dealt with this worst-case-scenario.
It’s often said that the Chinese word for “crisis” also means “opportunity”, and we have utilized this opportunity to develop more efficient ways for just about every step of fulfillment - from check in, to shelving, to packaging - which means better service for you. We’ve also taken necessary steps to ensure that this never happens again. Yes, BookSwim is actually emerging from all of this as a better service.
The Website:
In other news (as in, things we wanted to let you know last week, but got a little sidetracked), BookSwim.com has some improved features! Most noticeably, you can now log in from the main page. The coolest improvement, however, can be found in the “My Account” section:
In the “Books” column, to your left, you’ll see something new that says, “Return or Keep my Books”. It replaces the erstwhile “Books in Possession” page. There, you can see every title you currently have at home and easily decide whether you’d like to return a book or purchase it at the discounted BookSwim price. It still does pretty much the same thing, but now it’s clearer, easier to use and looks super-snazzy.
“But BookSwim Team, why should I use this feature?” you may be asking. Because knowing which books you’re sending back to us allows us to assemble your next package in advance, getting you the books you want faster!
