Trading Audio Books is Just A Start

I've seen ads and buttons on other blogs. For the most part, I ignore them, thinking that if people need to earn a little money, that's probably one way to do it. It wouldn't be a way I would choose. However... today I spent an entire day so excited I hardly ate. I almost didn't remember to cook for my poor husband tonight. (He reminded me.) Yes, there is now a button on my blog for the PaperBackSwap website.

It's almost too easy. I have bookshelves. Lots of bookshelves. They overflow with books, audio books, CDs, and DVDs; most of them get dusted fairly regularly. The audio collection is pretty well documented on a spread sheet to keep me from re-buying one of these expensive beauties just because it's reissued with a new cover. That happens in the book world. I couldn't begin to list for you all my paperbacks and hardbacks, let alone our CDs and DVDs.

As my regular readers are aware, because of a seizure disorder my neurologist "prescribed" three hours a day of listening to audio books to reconnect synapses in the brain. They tend to get messed up in the electrical storm commonly referred to as grand mal events. Audio books really help, but they are not tax deductible, nor are they an insurance item. You can't get help paying for them from any State agency, and there are only so many sales and coupons available.

I went through just about everything my library had to offer within the first six months. I learned that non-fiction could really be riveting. [Try "Born on a Blue Day," by Daniel Tammet.] My husband and I scoured the area for used book stores and found that I'd have to part with two of my good ones in order to getone usually not so good one. The selection was pathetic, and the distance from home was too far. I had more audio books than the used book stores. (They usually only had about 30 to choose from, and I had often already read them.)

This morning I was involved in a discussion thread on Amazon, laughing at some sheer nonsense (which is another story entirely) when one of the ladies said, "You should try PBS." It took about four voices in the conversation before I found out what they meant: PaperBackSwap.com. They are a trade group, a club if you will, that enables people like me to trade their books, audio books, CDs, and even DVDs with others around the country for the cost of postage—right from my home.

They're huge. People have been doing this for years, saving hundreds of dollars and probably laughing at me while I go to the bookstore. Well, maybe they're not laughing at me, because now they're waiting for my audio books to arrive in their homes, and I'm getting points to spend on their audio books (or regular books) and waiting for them to arrive at my home. This is the life.

If you refer someone, you'll get a point, good for a book. Audio books take two points. That seems fair to me. They cost twice as much. Of course, when you send an audio book to someone, you get two points, so you're not losing anything. If you click on my link, their logo on the left, I'll get the referral. If you don't want me to get a referral, just log in by yourself. I'm not trying to trick anybody. I'm just excited enough to put their logo on my blog site. It's the first time that's happened.

Time to go. I have another bookshelf to clear off.