John said: As to a new kind of angel system, I've also been thinking of a system where a potential angel can indicate "I'll send from here to here" and then they're automatically listed for potential angel mooches. What I want to leverage is people's not-quite-full luggage when they're flying places.

I've done this once before (not flying, but traveling by car to U.S.). I mailed some books to a couple of American mooching buddies as well as a package to a fellow Canadian from Bellingham WA. (a couple of great used book stores there). I am going to Seattle in March for a couple of days. I will be taking the train and my baggage allowance is plenty big enough to take some books, so I'll post a bunch of WL books at the beginning of March. Any books to U.S. or Canadian moochers will go with me to Seattle and get mailed from there. Any books to Europe or Australasia will be mailed from here (when I get back and have checked my credit card bill from my trip!). I have a Canadian mooching friend who frequently crosses the border on business and mails to Americans or fellow Canadians from there. John's idea of indicating a willingness to do this is a nice idea, especially for Americans traveling abroad. It wouldn't make much sense for me to advertise my willingness to angel mooch because any books my fellow Canadians aren't willing to mail internationally they will be even less likely to mail to me out here on the edge of Canada.

I remember when we had the original discussion that lead to the creation of the angel network in the old forum. I hope some ideas are generated in this discussion that lead to some revitalizing of Bookmooch. Given the economy, the rising of both postal rates and mooching rates, I know that mooching will be slowing down or stopping for many Canadians this spring.

...about the BookMooch Angel Charity Fund?

YOU may be entitled to a point reimbursement.

If you are currently acting as a BookMooch Angel, please allow us to assist you by providing points to help cover your international book shipping cost. Check out our member page by clicking on our name and/or logo on the upper right corner of this message.

Do drop me a line at bmangelnetwork@gmail.com with any questions or concerns. Hope to receive your reimbursement request(s) soon!

Best,
Michelle
BookMooch Angel Network Volunteer

Hi there, I've been a member of BM for years and spend far too much time on this site but I've only just heard about BM Angels! Where can I find out more and sign up to be one please? The link I googled wasn't working.

why would anyone have to wait over 8 months to be reimbursed for the points Bookmooch claims to give if you angel mooch?

I have taken over the bm angel fund and will start giving points to angels who have requested them over the next week or so. It may take me some time to work my way through the emails that have accumulated.

carod

AS PER YOUR WEBSITE - ARE YOU GOING TO HONOR IT OR WHAT?
we have been waiting several months now for point reimbursement and still without a word

Thank you very very much for being a BookMooch Angel, and please allow 90 days for your refun

Visit the charity's bio page for more information.

Michelle

Just to let all Bookmooch angels and supplicants and potential angels know, but I have updated the angel network page so that individual countries, or groups of countries, appear on separate pages to make it easier to scroll through the list to find an angel. Please let the BM Angel Network administrator bmangelnetwork@gmail.com know if you have any changes you want to make to your angel listing. thanks!

http://sites.google.com/site/bmangelnetwork2/home

I have ideas, have them all day long somtimes ;~})
This one in particular is about how we could possibly really improve bookmooch for ourselves and others. Ya know, take things up a notch...and create more happiness all around.

I was looking at the angel requests. I noticed someone wanted a book from Japan...and asked for an angel to help get one in here to the United Kingdom. I had the book on my shelves, and although the mooch was already being "Angel'ed" (YaY) the first thought I had was that maybe I would send it to her from my own shelf.

I am just thinking that maybe we could have A SPOT...a new spot to make a different form of Bookmooch Angel. Maybe this Angel could be an angel who says I'll send it from here, as I was thinking about doing instead of the possibly non-existant angel needing to come forth.
(((Although I'm sure Japanese Angels ARE PaRtiCuLaRLy NiCe!!!)))
(I have many friends from Japan).

And also maybe make a section here in forums, where loans ARE offered. Because my second thought (a few seconds later), was to possibly ask for the book to be returned back. This idea isn't mine alone...the other day in a forum someone mentioned a library form of mooching, and in certain cases, that might actually work well. Perhaps, even if just between trusted friends, maybe only that form. For loaning might have drawbacks when a loan isn't returned in ample time. Expectations would need to be very flexable, even with trusted friends. People are obviously on different time lines.

My idea for the first, is that we pick just one or two favorite books to begin. And ask for them to be given, from for instance the nearest person to us. Shipping could be reduced if we plea for someone close to get us our favorite book we wanna mooch. The one or two we want most of all.

I think we could brainstorm this idea and introduce possible pros and cons, then just open a new thread where we jump in. Of course it would need to be approved by John, he's in full control of his site, at least he deserves the right to be. I will take this post to him (in a link) asking for his imput, right away.

At least it can't hurt to discuss how it might go, what rules these new possible ways of mooching might be and such. Seems it could be very simple but maybe there are things you would bring up that I am not nearly considering that might go wrong?

Anyway I am just throwing it out there...hoping to improve the site a bit for everyone. Maybe we could use the term Alien instead of Angel...as in I need a Bookmooch Alien for my favorite book from childhood...college...high school...or just for _________ by ________.
Maybe Alien is not too original, (the logo), but it could work and separate better the idea from the Angel idea.

The Library one could be called another name....like Trusted Friend...etcetera. Each could have its own page.

What do you think? John? Anyone?

As the costs of mailing keep increasing, I am suggesting a variation of Angel Mooching which depends on the original book owner's co-operation.

The Angel sends the extra postage, customs labels etc to the person whose book is being mooched, along with the name and address of the final recipient, and the owner posts it direct to them. You leave your own address in the "Send to" field, so they get 'own country' points.

Of course you need to know the parcel weight to work out the postage to the recipient, and also what it would have cost for the postage to you, (you then pay the difference, or if you feel it's fairer maybe a little more because you will receive extra points - but don't forget to allow for the cost of sending the postage/ labels etc in your own country) and you need to be able to reconcile the book received reports.

How do you all feel about this? I've tried it once, and it all worked out well, but would like some feedback on the idea.

Hi there,
We need at least one additional volunteer to help us amend the master BookMooch angel list, as requests are received from bmangelnetwork@gmail.com.

If you know HTML and are an experienced user, as well as a BM member with a solid BookMooching history, please e-mail me. You will need to be able to commit to adding or removing up to a dozen member names once per month, either on the first or the fifteenth of each and every month, alternating with another volunteer.

Thanks so much.

Every so often I receive a book that I'm angeling for someone and its condition is poorer than I was led to expect. What do you do? So far, I've contacted the moocher and given them detailed condition notes and given them the option of not mooching if the copy is not what they want. So far, both moochers went ahead and mooched the books in question, but has this ever been a problem for someone?

...to all of those members waiting to be added to the "official" angel list. I'm embarrassed to say that I am behind in submitting your requests as they have come in from the gmail account, and I hope to remedy the situation this week. I'm sorry if you've felt ignored :(

Michelle

P.S. I've also posted this on the "Angel Requests" thread, so that every angel and potential angel will see it :)

I don't meant to be a complainer and I think the new forums are a great idea to make the angel request process easier but in some respects I don't think it is a fair system. I have signed up to be an "angel" but so far my name has not been added to the list (over a month ago) and every time I log on to the angel forum I am unable to help anyone as there seems to be a few "angels" in my country who are perpetually on the forums and snap up any angel requests almost immediately. Therefore they keep accruing more points than they could ever use and I am getting nowhere with mine.

Hmm maybe I should just do it the old-fashioned way and add a few more books to my inventory! :p

But seriously - should there be a limit to how many angel requests any one member can provide? I think so. At least the old system of checking the list for a prospective angel was fairer in that the moocher could choose who they wanted to mooch their book for them - therefore they could also choose the method of delivery (ie: surface mail due to airmail).

Just my thoughts.

Here is an idea for automated angel-finding:

1) people could mark in the BM profile that they're will to be an angel for books in their country (and perhaps "to these countries...")

2) when you want to mooch a book but need an angel to do it, you could chose to "request an angel mooch"

3) a page would come up saying "To mooch this book for you in South Africa, the following people might be willing to be angels for your mooch:...."

4) you'd then have an "send a angel mooch request" email sent on your behalf.

The idea is that this would be very much like the "ask first" process for mooching books, in that it's mostly automated.

-john

what I would like to do is archive MY requests, or 'hold' my requests somewhere, because I need to keep a record like Cindy mentioned.

I've been thinking of an all-purpose "notes" field on each mooch so that you could indicate that a particular mooch is an angel mooch, and who it is going to.

What I'd REALLY like, and then I wouldn't have to worry about an archive, is a way to signify on the angel-mooch request that it is an angel request and who it is I have requested it when I have mooch the book. For example, I have 10 angel requests in various stages of pending as I write this - and the only way I can keep track is to put the member's BM ID in the comment section of the mooch plus making sure, beforehand,I have the correct ID for the member - as it may be different from their user name. And all this while trying ot sang the book ASAP in case it goes - as we do. :)

Perhaps your mooch notes could have a feature where various indicative words serve as tags. For example, putting the word *ANGEL* in your notes could put an angel icon on the notes, making it stand out. Mooch notes would be editable by you at any time, not just at mooch time, so you could put any tracking information for the state of that mooch.

If I could add a hyper-link to the mooch requester's BM id (any sort of link I can use once I receive the book that will take me to who requested me to angel it), maybe with a little 'angel' icon - like the smiley face - WHEN I mooch the book, and I don't know how difficult that is - but you asked for suggestions, *smiles sweetly at John* - that is what I'd like to help me with angel requests.

Yeah, I'm thinking along the same lines.

Also, I've been meaning to break the "pending" page up into separate pages for each state of your mooches (books you've sent, books you're waiting for, etc...) as that pending page gets darned long sometimes. A section for "Angel mooches" would be useful in that case, and would keep them separate from your regular mooching.

So: perhaps a tick box with each mooch:yes this is an angel request then, if ticked a dialogue box (similar to the recommend pathway) in which to write the user's BM id or e3ven a link to their BM name this is then placed into the mooch details, with or without icon.

I like this idea. Perhaps after you click the "this is an angel mooch" and do the mooch, the next page asks you a few questions, such as "who is this angel mooch for?".

Ideally, the system could send you an angel mooch request from the original requester, and pre-fill this stuff out, so you need only click the "do this angel mooch" link in an email and bang! it goes out.

-john

Not quite sure how this woks so feel fre to set me straight.
There are a few books on my wihslist that I'd love to mooch, but that are owned by American moochers who don't send worldwide (and I don't blame them since they lost surface mail.
Anyone able to help?

I'm sure that some people are wondering what exactly a Bookmooch Angel is. Basically, the angel network is an informal program which helps members mooch books from members in other countries who do not ship internationally. For instance, I live in the US. If I find a book that I want to mooch that is listed by a Canadian who only ships to members in her own country, then I can request the services of a Canadian angel. That person would request the book for me; since it is a domestic mooch the book owner would be willing to send it to them. When the angel receives the book they then list the book in their inventory, reserving it for me. I mooch the book from them. The angel receives a two-point profit for the book (three points for sending internationally minus the one it cost them to mooch the book in the first place), and I receive the book for the same two points it would cost me for any international book. A more complete explanation is available here BookMooch_Angel_Network.

There are two ways to find an angel for a book. The first is to post a request in the thread at this forum. Anyone who is interested in helping out is free to jump in and serve as an angel for any request. There is no official authorization procedure to become an angel. The second is to go to this page http://sites.google.com/site/bmangelnetwork2/home to find a list of people by country who have already volunteered to serve as angels. Please note any requirements or restrictions people have listed and abide by them.

The angel system is a great way to facilitate international trades even though some members only send within their country. I have also found it a way to form some wonderful personal friendships with other bookmoochers around the world.

Hi there, if anyone needs an angel to mooch a book for you from Australia I have just signed up! All mooches accepted, my only condition is that I may have to send by seamail (surface mail) for heavy books or multiple mooches (but if you really need the book quickly just ask!).
You can find my email link here:
bio:tam

Thanks! Tammie

We've managed to duplicate the "angel request" forums but since this one has fewer requests, maybe it could evolve into the Angel Network Discussion Forum which John suggested in the other Angel Request Forum.

He posted that he'd like to see an angel discussion thread to deal with:
"Lots of things:
- what should be on the mooch angels web site
- how should new angels be recruited & helped
- problems with angeling
- working/discussing with me about how angeling could/should work with BM

For example, there have been some features I've added in the past that have made angeling easier, and some that have made it harder, but I had no real way to hear about it.

Basically, mooch angels represent (along with the bm journals) a wonderful new use of my project (bookmooch) as well as representing a core personal value of mine (international exchange) and I'd like to do what I can to promote that use and cause."