Just wondering can we expect any changes on Bookmooch in the near future ? There appears to be a lot of doom & sad predictions from a vast number of members.

As it turns out, yesterday I changed the BM signup form to not ask for your personal address, as i think that spooks people who want to check us out, and BM doesn't actually need it until you try to mooch (and _then_ it gets your home address).

I'm also currently working on some "training videos" to help new users ease into the world of mooching.

So yes, I am working on things, but with a focus on "tweaking" to help new members come on board, and not so much "radical changes" as I think BookMooch, as a software program, works fairly well. Some things that people don't like, such as the metadata about books (categories, for instance) aren't easy to fix, as that comes from Amazon and their data is the source of the problem.

I don't subscribe to the "doom and gloom" outlook, but I think it's also important to face the fact that the glory days of "dead tree books" is behind us, caused by (among other things) the ascendency of eBooks and rising postal costs.

If you use alexa.com to look at other "dead tree book" web sites, you'll find that every one is down considerably. Paperbackswap, according to alexa, has lost 50% of its audience in the past 18 months. Also, the press has "moved on" and doesn't really cover this sector any more -- again, it's all about apple, amazon and ebooks.

On the other hand, I think the worst is behind us. All the statistics at http://bookmooch.com/about/stats show a peak around 2008/2009, with a healthy drop, and then a flattening of the decline so that we're now at a new steady state. For instance, look at the number of members offering books, which hit a height of 31,000 members, but has stabilized at around 19,000 members for a year now.

I will continue to improve BookMooch, but I also think that the hopes of a "big jump up" in usage and members just isn't going to happen. Back in 2010/2011 I added a large number of features, which made existing members happy, but none of those caused an influx of new members.

About 3.5 million books have been swapped on BookMooch since 2006, and yesterday, there were 672 books exchanged. That's still a quarter million books a year!

BookMooch is a lovely place for people who love real books and love trading them with other people. That isn't going to change, but we do need to realize that all of us here are a bit oddball, and not representative of the greater world.

That being said, I'd love to hear y'alls top one or two ideas for making BookMooch much better.

-john

One thing that I think would help improve the site would be some way to flag or keep track of those who repeatedly post books but then fail to ever respond. I have found myself sometimes repeatedly mooching from the same person who after two months still hasn't even responded with an acceptance, and have now created a personal do-not-mooch-from list.

Thanks!

1. The ability to mark 'sent all' so I don't have to click the send button eleven or so times for a large mooch.

2. The ability to tweak a book's listing (for instance, add a summary or a cover).

3. Remove accounts of people who have not logged into Bookmooch in over a year - of course, send them an email explaining that they will be deleted from the site if they don't log in.

4. Let us swap DVDs and CDs so we don't have to join other sites.

Thanks for all you do.

I wonder, with the just announced feature on Amazon of used e-books sales, if such a feature might some day become a possibility here.

And no, I have no idea HOW it would work.

And yes, I know how to go about getting e-books in other ways, it's just that:
(a) generally, I prefer regular books,
(b) e-books seems to have settled in at about 21% of the book market,
AND
(c) I think it's important to not lose focus on what Bookmooch can do, especially INTERNATIONALLY (unlike other sites).

Thanks for letting me speak.

I have a Kindle which I use on the road but have only read one book tha way.. 10% of driving time I listen to audio books..I get audio books from amazon, I tunes & Pirate Bay..
I would prefer a one stop shopping center. CD'c DVD's,Audio Books, & Paper backs.
Thru all this, I prefer to read with a book in my hand.
I have a big wish list on Book mooch but its been a long time since I have a response.
I am long winded to get to my point..
POSTAGE thru PAYPAL.. DVD's ... CD's... Audio Books.. Maybe E Books

I agree with eliminating accounts of those who have not logged on in over a year, especially if you alert them to it, and they do not respond.

I do love Bookmooch, and I do hope that it sticks around for a long, long time.

3. Remove accounts of people who have not logged into Bookmooch in over a year - of course, send them an email explaining that they will be deleted from the site if they don't log in.

Do you guys know that there already is a mechanism for doing this?

If you mooch from someone who doesn't send the book, when you cancel (after having waited a bit) , then that person is deemed "inactive" and their account is automatically put on vacation, which also removes all their books from their inventory.

So... if you guys want to clean up BM to remove the inventories of people who no longer use the site, mooch from them and then indicate that the person never replied when you cancel the mooch.

-john

As for me, as I have money, I add new books to my existing inventory.

I still think you should keep this an BOOK only site in all its forms, print, audio and e-book (though, like I said, I have no idea how that would work).

I used to love the extra points I got, but I also understood POINT INFLATION (a point long debated).

The only improvement I recommend is helping newbies get the books they want FASTER, but making it easier for them to mooch a wishlist book first, but again, I would not know how you go about doing this. I suggest this, because I want these people to want to stay once they sample the site.

1. stop sending emails indicating that a related book is available if that book is in a language other than the one originally indicated. For example, if I wishlist a book in English, don't send me emails about an edition in German or French.

2. once I've mooched a related edition to that on my wishlist, automatically ask me whether BM should remove all related editions from my wishlist. For most people the default is probably yes, but there maybe someone looking for a specific edition. I'm asking for this feature because I've found that several times I've mooched more than one copy of the same book. I may not file the mooched book immediately, and so the second copy doesn't always go back into circulation immediately; I'd rather BM stopped me inadvertently mooching another copy of the book.

Finally, lower on my priority but I'm sure it would be appreciated, an automatic BM smooch (additional point)to reward someone who sends a hardback internationally.

We need more members, but better quality than quantity.

Jacquie

1) If I'm only willing to spend one point on a book, and an international copy pops up.
2) Condition notes indicate that it's not within the range I want for that particular book.
3) I've mooched from that person before and had a bad experience.
4) It comes from a smoking household. (I prefer nonsmoking only.)

If any of these things are the case, I may not want to mooch this particular copy. If it hangs around for a long time without getting mooched (this can happen), that means every time I check my wishlist, it acts as a "false alarm" that something I want is available. This is annoying and disappointing!

I am quite happy with the simplicity of the site, but you tinker with it as you see fit.

I wish to address some of your thoughts on ebooks versus dead trees. First, some things are in the pipe, such as the impending end of B&N. http://www.mhpbooks.com/the-slow-death-of-barnes-and-noble/ It is just a matter of time; when that happens, sites like this will have a tremendous opportunity to fill a very large gap!

Meanwhile, the slower than projected growth in ebooks is speaking truth to the overhype of digital reading. Some people may be drinking the koolaid on ebooks but lets be honest, the economics of them only make sense for mass-market, broad-read populations. Despite the hoopla, there is just as much front-end cost for ebook production then there was for dead trees, its just a completely different skill. So this is why only a certain form of NEWLY WRITTEN books are produced as ebook. Sites like this will be a big deal for all those old books people have and want to read but dont justify spending the time and effort to digitize.

Hang in there everyone, bookmooch has a potentially long and prosperous future!!

If Amazon provides such bad book data, is it possible to work out a way to get book information from LibraryThing? Tim does a great job there to acquire the best information about books that he can.

My only frustration with BookMooch (other than the price of postage going up...and that is not the fault of BookMooch) is that it is hard to look for books I like here. The categories almost never list books appropriate to those categories. In other words, fix "Browse topics"!

Most of my acquisitions here are from a very long wishlist. I just sit around and wait until one of those books pops up. Sooner or later, one always does.

I have found it very easy to print postage at home through PayPal. I also have a small food scale and use that to weigh my packaged books so I know exactly how much they weigh.

This is the link I use:
http://bit.ly/WSs07M

John, thanks for all you do to keep BookMooch up and running!

Over the years, there has been a good deal of discussion regarding the general dissatisfaction of obtaining metadata through amazon.com. I don't know if this is possible, but I would like to suggest investigating obtaining metadata from WORLDCAT, which is short for "world catalog," a digital database of bibliographic information gathered from many libraries from across the globe. As these records are produced by librarians, specifically catalogers, these records have a high degree of accuracy and contain many important data points, such as International Standard Book Number (ISBN), title of work, author of work, language of work and many other particulars.
If you go to the following website, http://www.worldcat.org/partnership/harvestset/default.jsp, which has the heading, "Directly Harvest WORLDCAT Records," there is information on how one's website can utilize these metadata records.
I would like to close by thanking you for producing and running this wonderful book trading site. Jill and I have enjoyed great success in getting books that can be found nowhere else.

Warm Regards,

Mike Bemis
Reference Librarian
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

The most frustrating thing for me is the length of time it takes to search for a book -- often over 5 minutes of waiting and staring at it "thinking." (It has always been this way, I've been a member for years, with new computers and high speed internet...unless BM likes PCs better than Macs ) I know the database is big, and I also realize than comparisons are not really helpful, but I can search for the same book on another trade site and find it (or not) in seconds.

The months of wait time to declare a book lost, or weeks to cancel a book and have the person's account declared inactive is also frustrating to me. But I confess that I am also a confirmed organizer, and having loose ends lying around for months makes me crazy :))

Thanks for what you do,
Sarah

They just have another type of competition for their reader, in the forum of another format type. For the most part, I see that people try the new e-book format and eventually plateau at the realization that they now use both types for reading books, not one or the other.

I also found this article:

http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/balancing-happiness-and-consumerism-digital-age.html

I think that it lays out the argument, pros and cons by the writers assessment and makes the same point I do in convincing ways. So I don't see cause for alarm or 'doom and gloom'.

HOWEVER, I would LOVE to see some advertising in say, magazines or such for this site. More new blood, means a better stock of books for all involved. This place has gotten stale. :(

The most frustrating thing for me is the length of time it takes to search for a book -- often over 5 minutes of waiting and staring at it "thinking." (It has always been this way, I've been a member for years, with new computers and high speed internet...unless BM likes PCs better than Macs ) I know the database is big, and I also realize than comparisons are not really helpful, but I can search for the same book on another trade site and find it (or not) in seconds.

Search Tip

If you're seeing very long search times, then probably you're including several words in your search, and some of those words are extremely common.

For example, instead of searching for "cooking and photography", drop the "and" to make your search much faster. In general, put the most specific and unique words you can think of in your search and it'll run much faster.

-john

I agree, this is my own personal top priority, and I'm giving some thought to how to go about helping people find books they might want.

The "Recommendations" page http://bookmooch.com/m/recommendations/buckman_ca works well for me, and I might highlight that more, perhaps make it graphical.

Also, I like the edited lists of recommended books you find on Amazon. I might do something like that here too, if I can find a good source of recommended books in various groupings, for example "Hugo Award Winners".

Amazon has a list of various book awards http://www.amazon.com/Awards-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=542942 and I might be able to find historical lists of award winners.

-john

BookMooch will always be a book-swapping site. I have zero interest in doing a DVD or CD audio swapping web site. Those physical formats are much more dead than books are, and there are good web sites already out there that help people swap CDs and DVDs.

As far as ebook swapping goes, Amazon "sort of" permits it, but Amazon has shut down several ebook swapping sites that tried to make it work, because publishers freaked out. Because of DRM on the ebooks, and piracy worries, I don't think ebook swapping is going to happen unless Amazon does it themselves. Given that Amazon has a patent on selling used ebooks http://www.nextmedia-source.com/frame.php?id=7679874 this might actually happen.

Thanks, John. Was just a wishlist thing.

And a quick tweak you could do. A book I mooched was lost in the post over Christmas. (I know it was lost because i was sent the empty packaging by the Royal Mail.) Both the sender and I have tried to mark this so I can get my points back, but the site says not enough time has elapsed and I have to wait until April.

The 3-point change that stopped lot of people posting books and mooching internationally.
The change caused controversy, and conflict that has not improved
Books sitting in vacant accounts for well over 1,000 days inactive.
Users who don't respond.
The need to stalk your wishlist or never, ever get any books at all.
The overzealous and sometimes rude admin behaviour.

BookMooch's tendency to remove polite posts they disagree with is one of my biggest complaints. How can there be any sort of community with senseless censorship?
I was appalled by the bitterness and rancor exhibited by both members, and John alike

The sense of overall Bookmooch community that prompted me to go out of my way to find and post books, and the sense of trust that allowed me to build up large numbers of points for the future has been very damaged.

The atmosphere has changed and it no longer seems to be the close community of cooperation and sharing that it was (a lot of nice people still hanging in there though; it's just they aren't as active as they used to be either). Since the Bookmooch forums don't seem to be very active, I'm so glad you are all still here on Librarything.

I'll remain a member of Bookmooch, and I am grateful for the many hours of pleasure I have received and the many nice people I have "met". Perhaps Bookmooch, like the video cassette is an idea whose time has come and gone. Lbrarything is still here!

I finally just re-posted it to my inventory.

btw..I also happily use paperback swap and have noticed the membership drop in proportion to the increase in mailing costs (thus the "value" of the book has decreased).

The second thing I would like to see improved it to make it easier to find the book you are looking for. Sometimes you have to scroll through endless titles before you are able to find what you are looking for.

Finally the last thing is to warn people that if they don't plan to send a mooched book to the person they run the risk of being taken off the site. I can't tell you how many times I have requested a book from someone and they never got back to me and they never sent the book. Its very frustrating.

Suggestions (Well, you did ask):
Please could the link that brings us the lowest current Amazon price next to our wish-list books be updated more often? Sometimes it doesn't get updated for several weeks, and I really appreciate the opportunity to pounce on some suddenly low-priced copy of a book that I'll probably never get through PBS or BookMooch.

Would it be possible for the View Moochables Now button on the wish list to bring up related editions currently available, as well as moochables that are actually the book we have listed? Sometimes I'm not so fussy about which edition I'll read.

I'd be happy if the link on feedback could be broken or readjusted for books that never arrived, so I wouldn't later find that I'd left positive remarks (my comment on the previous book received) for books I never got. The informative people in the forums told me a way to correct this, ex post facto, but it hasn't worked on all of them.

My problem is I am having a hard time finding books to request. Apparently I've run out of books in my areas of interest in my country and trying to get people to send internationally is a nightmare.

@WM - John had (I assume still has?) multiple accounts in different countries. Different inventories on each as he spent different parts of the year in different places. I seem to recall him moving books from one inventory to the other (like from US to UK accounts) so it was easier for international moochers to get the books. And as a long time member of bookmooch (I joined in 2006), many admins were very harsh. To say there was a problem with favouritism would be an understatement.

@ Margaret H. from the pull down menu in your wishlist, go to settings. Select email for related editions. The related editions will now show on your wishlist.

Also, I like the nice clean simple interface; I vote against flashy graphics and junk that just slows down page loads.

I thought I had no other useful comments, BUT, the point situation reared its ugly head at me this week.

I used to ship books internationally ALL THE TIME. And to EUROPE, UK, etc, a lot. 3 points were adequate for a book back then. But now?

I just send a book to London and it cost me over $18 after the latest USPS rate increase. Considering this, my thought of becoming active in Angel Mooch program again, might be for nothing. $12-$15 per book was ok. But $18 to $20? This was a thin paperback.

You might need to consider adjusting the international point structure.

I'd like to echo Hercules40's thought.

I used to ship books internationally too. But now, I'll send books only to my country, though I need to mooch internationally since I have no other choice, I can rarely get books I want from here, well there's Amazon as an alternative. But my point is, since the change of the point system, international sender had been killed.

As Hercules40 said, "You might need to consider adjusting the international point structure".

Thank you.

Have you given much thought to diversification? I have very often wished Bookmooch had a video games section. I've had and still have several accounts with video game swap sites and they are all TERRIBLE! None of them are as good or as fair as Bookmooch.

I also have a decadently large classic music on LP collection I wouldn't mind swapping. Again, haven't found a service as good as bookmooch for these, though.

If I could have one wish, it would be able to move things off and on my inventory without having to add each one individually. Every few months I take most books off my list, take them to the UBS, and then whatever doesn't sell I put back on. This has the added benefit of letting people get the notification again or new wishlist adds get the notification for the first time. I have done this a couple times and received several new mooches after re-listing.

For non-US Americans, Bookmooch is one of the few (or maybe the only one) available internationally, unlike Paperbookswap. This will keep on in the future.

2. I don't understand the problem with the wrong categories coming from Amazon: so they're metadata, just enable an "edit" function after import. I would recommend looking at or contacting Bookcrossing.com, an international site (which also has wishlists and sometimes sends international), which solved the import problem very well. They take basic data from amazon, but programmed their own 20 or 30 categories, which the member selects from.

3. Paperbooks will never become extinct entirely, but the used paper book market has been in a slump for over a decade, with flea-markets and church bazaar spilling over with unsold used books. Given how much new books are still published in paper form each year, and how much books become available everytime an elder person dies, I don't think this will change soon.
The principal idea of giving a book away to somebody who wants it instead of giving it to the next sale or paper recycling dumpster - and alternativly, receiving a book from somebody, will make this site always attractive.

4. An overview of postage rates by major countries in a handy lookup table (up to date) instead of old forum posts would be a help for international mooches, esp. so experienced senders can give tips to newbies on what's the cheapest rate is. (And so other members can get an idea of how expensive and therefore generous the giver is).

Furthermore, when I do use the direct Email function (which works) there is no option to get a copy of the sent email to my own account (again, comparing this to Bookcrossing, which has this feature). So if a mail does get lost, I can contact the member after a waiting period because I know whom I mailed when about what. I would find this useful

ETA: and it's been fixed! Thanks bookarts

One thing I would like is to only get ENGLISH language editions of books. I asked to get related editions in case an UK edition is available and I asked for a US edition, but I don't like getting non-English language editions. I have to go in and very carefully specify that I still want the book but not this related edition.

I am still a DEAD TREE junkie, so keep it up, John!

When I list books I send out email notifications to everyone who has the book on their wishlist. Several times I get absolutely no reply from any member. When I check the profile of the various members I find out they have not be active on the site for anywhere from 100 days to 1000 days.

It is like going door to door to sell girl scout cookies and knocking on vacant houses...it is a waste of time.

Perhaps revise the BM policy that is there is no activity on an account for 180 days...the account will be deactivated and the member will need to re-active the account by contacting BM.

Bookmooch is a wonderful system ! Please don't make too many changes ! It works beautifully just as it is and I really enjoy its un-commerciality, the way Bookmooch doesn't spam you with advertising about charity or cruises or even new books. I really appreciate its discretion : forums are there if you want them, but you can be a very good moocher without spending any time on them at all.

I've just pointed a friend to Bookmooch. Please don't change it too much !
Bravo, as we say in France !

If nowadays only 4-5 countries are represented in BM with enough members (say, more than 400-500 people: ie US, UK, Italy, Canada, Australia) to allow members to use the website limiting deliveries to only domestic mooching, should one decide so, this also means that to keep BM up and running it's vital to find a way to encourage int'l mooching for all other countries which are not so lucky, and which today, basing on the new stats, represent roughly 40% of BM members.

Offering to people living in those countries, "you can use the 3 points you get from an int'l delivery to mooch 3 books available in your own country" cannot be a workable option for them - since they have (nearly) nobody in their own country to mooch from!

I don't know how it makes recommendations since the books are almost completely irrelevant to books I've mooched, books in inventory, and books on wishlist. I would love to be able to hide like 50 or so at a time. Heck there were probably at least 50 entries just for the Twilight series on my recommendation list.

However I have noticed there are a huge number of people who have never added any books to their inventory, (I have spot checked some account & there are no entries in the points section) but they have books on their wishlist. Is it possible to stop people adding to their wishlist if they aren't willing to add to their inventory. As this again gives a false reflection of those wanting specific books

Keep up the good work John!

2. The apparent bug where we get an error message when trying to leave feedback for books marked "lost". Often, I'd even say MOST of the time, a transaction marked as "lost" has a story behind it, something that should be reflected in the person's feedback. I do not think it's fair that we can leave feedback for cancelled mooched, rejected mooches, and successful mooches, but for some reason not for "lost" mooches.

3. (I know someone already mentioned this) Give us an option to say "only this language" when wishlisting a book. It's VERY frustrating to get all excited about seeing a wishlisted book come up, but then you actually look and wait, it's in French, or Spanish, or whatever. I did *not* wishlist a book in French or Spanish, and unless my account somehow shows that I read those languages, even "related editions" should know better then to give me copies of a book in languages I can't read.

Overall, I've MAJORLY stepped back from BookMooch in the past year, partly because of medical issues and partly because I've gotten too frustrated with my TBR pile, and now only mooch books if they are actually on my wishlist. But I am SO glad you are working on things that will hopefully make new users more comfortable, and actually want to stick around.

Other than that I just wanted to say I enjoyed reading this thread- I agree on the no CDs and DVDs thing, and I think you're doing a wonderful job. I'm a stay at home mom and artist on a VERY limited budget and bookmooch is my salvation!!! Keep up the awesome innovative work!

My requested changes are some of the same as have been requested from others already;
- Remove people and their inventory if they haven't logged on for a specified time. Or at least don't offer their books as moochable. It's a waste of time.
- Related copies are a wonderful offering but I have had so many that are from other countries who are not willing to send to my country. Can this be checked before offering? I also find that even when someone says "ask me first", they won't send. I wish there was a way to indicate that I do not want to mooch from other countries.
-Related copy mooches are great but can you remove the original book from my wishlist after acceptance if I do mooch a related copy? I sometimes forget to do this after waiting for someone to respond. I don't want to remove it until I know I will be accepted for the related book.

Thanks again for caring about what we users think.

I don't own a computer or e-reader so no e-books for me. I use the library's internet. I'm sure there are others (especially of low income) like me. Technology is just too expensive. I don't like the expression "dead tree book." I prefer to call them real books, as opposed to an e-copy, which wouldn't feel like a real book to me. I guess the best part of an e-reader would be that you can make the print bigger. Also that the books aren't heavy.

I use PaperBackSwap, too, so I'm disappointed to hear their numbers are down. Swapping makes sense because it's a lot cheaper than buying a new book: $7.99 for the paperback mysteries I like and it was $2.47 media mail for one pound or less (and you don't pay sales tax!). Barnes & Noble (the only new bookstore I go to) is on the other side of town, too, and the post office is closer.

Living in France, almost all my activity is international (bless the French for their low international book rate!). Much enjoy the spirit of BookMooch, and getting to know others who have an addiction to hard copy books (their look, smell and feel).

I'm very appreciative of the tremendous effort you put into your "baby", and spread the word of it whenever I can.

So a little more research from John on some more very special places where I could donate my points, would be appreciated. I am specifically thinking of developing countries and countries that do not have lending libraries with books written in English. There used to be such a youth club somewhere in Serbia I think but I do not see it any more in the donation options we get.

Otherwise, I agree with Courtiron, keep it as simple as possible, it works fine the way it is.

Basil

I've been a member for a few years and have enthusiastically shipped my "used" books all over the world. I accumulated a lot of points doing that proving that altruism is just another name for self-interest.(Grin)

I am now back in the U.S. and was very disappointed to discover that the Int'l Priority pack has gone up to $23.95. I would ship my U.S. based PBs in a priority pack and could always get 2 and somtimes three in the envelope which cost U.S.$12 or 13.95.

I just posted the folowing on my profile page:

"Unfortunately, thanks to the political football we in the U.S. call the U.S. Postal Service (the service part is an oxymoron) I will no longer pay the ridiculous charges to send books overseas. Last year, a Priority Mail Pack, good to hold 2 or 3 PBs, was US$12.95. In January it went up to US$23.95. In most parts of the world, one can buy new PBs or used HCs cheaper. While this site is more than just a way to get books for a reasonable cost, US$8 to US$12 per used PB book is beyond reasonable. Methinks, I see a business opportunity here for someone far younger than myself, shipping books and other heavy weight items via surface and then re-distributing them at various points using local postal services or couriers.

I feel sad about this development since I made some good Bookmooch Friends around the world by shipping them books from Hong Kong which is still civilized enough to handle surface shipping at a reasonable cost. Reminds me of the song, "Those Were the Days"."

It might motivate some U.S. members if the moochee received 6 points
for a book shipped internationally from there. I know there are other places in the world where Int'l postage is even greater and perhaps these places could be included. Another possibility would be to accumulate books in some less expensive spot like Hong KOng and re-ship them. I wish I had thought of this before I relocated back to the U.S.

Unfortunately as my good friend Dick Gottlieb, President and founder of Grey House Publishers, said to me recently, "I seem to be involved in a dying industry, which may be appropriate as I celebrate my 74th birthday."

Whatever the problems, I hope Bookmooch can continue to be a global organization.

I also hope others who read this might have their own take on the issue, if they see it as an issue.

If I had to name one thing I'd want to see be different, it would be the forums and discussion area. I took one look and knew it wasn't something I would enjoy using.

Personally, I like community and good online forums (see ravelry for my very favorite forums system), and a better way to talk about books and connect to other members would really appeal to me.

That, however, might be a very big project for you, so I understand if it isn't viable.

I've had two people mooch off me which has been great but I have had 3 books that I've wanted to mooch canceled because of inactive members.

I don't feel the need to be one of the popular girls on the net - 'oddball' suits me fine.

In fact I am frequently considered oddball due to the large amount of books on, and falling off, my shelves.
At some point my shelving capacity, living space and the sanity of my darling husband required that I get rid of some of the books I have read. When I refuse to throw books in the rubbish, my friends rarely read anything but literary fiction and I live in the land with no charity shops I had no solution for all my genre fiction, the YA, vampires, werewolves and alternative histories. Which is where BM's life saving capabilities came to the fore.

There are probably a thousand ways BM could improve itself but I love it just they way it is and have had so many great mooching experiences.

BTW if you are searching for a specific book using the ISBN rather than the title is much, much quicker.

I do love the flexibility of Bookmooch copared to paperbackswap. I am so glad I stumbled onto you!

Functionality change request -
I read books in English (and sometimes Spanish). I am not interested in related books in other languages. It would be helpful to be able to restrict my wish list by language.

I think there are lot of people out there who still read and/or prefer books with spines.

To help with the "doom and gloom" -

Member Referral Program: one point for each new account that an existing account refers. Perhaps with a restriction that the new referral account must post 1 or 2 books to the system to qualify.

International Read-a-thon: A week-long virtual read-a-thon/mooch-a-thon could be a cool way to connect existing users, encourage more forum usage, attract new users, and promote the site in general. I would be willing to help coordinate.