I've posted my signup sheet for the challenge I was proposing if any of you were interested in it, here's the linky! Hope to see some of you there! :)

http://www.bookcrossing.com/forum/23/4786951/1

Challenge Icon/piccies: http://usera.imagecave.com/shaunesay/366in2008/

Alright shauny, I'll give 'er a go... *gulp*

You can do it! :bananadance: :bananacheer: :bananadance:

I think this will be really good for me. Normally when I run out of NJABBIC books, or books for whatever challenge I am doing, I head to the SA to buy more. Now when I'm out, I can start grabbing AVL books that I'm tired of looking at. I won't have any excuse to go buy more unless I've totally cleared out my availables that week.

:lol:

I was kind of hoping to lure some peeps in that don't do some of those big challenges with theme requirements, because i know that's hard for some people, it's definitely a different way of thinking, studying ever title to see those embedded words, etc. :wacko: this way we get 'em sucked in with the easy titles releases and before they know it, they're releasin' fools like the rest of us! (okay, well, I'm not quite there yet, but I think I will easily hit 365 this year, and that's the most I will have ever done!) I had to ease into it myself, I may tackle NJABBIC next year, we'll see. I've watched DragonGoddess doing it this year, and it seems like a lot of work to get those themes every week, although very fun!

I *may* give this a go...


After a bit of thinking....

Oh what the heck, why not!

Okay...this got me started thinking about something. Don't ask me why...I haven't figured it out. I emailed Shaunie directly with the question but I thought I'd raise it here to get other thoughts.

First, let me say that I've never used Controlled Releases. I just always either released a book into the wild or given it to someone that I "know" so I used the JE. I've checked BC and TexasWren's site to see if there is a definition of "wild release"...but didn't find anything helpful. Examples of release locations include cafes and other public places. TexasWren suggests that if a release is made to someone you know using a JE is recommended.

Here is what I've always used as a definition of a "wild" release (or a "release into the wild") in my own tiny little brain: If the release is somewhere "public" where someone could randomly stumble across the book or someone monitoring a release location could go hunting for the book.

Having said that, it has now occurred to me that there are some other release locations (besides Country, State, City, Location) that would quality as "wild releases."

Here is where I want your reaction...
If I offer a book on PBS, TitleTrader, Bookmooch, etc., that is making the book publicly available and I'm not yet sending it directly to someone that I might know. Someone who is not a BookCrosser could stumble upon the book and pick it up. In addition, as a BookCrosser, I could monitor the release location and go hunting for a book.

Now that I've started thinking about it...I like the idea of monitoring one of the trade sites for possible releases. There are lots of books I might not know yet that I want that are being "released" on these sites. And I might want to go "hunting" for them!

Bottom line is...I'm starting to think that "releasing" a book to a trading site is a true "wild release."

What do others think?

I'm posting it here because I expect many wild releasers to pop in here and take a look.

Ok I'm in!! This will be tough but I need to get rid of some books that realistically I'll probably never read.

I've never used wild releases for this because listing it on my trading site shelf has never really seemed like "release." It felt like release only at the time that I mailed it.

But I do like the idea of being able to sign up for "go hunting" notices for these sites (particularly for PBS, where if I knew that there was a BC book available, I'd like to be able to get the copy from a specific shelf instead of from the queue). And I guess if you do decide to take it off your shelf, it'd be sort of like going back to the coffeeshop and retrieving your released book that no one picked up.


I'm interested to hear what other people think.

Yep...that's what got me interested too. Normally, I don't care whether I JE or Release a book. But the thought of hunting books on these sites intrigued me. If I have a choice on a trading site, I usually select to take the bookcrossing book. This would just help facilitate hunting books I don't know that I NEED yet! :)

I have always released PBS & BookMooch books as Controlled Releases, simply because so many people at Bookcrossing bitch about it. But I would love to be able to consider them 'Wild Releases'. I honestly do very little actual Wild releasing simply because I live in a very rural area and just do not have that many places to release books. I have tried but do not get any catches so I stopped. I now release my books via PBS, BookMooch or BookObsessed.

I do like your idea though, Nou. That would allow me to participate in some of these release challenges.

I made some challenge icons/pics to use if people want to: http://www.imagecave.com/albums.asp?album=366in2008

My take on the swap sites thing...

I do JE releases for swap site books. The way I see it, I don't do the 'release' until someone has requested the book and I'm packing it up to mail. So in my mind it is not a wild release. No one can use the release note to go find the book because I don't know what the recipient is going to do with it. It may not get re-posted on the swap site.

I can't do the release note when I post the book on the swap site because I'm always yanking books off for VBBs or wild release, etc.

I'm real anal about having my release count show only books left out in the wild. I was fidgety the first time I left books at KC's new OBCZ - I couldn't figure out how I wanted to handle that. :)

I added this as a goal on 43 things if anyone wants to be join/ or be invited to the team.

I use controlled releases for my books sent out for swap sites. (Which in my case is only PaperBackSwap.) I like it to show with the little running book on my shelf, because otherwise, I think I'm waiting for a JE on it 'cause I've sent it to a BookCrosser.


By the way, I think I will try this challenge. *gulp*
I've never been one to wild release like crazy; I do the occasional one when I remember to take a book with me, but I've had about half a dozen books sitting in my car waiting to be wild released and I always forget. Maybe this will give me the push I need to get them out of my car, plus some more out of my house.

Oh, and my .02: for these types of challenges, I would never even consider that books given to an OBCZ or Goodwill or a trading site would even be counted. To me, that is taking the "challenge" out of the challenge. What's to stop someone from "releasing" all their books that way? And really, how hard is it to find a new owner online and pack the book up for mailing? To me, the whole point of these is to get the books out in the "wild" - search for that perfect release spot, and leave the book without anyone seeing you! That's how I see it, but I know others have different viewpoints. :shrug:

Terrafreaky spoke my thoughts exactly.

While I like the idea of hunting for the BC books that are listed on the trading sites I could see it become a huge mess. Once the book has been sent to someone and is no longer on the trading site, it isn't going to be removed from the "go hunting" page unless someone makes a journal entry on it. Then you will be wading though pages of books that aren't really listed on the trading site anymore.

Shaunie
I saw you had some graphics, are you planning on making some labels too?

I'm not sure I'm that talented! :lol: I've never made my own labels honestly, trying to fit them to them correct sticker sizes and such.

what's to stop that is that I've said that only 1/4th of the total may be released that way, so no more than 92 of the 366 can be that.

Happy to have you join in Kel!

I signed up at BookCrossing for this. I also posted a question there on it.

I'll post it here to though, so that anyone with a similar situation will be more likely to see the answer.

My question was this......

Just double checking this..... You said library donations do not count as wild releases.
The library here has a paperback exchange shelf. ... basically like a BCZ. You leave your paperbacks there and pick up others if you like. They don't go to the library itself and there is no money involved. Would that count as a wild release?

library donations, OBCZ releases, goodwill and salvation army releases, are all in that 1/4th of total category. :) so up to 92 of those are fine, the rest should be truly wild releases.

To me, if it's put onto an exchange type shelf, that's the same as an OBCZ, even though the O may not be there. That's how I would probably count it myself. Obviously there are a lot of grey areas because everyone's interpretation is different. It's mostly to keep someone from going, okay I just donated 366 books to the library, I'm done! no no no :P We want to utilize those avenues as well, because it's also a good way to hook new people, but catches from true wild releases in places where books just normally aren't, are totally the most fun I think! ;)

I am SO ready for this challenge. :bananadance:

One of my freakish weirdo personal goals is to get to at least 3750 books wild released before I get up to 6000 registered. I'd really like to hit 4000 released before 6000 registered, but that might be pushing it.

That works for me. ;) Just wanted to clarify, so I can count them accurately. :wink:

I am not that talented either. I wonder if there is someone here we could recruit? Any volunteers? :whistle: :lol:

Shaunie, question: For the special prize for releasing the most books with the word "wild" in them...does it matter if the books are duplicates?

I'm going to say duplicate titles are fine... now, if you've suddenly come up with 366 copies of Wild Animus, we need to talk! :lol: But a couple or so of the same title is fine.

Hee hee hee. Okay!! Thanks!

Please invite me! I've failed miserably with this years goals but would like to try again next year!

Shaunie, if this has already been addressed, I apologize, but I was looking over the thread and just wanted clarification.

Were PBS (or other book sites) releases counted? I don't send out too many books via PBS but I have a couple going out at the end of the week, and I thought I might as well count them for the challenge if they were eligible. I do use a controlled release note for them, though.

No, booktrading sites like Bookmooch, PBS, Titletrader, etc. are not eligible for my challenge. For the record, I don't object to them being "released" there, but I just don't want to include that method for this particular challenge. OBCZ's, other physical trading shelves, or library and charity donations (goodwill, salvation army, etc.) count as part of the category that you can only have 25% of.

Does that help?

Thank you for clarifying that for me! Not a problem, I'll just wild release something at the post office! :giggle:

Hey, I'd love to join in. :peek:

I am up to 43 releases, and I even have 2 catches already! :bananadance:

I've released..uhm....one. :blush:

I didn't go anywhere on New Year's Day, and my release spots are pretty limited when I'm at work. (My one release was at the nearby bus stop.) I'm not the type to make special trips just to release, so the books sit in the car until I happen to be somewhere that works as a release spot.

I will be out later this afternoon and hope to leave a couple more.

I released 5, so far. The Movie/book release challenge is helping to get me motivated for this one.

Dang!!! I'll never keep up!

I was out and about at lunch, and released two more. One I left on a bench at the mall, and while my friend and I were browsing inside B&N, some MORON tried to RETURN my released book to the store to get something else!!! :angry: The B&N guy told him he could tell it had been read 'cause the spine was creased and the stickers were on it.

What a freaking idiot!!!!!! At least the book was back on the bench when I left, sticky note and everything still intact.

People are scary!!!

If you haven't been checking Shaunesay's challenge thread in the BC forum, here is a link to labels:

http://prescottkim.com/wild.labels.pdf

Show off :P

Only joking - well done! I have released a couple so far, via my hubby as I rarely leave the house.