Ten years ago this month, I joined a website club called Book Crossing. The idea behind this website: release books into the wild. Here’s how it’s done.
- Register a book on the website.
- Write the registration number and “http://www.bookcrossing.com” on the inside cover of the book.
- Leave it someone where someone can pick it up.
- Someone finds it and goes to the website and adds a note that he or she found it.
- That person reads and releases it, making a note on the website.
- Follow where the books end up over time.
Only about 20% end up getting notes. Over the years some of the books I’ve released have ended up all over the United States. Several have ended all over the world–United Kingdom, Portugal, The Netherlands and others. Several books have been passed around several times. My copy of The Great Gatsby has been through seven people before the notes stopped a few years ago.
Since I purchased a Kindle in 2008, I stopped “releasing books into the wild” and focused on e-books. Recently, I decided to check on my Book Crossing account, and it’s fascinating to see where some of my books have been traveling over the last few years. I’ve decided to start releasing books again. I just finished a printed copy of The Book Thief and I’m going to release it at a coffee shop.
Kind of an ironic title for this project, don’t you think?
Andrew M. Friday 