You loaned Katie your only copy of "Gurdjieff Today"--just before she moved to Belarus. Or did you loan it to your brother's (now ex-) girlfriend? In any case it's gone and it's out of print.

Next time you lend someone a book, attach a BookBack label to the back cover. It has your name and address—and guarantees postage when dropped in any mailbox. So from now on, wherever your friends may roam, your precious books will still find their way home.

But wait (you object)--who pays the postage? The advertiser whose logo and small ad appears on the BookBack label and who as a result enjoys a permanent back- cover ad on your book. When and if the book is dropped in the post, the advertiser automatically pays the postage. Which at the low media-mail rate amounts to a very, very low cost per ad exposure.
-- YoDaveG, Apr 11 2006

bookcrossing http://www.bookcrossing.com
I love the idea of this site, and it fixes the very problem you highlight. [neilp, Apr 17 2006]

Innerestin. How do the various book swap Internet sites pay for postage? Perhaps this scheme would work for them to?
-- DrCurry, Apr 11 2006


Perhaps make it also start spreading bad smells after a specified amount of time, to deter those who want to keep your book.

Otherwise, top-quality idea, and very doable. When can I have one?
-- dbmag9, Apr 11 2006


Experiments have proven that one can't just drop books into mailboxes and have them arrive in decent shape. You need to wrap each book, or keep it closed somehow. Maybe this could be a sleeve that can, with a bit of clever tucking and sticking, be transformed into a whole envelope enclosure?

As a consumer, I'd like this better if the owner just paid for it, rather than magic advertising. But you might find industry sponsors in reality, and ad-financed and personally financed could always coexist.
-- jutta, Apr 11 2006


I'd have mentioned this before if I had the spine. perhaps the label would shut the book tight
-- po, Apr 11 2006


Leaf it alone, [po]. Something's bound to go wrong.
-- normzone, Apr 11 2006


Gurdjieff Today, I'd like to read that. Can it have my adress on first? Perhaps others would like to read it too and there can be a list of places the book can travel to?
-- zeno, Apr 12 2006


I don't get it. Why don't you just put the book in a bag and send it?

The loaner would already have written in beautiful cursive on the front inside cover, "This book belongs to blissmiss. I loaned it to my friend, YoDaveG. My address is blah, blah, blah. If in doubt as to if I still live there, please mail to any of my list of others;

ma-ma/brother/sister/worst enemy at blah, blah blah. Also, I might already be dead, in which case would you simply sign under my name the name's of your next of kin"

Tape several stamps to the page, (allowing for future postal increases), and be done with it.
-- blissmiss, Apr 17 2006



random, halfbakery