Friday, April 13, 2007

On the Road Again

I'm going to be out of town for a few days, and the hotel wireless where I am is a bit iffy, so no Friday 20 this week (we do have a handicapped-friendly shower, though. No tub, no things to trip over, just multiple shower heads with many interesting nozzles, a floor-to-ceiling curtain, and a floor that drains. Or maybe I'm in the BDSM suite. Either way, very cool.)

I always check to see if the Gideons have placed a Bible in every American hotel room I've stayed in, and it's always there. Our room has a beautiful brand-new edition bound in blue and gold-stamped. We should be taking lessons from the Gideons; these guys know how to distribute books.

While the Gideons may own the drawer of every hotel nightstand in the U.S., I think the lobby of a hotel would be a cool place for our friends the publishers to put a complimentary fiction book rack. I didn't have time to pack any for this trip, but I usually bring some books with me and leave them on the tables and lounge chairs around the pool (if you want to try doing this, either hand the copies to people or put a sticker that says "Complimentary Copy from the Author" on it so the hotel guests don't assume the books belong to another guest.)

I'll post the winner of Reader Wednesday as soon as I get back to use the magic hat, and I'll try to check in from the road with you guys as the wireless permits. In the meantime, have a good weekend.

15 comments:

  1. Have a good trip, and a good weekend. Ann

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  2. Ms. Viehl,
    I hope you have a save trip and a wonderful weekend.
    I also wanted to let you know that a new review has been posted on the Romance Junkies website for Night Lost. The address for this review is: http://208.109.92.234/artman/publish/article_7626.shtml

    I loved being able to review this wonderful addition to the Darkyn universe! I look forward to more in the coming years.
    I would have emailed you with this information but did not have your email address.

    Sincerely,
    Robin Snodgrass
    Reviewer for Romance Junkies


    http://www.myspace.com/booklover_robin

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  3. That's a great idea. My husband's work takes us on a cruise once a year, and so I've left a few copies of my book in the library, where cruisers "check out" books to read while on board. I put a post it on the front that says, "Free Book -- Author on Board! Enjoy!". I also leave bookmarks. They always disappear fast.

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  4. A few years ago I joined in that big website promotion to pass books on--can't remember its name--but you labeled your book and "set it free" for others to read and pass on.

    I released my books in a hotel, just as you were thinking.

    Have a safe trip : )

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  5. Anonymous11:33 AM

    There's a site (http://www.bookcrossing.com/home) that is set up for you to tag books and release them. They give you a number to put in the book, then you put it somewhere with a free book note on it. When someone picks up the book, they can enter the number on the site so you know someone's picked it up.

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  6. When I was on Kauai, I stayed at a condo complex that had a bookshelf with had a bunch of books people had left behind on it. I read three or four of those, the week I was there, and donated three of my own books that I didn't feel like hauling back to the mainland with me.

    I totally think hotels should have free fiction racks. (And that's an excellent idea about leaving one's books around to be picked up!)

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  7. At one hotel I stayed in when I was a teen, there was a used book rack in the lounge of the hotel. It was a pay for thing. Most of the books were like 10 or 25 cents. More hotels should do that. *thumbs up*

    Have a great weekend!

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  8. Anonymous6:23 PM

    You know.........I actually picked up a book at a doctors office once. Inside the front cover was a message saying the person had left it there for the next person to pick up and to leave it in another office or waiting room when I was done. Thought that was a great idea.
    I am a member of www.paperbackbookexchange.com though. You post books you are done reading and don't mind parting with, as do others, and when someone requests a book you have, you send it out. When they get it you get a credit allowing you to request a book from someone else. Since becomming a member I have filled out my library quite a bit. Love and recommend the place. Media mail makes it cheap to send out the books requested. So for the price of sending out one book, ($1.59) I get a new book to read or sometimes even a collectable I've been looking for!
    Check it out! Tell them tjwiccan1 sent you!

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  9. I remember seeing a book vending machine in a hotel once. I'd never seen one before, but apparently it's how Penguin got started.

    If you set a book free, is there a risk it'll turn feral? That could be nasty.

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  10. If that shower is in the BDSM suite, at least I now know what to ask for.

    As for free fiction in hotel lobbies, I stayed in a hotel in the DC area on the Dulles side of town -- I think it was an Embassy Suites or was it the Holiday Inn Suite version (can't remember the name of the chain at the moment, but they outdid Embassy Suites in everything but the breakfast) had a business room that had a bookshelf with a variety of fiction on it. I thought it was the coolest thing.

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  11. Anonymous11:29 PM

    Opps.............I put the wrong link in for my online book club! Here's the right link!!

    http://www.paperbackswap.com/

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  12. As a reader Lynn, I have often asked authors for more of their book markers, and etc because libraries here have tables set up for authors to place these sort of things and too now my UBS (used book store) does as well. So I always do this for the authors hoping they pick yours up and look it up too!
    Have a great trip!

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  13. Anonymous2:33 AM

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  14. Re: bookcrossing.com

    I picked up a book of recipes from my local supermarket's freezer section with one of their tags in it a couple of months ago. The previous finder had dumped it in with the frozen peas, can't have been more than a couple of minutes before I found it.

    I think it's an excellent idea.

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