BookJingle Blog

Archive for October, 2010

Is your non-profit organization, school or church looking for a way to make some extra, much-needed funds? BookJingle can help!

First, you will have to organize a book drive. Advertise within the organization as well as in the community that you are collecting books. Set up collection boxes at the site and other locations in the area. Be sure to ask permission before setting out the boxes. Be sure to use resources in your organization. For example, Dr. Smith from the local pediatrician’s office may be on your non-profit board. He would probably be very willing to put a collection box in his office.

Second, set up a BookJingle account in the name of the organization so that all Paypal or check payments will be sent  to the organization. All volunteers must have access to this user name and password.  If Paypal payment is selected as the  preferred payment method, the group coordinator will have to set up the group’s Paypal account and give all members access to the Paypal ID.

Volunteers from your organization will then collect all of the books that have been donated. Volunteers will then have to go through the books and enter the ISBNs of the books on www.bookjingle.com. The site will display a price quote for each book we are buying.  This can either be done at one central location or each individual can take a few boxes home and do it from their own computer, as long as they log into the organization’s Bookjingle account.

Next, the books will need to be packaged and shipped using our free shipping label that is provided at the end of each transaction. Again, this can be done all at once in a central location as a group effort or by individuals in their own homes. Sometimes, the group coordinator helps out in this process by procuring boxes for volunteers to use. Boxes should then be dropped off at the  local Post Office.

Finally, BookJingle receives and inspects the books. Payment will be made within 48 hours of receiving books. Emails will be sent in each step of the process: when the order(s) are placed, when we receive the order(s) and when payment is issued.

BookJingle will most likely not buy all the books you have collected.  The items we are purchasing actually changes from day-to-day depending on market demand and other factors. If we are not buying a book, it will read “Sorry, we are not currently purchasing that title” when you enter the ISBN on the website.

Also, books must be in good condition with no stains, tears, missing pages, moisture/water damage, etc. Refer to our FAQ for information on book conditions. If we receive books in unacceptable condition, the value of those books will be deducted from the total.

So what can you do with the extra books that you have collected that we are not purchasing? You can donate them to various charities, or your local library. Better yet, you can make more money on them by hosting a used book sale! Our next post will detail how to have a successful used book sale.

As always, we would like to say thanks to Cafe Lily Book Reviews who has graciously agreed to allow us to reprint her book reviews.  For even more book reviews, hop on over to Cafe Lily Book Reviews to find out what is worth reading.

This was the first “chick lit” book I’ve read in awhile and it was a fun twist from my usual reading preferences. I am not that familiar with Leanna Ellis or her other books, but Facelift is a cute read – especially for those who are over the age of 30.

Younger readers may not be able to identify with the main character (Kaye Redmond) who is questioning everything about her life.

30-somethings and above readers will totally “get” Kaye. She is a middle age divorcee, trying to start a new career while raising a teenage daughter and still pining for her ex-husband (who left her for greener pastures.)

She has a love-hate relationship with her mother-in-law who just never seems to go away and can’t seem to imagine herself ever being in another romantic relationship. She wildly careens through life trying to juggle too many tasks and often times finds herself spinning completely out of control. For most of this book I felt sorry for Kaye as she just couldn’t seem to ever successfully jump through all of the hoops that she lined up for herself and then constantly beat herself up over it.

While this book is humorous and chock full of tongue-in-cheek quips and sarcasm, it also has its serious elements. The overall message that I got from this book is that life changes whether we give it permission to or not. Sometimes those changes are good and sometimes not so good. Even though we will face unexpected changes and circumstances – the one constant we have to rely on in life is our relationship with God.

Today we present the second story by our friend Tyler.  Tyler is the seven year old son of one of our employees.  He is extremely gifted in reading.  He has dictated the following story to his aunt.

Gregory the Great Dane dog was sleeping in the night.  Gregory whose job is to guard the house was suddenly awakened by a loud, crashing noise.  Waking up from a deep sleep, Gregory quickly begins prowling the house to find the source of the noise.

Gregory shares the house with three cats, Tye who is a Siamese, Bob who is a Burmese and Jordan who is a Tonkinese cat.  Of the three cats, Tye is the most troublesome, and requires constant watching, because he is always trying to do things that he shouldn’t.

Tye, Bob and Jordan had invited Devon, a Devon Rex cat, to spend the night.  In the middle of the night Devon, woke up and told the other three that he was really, really hungry.  So Tye, Bob and Jordan being nice hosts, began an intense search of the house for the bag of cat food to feed their hungry guest.

After looking in the drawers, in the microwave since Tye can open it up, on the chairs, under the tables, and finally in the cupboard the cats find a bag of food with the word “cat.”  The cats use their mouths and paws to get the bag of food down carefully from the cupboard.  Tye becomes tired of this slow process, so he takes his strong back feet and kicks the bag of cat food to the floor.

The shock of Tye’s sudden action scares Bob so much that he faints.  Tye and Jordan, quickly use their paws to drag Bob to safety, before Gregory comes to check out the noise.  Quickly, Devon begins to distract Gregory by biting his tail, running in circles around Gregory.  Gregory becomes so distracted by Devon that Tye and Jordan are able to drag Bob to safety.

Tye and Jordan return to the spilled food, grabbing the bag of cat food and push it to the cat bed while Gregory and Devon are still running around the house chasing each other.

Once Tye and Jordan have the food, Devon jumps the rail and runs to the cat bed to enjoy the cat food.  Finally, Bob awakens and realizing that he is back in his bed, begins to dine with his special friends.  And all is quiet once again in the house.

The end: Except that Gregory keeps barking, since he really isn’t sure what just happened.

As always, we would like to say thanks to Cafe Lily Book Reviews who has graciously agreed to allow us to reprint her book reviews.  For even more book reviews, hop on over to Cafe Lily Book Reviews to find out what is worth reading.

Is it really possible for a family of seven (plus pets) to grocery shop for only $350 a month?
According to Steve & Annette Economides (yes that really is their last name!), it can be done.   Best known for their title as “America’s Cheapest Family”, the Economides make it look very easy!  Being a religious user of coupons myself, I can tell you that *I* personally haven’t been able to whittle down our grocery bill that much but I’d sure love to try.
In their latest book, the Economide family offers plenty of tricks to save on your grocery bill such as looking over the store ads, shopping more than one store, price matching when possible, using coupons, meal planning, shopping once a month and more.
While I wouldn’t be able nor want to implement every suggestion they make, there is a lot of good information in this book. Obviously,their lifestyle is working for them. They work together on sticking to their budget and tag team when shopping to split up the work, which helps them each focus on their area of expertise in the store.
Although “once a month” cooking hasn’t been very effective for me personally, it’s a huge budget saver for this family.  There are plenty of ideas on how to buy items at their lowest price and then freeze them for long term storage.  Overall, this book is interesting and would be an excellent read for anyone who wants to cut down on their grocery budget and save money in the long run.