Holiday Book Swapping - Queen's Book Asylum

Last December, as I was sitting at the company’s Christmas party, listening to the big boss calling out people and gifting them with some bonus for their good work, I was thinking about how I could give back a tiny bit to the blogging community. Jen and I put our heads together and decided to give an Amazon gift card to some of our friends and supporters. But even then I knew I wanted to do something bigger, to involve many more people in the process. And so, I decided to create the ultimate Holiday Book Swapping.

What is Holiday Book Swapping?

Well, as its name might suggest, it’s an event where people will exchange books. Everyone who wishes to take part will gift and receive one book in their chosen format. It will make sense later on. The goal is to bring a bit of festivity into the year that is 2020. I think we all need a bit of cheering up.

How does it work?

Anyone who wishes to participate has to fill out a form after which they agree to gift a book to a randomly chosen person and receive one in exchange from someone else. The sign up period will last until November 15th. Then I’ll make the pairs randomly and email everyone with their details.

Those who wish to take part have to decide whether they’d like to send and receive a physical book or an ebook. They also have to create a holiday wish list on either Amazon, Book Depository, or Goodreads, depending on their preference. This will be used to pick a book as a gift, so if you don’t submit one, then I’ll have to exclude you from participating. Please make sure that Book Depository ships to you in case you choose to go with a physical book. To make it as fair as possible, there will be a limit of $25. We however won’t limit you to Amazon and Book Depository, if you wish to send a book via other channels, you are welcome to.

Authors are absolutely welcome to participate! This event is open to any booklover, be it author, blogger, reader, etc. The more the merrier! Authors, please keep in mind that you are welcome to send your own book as long as it’s on the recipient’s list.

We will be trying to make sure as many people receive physical books as possible, and so at the pairing, we’ll take into consideration your residency and preferences asked in the form. But understand that it might not be possible in every case. It’s important because if you choose to gift an ebook for instance, then the recipient can only claim it if you both are using the same local Amazon site.

Those who fill out the form accept that their personal details will be handled by the organizer (me and my helpers) and we only pass that information to the person they are paired with. We won’t use it for anything else and will handle it with the utmost care. We ask you that once you filled the form and committed yourself, don’t back out as it would break up the chain and we don’t want anyone to be left out. If for any reason you are unable to participate, let us know immediately to make the required steps. Please also note that shipping times might be longer than usual due to the holidays and the current state of the world.

We ask you to spread the word so as many people would be able to take part as possible. We’d like to have each and every one of you to have at least one book in the Holiday season. You also will be welcome to send your partner a postcard either online or via traditional mail as a personal touch, but it’s not required. It’s just a nice way to let the other person know who gifted them.

Once you receive your book, please make sure to share it with us on social media by using the #HolidayBookSwapping tag. We’d like to see your beauties and share the love!