Ever wonder where your book ends up?

Here is a perfect example of new media helping old media.

Bookcrossing.com is a free service which enables you to "release" your books to strangers and track where they end up in the world. I just released a book over the weekend and I'm now anxiously checking it's status each day.

The idea is rather simple. Go to bookcrossing.com and register for a free account. Then you can either purchase their sticker packs, or be cheap like me and print and glue-stick it to your book cover. When you register a book you are given a tracking number. You fill in the tracking number on the sticker, stick the sticker inside of the book cover, then you update the book's status on bookcrossing.com

I found a book at a pub in Toronto with the tracking sticker in it. I read the book, then I left it at a University campus bookstore. I got home, logged into my account, and entered the location of where it was left. Then I followed the book as the next reader registered where they left it.

Since bookcrossing.com is being used across the world, it will be wild when you discover a book that you read has ended up somewhere in Australia or Japan. Be strategic where you leave them, i.e. airports, hotels, hostels, buses, subways, etc.

I really urge every one of you to do this with a book you read recently. It's incredible to be able to track where your book ends up and where it came from. DO IT NOW, it will take five minutes.

If you have any questions refer to this FAQ. or just watch this!


Happy reading!
Dave

Promoting Your Podcast

I've just finished Promoting Your Podcast by Jason Van Orden. I am thrilled to see that I've been doing many correct things to promote our podcast, Two Boobs and a Baby +. However, after reading Jason's book, I've got loads of new tips and tricks to use to better promote the show.

I really recommend Promoting Your Podcast if you have a podcast you want the world to hear. You can tell from the pink sticky tabs that I came away with loads from this book.

Two thumbs up!

Choose your own iPod adventure

I don't leave home without my new 4 gig iPod nano. Don't get me started about the early* demise of my 20 gig 3G iPod. Sigh, how I miss that 20 gigs of storage.

I wasn't a huge reader as a child, but I remember taking to the Choose Your Own Adventure series. These books spoke to me, because I was the master of my own destiny. I was a creative kid, so having the ability to choose where the book would take me was refreshing.

The good people at Choose Your Own Adventure have finally brought the iPod together with their books.

Check out the first MP3 version of the series. The classic The Adominable Snowman is now available for download!



* Apple Store guy said that I was lucky to get 3 years out of my 20 gig 3G iPod. I had replaced the battery once myself too. He said that the average life of an iPod is 2 years. Hmrf!