BCinDC & the 2011 Convention

Author Archive

BCinDC received some mail today from the BookCrossing Convention last month! Some warm wishes and friendly “faces” in the form of usernames. Check them out (click for larger versions):

The most magical thing about these postcards arriving is that one made it to us without postage!

A handful of BookCrossers assembled at the Franconia-Springfield Metro station on Shakespeare’s birthday (April 23) to give books out on World Book Night. The idea is to pass books out to people who don’t read much or at all in hopes of introducing them to the joy of reading! That’s definitely something we can get behind.

Luck was on our side: we each had a different book (and some different types/genres for people to choose from) and just as two of us ran out of books, another two of us arrived with their books as reinforcements. We gave away all 100 books in a little less than 2 hours. We also managed to attract the notice of security officers who asked us kindly to leave the covered areas of the station, which we did immediately and positioned our giveaway far enough away.

We developed quick catch phrases to sell our books. “It’s a classic!” or “It’s a movie with Brad Pitt!” or “Very funny!” or “Better than Twilight!”

The books we gave away were:

• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

BCinDC had a table again this year at the Day of the Book festival in Kensington, MD on April 21, 2013. We brought over 1,200 books and managed to give away roughly 800 of them (the remainders will mostly be heading to the Gaithersburg book festival next month).

Weather was much better this year than last, which both the BookCrossers and the books seemed happy about. We had a few authors give us books, which we’ll circulate among our group members; we even had one author register her book right there onsite.

We also started a new section on the tables this year. We had fiction, non-fiction, teen’s & children’s, and a new “BookCrossers recommend” section. We had fun pulling out books we loved and even had some festival-goers recommend some books!

BookCrossers in attendance: authorauthor, Chip, Ixion, KateKintail, krin511, Mom-Oyster, Nat4Lee, ResQgeek, RubyLadybug, SqueakyChu

On March 24, 2013, BCinDC had our monthly meetup at Soho Tea & Coffee at Dupont Circle. We discussed books, movies, and more. We also got to see a print of nat4lee’s hand-drawn historical Franconia map. We also restocked the OBCZ shelf at the cafe.

BookCrossers in attendance: authorauthor, FURBALL, Ixion, KateKintail, LN569, nat4lee, and 6of8.

On February 9, 2013 BCinDC members met at Potbelly Sandwich Works in Crystal City (Arlington, VA). We had some good food and great conversation. We also switched out some books on the shelf we recognized from our last visit there a year ago with some fresh new registered ones. And we hid a book in a drawer that was part of the table at which we were sitting–who knows when it will be found?

BookCrossers in attendance: authorauthor, FURBALL, Ixion, KateKintail, LN569, melydia, nat4lee, ResQgeek, and 6of8.

After the meetup, many of us headed over to the OBCZ at the Sheraton (where the convention was held) and restocked the shelf with books, labels, flyers, and some new business cards with an explanation about BookCrossing and our meetup group URL on them.