Pen and Parchment

After some deliberation about whether this post actually needed to be written—given the how-to posts I’ve already seen floating around—I decided my recent whirlwind experience with book trading still needed to be shared with you all. Because it was definitely quite a thing that happened to me.

So let’s paint a picture real quick: it’s January of this year, I just finished reading an ARC of Reign of the Fallen, and I loved the book so much that I really want a set of the character cards released by the author. I text my go-to bookworm friend and tell her of my sudden desire for these cards that you can’t get by pre-ordering anymore, and she responds with a text that arguably ruined my life—

“Why don’t you just go check the tag?”

The tag, friends. THE TAG. *cue Jaws music playing in the background* Of course through a short discussion and checking it out for myself, I learned all about the allusive and ever-criticized #booksfortrade. Long story short, I found a good trade with a kind soul for those character cards and I lived happily ever after never checking the tag again.

HAHAHAHAHA I wish. My wallet really wishes. My TBR really, really wishes. But curse my addictive personality because I definitely did not stop after those character cards. I got into the habit of perusing people’s posts everyday (it really feels like a virtual bookstore sometimes), messaging new trader friends I had made, and sending off package after package with books to swap.

Six months later, I had people in my Twitter DMs messaging me for advice because I’m “an expert.”

I assure you guys, the last thing I ever set out to be in this life is a freaking #booksfortrade expert. But here we are.

I’m not writing this post to sarcastically chronicle my downfall as a trader, however, because #booksfortrade has actually been really fun for me in what have been the hardest months of my life. So today I’m here to maybe help guide those of you that want to start trading, or help you decide whether entering the world of trading is worth it for you!

Continue reading “An Extensive Guide to All-Things #Booksfortrade, feat. My Not-So-Tiny Addiction”