swaps signups!
Greetings, Yuletide denizens! We apologize for the delay over this weekend, but we are getting the swaps show on the road! We're still looking for volunteers and helpful resource links, which you can read more about here. Resources post will go up when we start sending out matches**!
** NOT, you know, Yuletide assignments. Just bookswap and candyswap matches.
This post covers sign-ups for candyswap AND bookswap. Sign-ups for both swaps will close at midnight Pacific Daylight Time, at the end of Sunday, October 30, 2011. Match-ups will be sent approximately one week later, possibly in multiple batches depending on the number of participants. Time-zone conversions of the sign-up deadline can be found here.
To sign up for CANDYSWAP, click HERE.
To sign up for BOOKSWAP, click HERE.
If you have any questions, please first read the FAQ and timeline below; then, if you need clarification or additional help, comment here or hit us up in IRC. If you wish to inform us of someone who defaulted on you last year or the year before, please email all three of us with the name you signed up with THAT YEAR and the name they signed up with THAT YEAR, and we will note it in our records. It will be easiest for us if you do this instead of or in addition to commenting on the sign-up form! Kat is cokindness2001 at gmail, Stars is everywherestars at gmail, and Sleeps is cookiepirate at gmail.
Frequently Asked Questions:
[General]
What about shipping prices?
Shipping prices, especially internationally, are going to be a little high. For example, shipping within the US will cost you five dollars in a small flat-rate box. The same box shipped to Canada or Mexico may cost half again as much, and the same box shipped across an ocean might cost twice as much. Please factor shipping into your costs as you sign up and select shipping locations that you can honestly afford. We'll do our best to honor all preferences expressed in sign-ups, and we recommend looking into your country's postal rates for exact details.
Note: Shipping anywhere is fraught with a potential random failure and competes with increased volume during the holidays! Wherever possible, we recommend that you get electronic confirmation to ensure that your recipient will be able to track their package.
If there's going to be a real issue, use the extra-info boxes at the end of each sign-up to tell us what's going on, or mass-email the three of us (cookiepirate at gmail for Sleepfighter, cokindness2001 at gmail for Kat, and everywherestars at gmail for Stars).
What if I live in multiple places?
Use your best judgment as to what you put down for your location. Choose wherever you think you're likely to be when your package arrives!
Do I have to give you an alternate means of contact? Why are you asking for a second way to get ahold of me?
In the past, we've had to scramble to contact people who have vanished or even just typo-ed their email, and we had to stalk around to figure out how. Securing this information ahead of time saves us a lot of trouble! We would prefer to use email or PM, if possible, but will do our best to get ahold of you by any means (that doesn't involve coming to your home).
Where's my recipient's address?
We don't have that information, actually! We only know your recipient's email. It will be up to you guys to contact one another and share delivery information.
It has been X days, and I've had no contact from my recipient/sender! What do I do?
Again, come to us. We'll call the pinch-hitters to arms or try to reach your match (if we know how), and it'll all get sorted out!
What if I want to redo my sign-up? I think I made a mistake!
If you do redo the form, please mention it in the extra-info section at the end of the form, so we can delete your first entry. You can also email us, if your corrections are minor.
Oh, man. I'm not much of a reader of good books. My sender will totally judge me!! or, I don't know if I'm YULETIDEY enough... or, An exchange? For anyone who wants? Are you sure I can do this?
This is an exchange for anyone affiliated with Yuletide. Come, enjoy the fun. Trade books! Eat candy! Chat in the comments about what you're going to inflict upon give your recipient! We are in no way official - we just thought this would be fun one time, two years ago, and here we are today!
I don't know if I can make it by the deadline, but I want to participate anyway. What can I do?
We recommend pinch-hitting. Life happens to all of us, and, if we do need help, you'll be doing us a real favor.
Life has happened to me. I need to drop out. Who should I tell?
Please, please, let the three of us know by email as soon as possible if you think you have to drop out, and we'll get things rearranged. We really want to make sure that all who send, receive!
Do I have to pinch-hit?
Just to be clear: You don't have to pinch-hit to play, and those who sign up only to pinch-hit and wind up sending something out, will get something in return, because this is about giving and receiving, and we'd feel rather guilty if they didn't!
What happened to the kitten exchange?
A hippo ate the paperwork. Sorry. Maybe you can be the one to mod an unofficial-unofficial kittenswap.
[Candy]
How much candy is "enough"? Can I send out homemade stuff?
We estimate that everyone should spend around five to ten dollars on something awesome. This price does not include shipping and handling. If you want to spend more, great! You are really, really not obligated to do that. If you feel like five to ten dollars is on the low side, and you feel guilty - don't! You're taking the time to get your recipient something awesome, and everyone appreciates that!
We cannot officially recommend sending out homemade treats, especially if you're sending across international borders (there are certain restrictions around food in the mail). But, if your recipient is cool with homemade stuff, we recommend sending whatever you can make that's least perishable, in as protective a container as you can manage. As fast as possible. Here is one tip from a past sender! If any others have tricks that might come in handy, feel free to comment with them here, at our hungry, hungry resource-gathering post!
Alternately, if you are a busy person who can't go shopping or be making fudge or whatever, but you want to send something local and awesome, feel free to look into candymakers who will ship gift orders! Some link recommendations for online sellers will be in the resources post (to which people should seriously continue contributing! we can't say it enough) when we put it up. In the meantime, Google is only a click away!
My recipient is fine with any candy. What should I send?
Local candies are great and what we'd recommend first to anyone! If you know of a really great local candymaker, send off a small selection from them. If you want to send off local snacks or things that aren't quite candy, be sure to check your recipient's sign-up to make sure that's okay. The point here is to send off things that are fun for both of you!
[Books]
How much is this going to cost me? Do I have to buy a really nice book? What about shipping?
We expect people to gauge what they can afford to send, and we expect most people to mail used mass-market paperbacks. (This could be anything from YA to manga to a murder mystery!) This is about trading the awesome stories we love, not about the newness of books. Again, use your best judgment, look up shipping prices, and, if you like, you can always place a gift order somewhere like Alibris or half.com. There are options, you can Google, and we will be providing ideas in the resources post pretty soon! ( Click here to suggest more resources. We are definitely still looking!)
My recipient is fine with any book. What should I send?
Send what you love best. Seriously. Hopefully your recipient will like it, too, and you'll have a new fan of the series (read: someone else who can write you fic)!
How do I avoid giving my recipient duplicates of books already in their collection?
You may wish to clear the books you send beforehand, just to make sure your recipient isn't getting any second copies. And definitely talk about what you've read and enjoyed before! It will give them/you a sense of what you/they would like out of their/your collection!
How does matching for e-books and audiobooks work? And what about the language match-ups?
We will try to assign those who want to share e-books and audiobooks with those who have opted into those particular formats, but you will not be obligated to partake: they are extras to make the sharing process easier! The same is true of books in other languages... We'll see how that goes this year.
Note: If you are giving your recipient Audible credit, consider making them up a short recommendations list, so they have some idea which awesome books they could listen to in the near future!
Timeline of Important Swap Dates:
Monday, October 24, 2011: Both swap sign-ups open!
Sunday, October 30, 2011: Both swap sign-ups close at midnight Sunday-Monday, PDT.
Friday, November 4, 2011 - Monday, November 7, 2011: Swap matches go out!
Friday, November 18, 2011: Deadline for posting books.
Saturday, November 19, 2011: Deadline for posting candy.
Thanks for participating - we're thrilled to have you! Get ready...get set...GO!!
** NOT, you know, Yuletide assignments. Just bookswap and candyswap matches.
This post covers sign-ups for candyswap AND bookswap. Sign-ups for both swaps will close at midnight Pacific Daylight Time, at the end of Sunday, October 30, 2011. Match-ups will be sent approximately one week later, possibly in multiple batches depending on the number of participants. Time-zone conversions of the sign-up deadline can be found here.
To sign up for CANDYSWAP, click HERE.
To sign up for BOOKSWAP, click HERE.
If you have any questions, please first read the FAQ and timeline below; then, if you need clarification or additional help, comment here or hit us up in IRC. If you wish to inform us of someone who defaulted on you last year or the year before, please email all three of us with the name you signed up with THAT YEAR and the name they signed up with THAT YEAR, and we will note it in our records. It will be easiest for us if you do this instead of or in addition to commenting on the sign-up form! Kat is cokindness2001 at gmail, Stars is everywherestars at gmail, and Sleeps is cookiepirate at gmail.
Frequently Asked Questions:
[General]
What about shipping prices?
Shipping prices, especially internationally, are going to be a little high. For example, shipping within the US will cost you five dollars in a small flat-rate box. The same box shipped to Canada or Mexico may cost half again as much, and the same box shipped across an ocean might cost twice as much. Please factor shipping into your costs as you sign up and select shipping locations that you can honestly afford. We'll do our best to honor all preferences expressed in sign-ups, and we recommend looking into your country's postal rates for exact details.
Note: Shipping anywhere is fraught with a potential random failure and competes with increased volume during the holidays! Wherever possible, we recommend that you get electronic confirmation to ensure that your recipient will be able to track their package.
If there's going to be a real issue, use the extra-info boxes at the end of each sign-up to tell us what's going on, or mass-email the three of us (cookiepirate at gmail for Sleepfighter, cokindness2001 at gmail for Kat, and everywherestars at gmail for Stars).
What if I live in multiple places?
Use your best judgment as to what you put down for your location. Choose wherever you think you're likely to be when your package arrives!
Do I have to give you an alternate means of contact? Why are you asking for a second way to get ahold of me?
In the past, we've had to scramble to contact people who have vanished or even just typo-ed their email, and we had to stalk around to figure out how. Securing this information ahead of time saves us a lot of trouble! We would prefer to use email or PM, if possible, but will do our best to get ahold of you by any means (that doesn't involve coming to your home).
Where's my recipient's address?
We don't have that information, actually! We only know your recipient's email. It will be up to you guys to contact one another and share delivery information.
It has been X days, and I've had no contact from my recipient/sender! What do I do?
Again, come to us. We'll call the pinch-hitters to arms or try to reach your match (if we know how), and it'll all get sorted out!
What if I want to redo my sign-up? I think I made a mistake!
If you do redo the form, please mention it in the extra-info section at the end of the form, so we can delete your first entry. You can also email us, if your corrections are minor.
Oh, man. I'm not much of a reader of good books. My sender will totally judge me!! or, I don't know if I'm YULETIDEY enough... or, An exchange? For anyone who wants? Are you sure I can do this?
This is an exchange for anyone affiliated with Yuletide. Come, enjoy the fun. Trade books! Eat candy! Chat in the comments about what you're going to inflict upon give your recipient! We are in no way official - we just thought this would be fun one time, two years ago, and here we are today!
I don't know if I can make it by the deadline, but I want to participate anyway. What can I do?
We recommend pinch-hitting. Life happens to all of us, and, if we do need help, you'll be doing us a real favor.
Life has happened to me. I need to drop out. Who should I tell?
Please, please, let the three of us know by email as soon as possible if you think you have to drop out, and we'll get things rearranged. We really want to make sure that all who send, receive!
Do I have to pinch-hit?
Just to be clear: You don't have to pinch-hit to play, and those who sign up only to pinch-hit and wind up sending something out, will get something in return, because this is about giving and receiving, and we'd feel rather guilty if they didn't!
What happened to the kitten exchange?
A hippo ate the paperwork. Sorry. Maybe you can be the one to mod an unofficial-unofficial kittenswap.
[Candy]
How much candy is "enough"? Can I send out homemade stuff?
We estimate that everyone should spend around five to ten dollars on something awesome. This price does not include shipping and handling. If you want to spend more, great! You are really, really not obligated to do that. If you feel like five to ten dollars is on the low side, and you feel guilty - don't! You're taking the time to get your recipient something awesome, and everyone appreciates that!
We cannot officially recommend sending out homemade treats, especially if you're sending across international borders (there are certain restrictions around food in the mail). But, if your recipient is cool with homemade stuff, we recommend sending whatever you can make that's least perishable, in as protective a container as you can manage. As fast as possible. Here is one tip from a past sender! If any others have tricks that might come in handy, feel free to comment with them here, at our hungry, hungry resource-gathering post!
Alternately, if you are a busy person who can't go shopping or be making fudge or whatever, but you want to send something local and awesome, feel free to look into candymakers who will ship gift orders! Some link recommendations for online sellers will be in the resources post (to which people should seriously continue contributing! we can't say it enough) when we put it up. In the meantime, Google is only a click away!
My recipient is fine with any candy. What should I send?
Local candies are great and what we'd recommend first to anyone! If you know of a really great local candymaker, send off a small selection from them. If you want to send off local snacks or things that aren't quite candy, be sure to check your recipient's sign-up to make sure that's okay. The point here is to send off things that are fun for both of you!
[Books]
How much is this going to cost me? Do I have to buy a really nice book? What about shipping?
We expect people to gauge what they can afford to send, and we expect most people to mail used mass-market paperbacks. (This could be anything from YA to manga to a murder mystery!) This is about trading the awesome stories we love, not about the newness of books. Again, use your best judgment, look up shipping prices, and, if you like, you can always place a gift order somewhere like Alibris or half.com. There are options, you can Google, and we will be providing ideas in the resources post pretty soon! ( Click here to suggest more resources. We are definitely still looking!)
My recipient is fine with any book. What should I send?
Send what you love best. Seriously. Hopefully your recipient will like it, too, and you'll have a new fan of the series (read: someone else who can write you fic)!
How do I avoid giving my recipient duplicates of books already in their collection?
You may wish to clear the books you send beforehand, just to make sure your recipient isn't getting any second copies. And definitely talk about what you've read and enjoyed before! It will give them/you a sense of what you/they would like out of their/your collection!
How does matching for e-books and audiobooks work? And what about the language match-ups?
We will try to assign those who want to share e-books and audiobooks with those who have opted into those particular formats, but you will not be obligated to partake: they are extras to make the sharing process easier! The same is true of books in other languages... We'll see how that goes this year.
Note: If you are giving your recipient Audible credit, consider making them up a short recommendations list, so they have some idea which awesome books they could listen to in the near future!
Timeline of Important Swap Dates:
Monday, October 24, 2011: Both swap sign-ups open!
Sunday, October 30, 2011: Both swap sign-ups close at midnight Sunday-Monday, PDT.
Friday, November 4, 2011 - Monday, November 7, 2011: Swap matches go out!
Friday, November 18, 2011: Deadline for posting books.
Saturday, November 19, 2011: Deadline for posting candy.
Thanks for participating - we're thrilled to have you! Get ready...get set...GO!!