rates which discourage some users from mailing abroad, a group of volunteer “angels” exist who will mooch books within their own country and send them on to members in other countries; The BookMooch Support Group is for members who commit to reading at least two of their stacked-up To Be Read piles during the month and post reviews to the Support Group's blog, The Smoke Lives. The BookMooch Journal Project – Journals/Notebooks posted by a member for Mooching. Each member who mooches contributes artwork or as directed by the originator and adds the book to their own inventory to be Mooched. BookMooch Friends is a Yahoo social group for getting to know one another outside the trading environment BookMooch Barter – where members can swap things other than books BookMooch Lottery – an occasional activity where members pool points. Half the pool goes to a random selection of members; half to charity. Under discussion is a member-run Bank of BookMooch where members who are short of points can borrow and repay them later. Members also write documentation and help features and maintain the BookMooch Wiki. The site has an API allowing developers to create their own web applications. Transparency Transparency of behavior is a key component of BookMooch. Recipients of books assign feedback to each transaction and a history for each member is open to view. A balanced ratio of mooching to giving must be maintained by each member in order to continue to receive books. Both the forums and the feedback/e-mail systems generally allow users to resolve any differences amicably. Income BookMooch is a for-profit corporation wholly owned by Buckman, but it does not charge membership or use fees. Revenue is generated from users' voluntary fiscal contributions and from commissions when users purchase a book from Amazon.com through referral by the site. As of December 2006, for approximately every 30 books mooched, one book is purchased from Amazon. See also Book swapping References External links BookMooch Blog Press coverage Today Show: Free for all: Get great stuff for nada (Jan 29, 2008) New York Times, Clear the Bookshelf and Fill It Up Again, All Online (Oct 15, 2007) CNET News Blog: BookMooch: Swap your books for free The Guardian: Charlotte Northedge on book-swapping websites Book swapping Internet forums