Typewriter Letter - Jul/Aug/Sep 2015

UPDATE 6/6/2015: Letter swaps will be quarterly for the rest of the year.

IMPORTANT REQUIREMENTS CLARIFICATION: "Letters" which could better be described as "notes" have become an issue recently. This is a letter writing swap. Letters must be a minimum of 3 pages long (8.5-inch x 11-inch paper single spaced, more pages required if smaller paper or double spacing is used). Letters of 5-10 pages should not be unusual. Letters which do not meet this criteria should be rated down for not meeting the swap requirements. A good letter should take at least two hours to write. Please consider this when deciding to join. We'd love to have you, but nobody likes to feel cheated by receiving a quick note after spending an afternoon putting ink to paper to craft a lengthy letter.

Type Type Type Type! I heard typewriters are making a comeback. Dust off the one in your closet or basement. There are many ribbons available on eBay and Amazon. You've got time to buy one and still sign up for this swap! Isn't this just the excuse you were looking for?

Type one letter, send to one partner. This is a Letters & Writing category swap. If you worry that your letter is too short, then you are correct. If you don't want to write a letter, listen to your inner voice. If you're feeling chatty, click JOIN now!

Typewritten letter required - even the addresses on the envelope should be typed. No computers! If you have a question, please PM me - I don't check the comments often.

Ribbons

A fair number of people have commented that they'd like to join the swap, but their typewriter needs a new ribbon. Let this be your incentive to finally get one! I've had good luck finding replacements on both Amazon and eBay searching for "typewriter ribbon" and the model name of my typewriter. Never throw away an old metal spool because you may not be able to replace it, but you can almost certainly cut off the old ribbon and replace it with a new ribbon. You buy a new ribbon on a plastic spool, cut the ribbon off of the incompatible spool, then wind the new ribbon onto your old metal spool. Most typewriters use a 1/2-inch wide ribbon, but be sure to measure yours before ordering a replacement. Put New Ribbon on Old Spool

Some Housekeeping Info

Firstly, thanks so much for joining my swaps, people. It's a lot fun for me. They've grown in size to the point where I need to take some steps to control the amount of time that it takes to manage them.

• Communicate Communicate Communicate I won't be checking to see who's naughty and who's nice. If you have a question or problem, please let your partner know and give them a chance to respond. If you can't resolve the issue, then let me know and I'll do what I can to help work it out.

• Senders Please send your items on time and remember to mark your swap as "sent". Please let your partner know if you are going to send late. Many swappers won't mind a bit of delay as long as keep people informed. Before assigning partners for future swaps, I will remove anyone has not marked an item "sent" for a previous swap. If you want to be in the next swap, then send your items and mark them as sent.

• Recipients If you haven't received anything a week or two after the swap deadline, please let your partner know. If you still don't receive an item (or a satisfactory response), leave a "1" rating then contact me to send an angel replacement. I will angel only if you rate the swap appropriately. Accurate ratings are the only way I can weed out unreliable senders from future swaps. And that's good for everyone.