Newbie friendly real letter and surprise - Int'l

Please note! If you are signed up for this swap, please check you email, junk, spam boxes as I will be sending you emails regarding this swap! If I send you an email, and you don't reply as requested, I will ban you from the swap. This is part of my 'vetting' process. I will communicate with you through the email address listed in your profile, so please be sure it is correct!

I come across a bunch of swappers who want to sign up for swaps, but are newbies, so they are excluded. How can you build up ratings if you're not allowed to join swaps, right? I like to believe in the best in people, and am willing to take a chance. (Don't let me down!) So this swap is for everyone, International, newbies and even unrated (You MUST, MUST, MUST have a very well filled out profile for this!) New swappers, please read the whole description - there are details about partners below!

Besides newbies, I've also been discourage with some letters I've gotten in swaps in the past months. They're not "letters" as I know them - I'm a life long pen paller, so maybe my standards are high, but again, I like to believe the best in people, so ... Rather than complain, I hope to encourage.

A pen pal letter should not be whatever comes into your mind (that's more of a journal entry or a Face Book post in my mind). This is a Pen Pal letter, meaning you are serious and want to communicate via snail mail, long term. That means you want to introduce yourself, your family, your pets - the "cast of characters as I like to say. :) You will talk about your likes, dislikes, interests. Not just what is in your profile, but more detail. This is your new friend, after all! :) This letter should be 3-4 pages of stationery (5x7 in or 14x20 cm). One side is one page, so if you do front and back, it will be 2-3 sheets. This is a pen pal letter, but it doesn't 'have to' be on pretty stationery - that is always nice, of course, but not a requirement.

You will include something you like. For example, I like to cook and collect recipes, so I may include a favorite recipe to my new pen pal. This does not have to be high cost, but you are sharing a bit of yourself with your pen pal. (Unless it's a note card you designed, a note card or sheet of stickers, washi tape will NOT cut it for this part of the swap.) Something YOU like is not specific to your partner - just to you.

Next, you will include something to your new pen pal, that they like according to their profile. So, if your pen pal states that they collect post cards, you may include a post card to them. This item MUST be specific to your partner.

BE sure to include the swap name and your swap-bot ID somewhere in the package! This will help you be rated! :) You can write it on a note and include that with the letter or write the information at the top of your letter sheet - that is fine.

These items should all be flat-ish. Some countries are very picky about mail coming into their country, and a bulky or thick envelope may not go through customs. So keep it flat-ish. This swap is not high cost, but it is a Type 3 because you need to spend some time on the letter and finding the items.

You will have ONE partner. This swap is INTERNATIONAL, so postage may cost more to send to your partner. Be prepared for that. (Swap-bot assigns partners randomly - the host does not have the ability or option to pick and choose who is partnered with who.)

As I said, I will allow unrated newbies to join this swap. But you MUST have a well filled out profile. That means more than 3 topics, details about your likes, dislikes, favorite things (books, magazines, crafts, music - so on). The more detail you give, the easier it will be for your partner to send you something. :) I will be going through profiles, and I will send your a swap-bot PM if I have questions about your profile, or think that you need to add more to it! If you do not feel comfortable giving lots of details about yourself in your profile, this is not the swap for you.

For rated users, you need a 4.98 rating or higher. If you have had any 1's or 3's since March of this year and wish to join, you MUST send me a PM and state your case about the rating, and I will decide if you can join. This is NOT a ratings booster swap - this is a chance to give new swappers a swap to join, learn how the site works, ask questions, get guidance. And, most importantly, make some new friends. :) There are a lot of really awesome people on this site.

New swappers - when you join this swap, it will show up on your dashboard, but you will not get your partner until the sign up date has passed (which is midnight of that date), and the host clicks a button for swap-bot to assign partners. After partners have been assigned, on the right side of the screen, in the box, you will see "See the partners you send to". When you click on that, a pop up box will appear with their name, user ID and address. After you send your swap, you need to click the "click here when you have sent your swap"

When you receive your swap in the mail, you MUST log in and rate your partner! It's a big deal here on swap-bot. So when you open your swap, click on the "Rate your partners and coordinator" New swappers, I highly encourage your to join the "newbie helpers" group - the forum has lots of good info in it, and there are a bunch of very helpful swappers in the group to help you out here on swap-bot. :)

I usually assign partners by 10 am EST the morning after the sign up. Swap-bot isn't sending out a notification email anymore, so I will often send a group email to everyone - to your listed email address, not your swap-bot messages - to let everyone know that partners have been assigned. (This isn't a requirement, and not all hosts do this, but I found it helpful in swaps I joined.)

If you have ANY questions about the swap, concerns about swappers who have signed up, etc, please ask! I prefer to get a PM than comments below.

I WILL angel for this swap, but of course I would prefer not to. :)
(Before I send the angel swap, though, you must message with your partner, follow the swap-bot system, and rate your partner a '1')