Book sales club
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A book sales club is a
Business model
Each member of a book sales club agrees to receive books by mail and pay for them as they are received. This may be done by means of negative option billing, in which the customer receives an announcement of the book, or books, along with a form to notify the seller if the customer does not want the book: if the customer fails to return the form by a specified date, the seller will ship the book and expect the customer to pay for it. Alternatively, the business may operate via a "positive option", in which the customer is periodically sent a list of books offered, but none is sent until the customer specifically orders them. The offer of a free book, often a large one, is a frequent enticement to membership. The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary for years served this purpose. Some clubs offer new members other (non-book) free gifts, such as book notes or reading lights.
Some book sales clubs are "continuity" clubs, which send members a certain number of books (selected by the club or the member) every month until the membership expires or is cancelled. Harlequin Book Clubs are typical of such clubs. Other book sales clubs are "commitment" clubs, which require members to order a certain number of books in order to fulfill the membership obligation and cancel the membership. Most
Book sales clubs typically sell books at a sizable discount from their list prices. Often, the books sold are editions created specifically for sale by the clubs, and are manufactured more cheaply and less durably than the regular editions.[1]
The
British book clubs
During the 20th century British book clubs included the Book Club, the Left Book Club, the Right Book Club, Collins Crime Club, Book Club Associates (BCA), The Reprint Society, the Readers' Union, the Travel Book Club,[2] Browse this collection the Companion Book Club, the Sportsman's Book Club, the Science Fiction Book Club, the History Book Club, the Victorian and Modern History Book Club, the Catholic Book Club, the Garden Book Club, the Thriller Book Club,[3] and the Folio Society.
Text publication societies
In 19th-century Britain, the term book club was sometimes applied to
American book clubs
20th century book clubs in the U.S. included Book League of America, the Literary Guild, the Junior Library Guild, the Mystery Book Club, the Science Fiction Book Club, the Book of the Month Club, the Quality Paperback Book Club, Reese's Book Club, and Treble Clef and Book Lovers' Club (TCBLC).
European book clubs
German book clubs have included Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft (WBG) and French book clubs have included the Club français du livre.
See also
References
- ^ "Book club edition". ABAA Glossary of Terms. Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
- ^ World Famous Book Club, Pix, Vol. 28. No. 6. 29 November 1952, display advertisement. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
- ^ COLLECT - The Thriller Book Club - 3 Christie titles, collectingchristie.com. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
Further reading
- Norrick-Rühl, Corinna (2019). Book Clubs and Book Commerce. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108597258.
- ISBN 0835204987.
- ISBN 0-8103-1724-9.