Book Clubs

[Darren]

As I was reading the Sunday papers I saw a few ads for book clubs. The ones which try to attract you with offers such as "5 books for £1 each" etc... Usually they have a catch such as having to buy a book a month from their selection for at least 6 months (or something similar).

Has anyone ever joined one, or are already a member of one?

Are they good value? Aren't most of the editions specially printed for the book club?

 

[Holger]

Bertelsman

I used to be a member of Bertelsman book club in Germany, but it is really some time ago. The books were not only printed for the club, they had a good quality and quantity.

Well, nowadays I do not like such clubs anymore. I do not like to be forced to buy something within a certain time.

/Holger

 

[Darren]

I found that the savings weren't great, especially when you add on the cost of postage and packing.

I don't like me tied to a brief catalogue. Much rather browse a large book shop or site like Amazon.

 

[Dawn]

I agree that the list of books available seem limited. I'd much rather visit a bookstore or library. The experience of finding a book is almost as fun as reading one.

Almost.

 

[Tobytook]

Yeah, I like Amazon because it's cheap and I can just sit back and wait for the book I want.

On the other hand, if I'm strolling through town and I come across a bookshop, I'm likely to wander in and see what's on the shelves.

Book Clubs in general want some kind of commitment, although I did get a special "no ties" offer from one UK firm (I forget the name) a few years ago that gave me ten novels for about £10 - including Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, Josephine Hart's Damage and Martin Amis' London Fields - which would otherwise have set me back £7 each.

These kind of special offers are always out there.

Tobytook

 

[Darren]

Didn't a club called "The Softback Preview" give a no-ties offer? They sold some trade paperbacks for a few pounds each.

 

[Tobytook]

"The Softback Review found innocent"

Could be, but they weren't the people I got that stuff from - not unless they also do regular bookshop paperbacks as well as TPs.

(TPs are the same size/paper as hardbacks, just with soft covers, right? They're like publisher proofs, in way. Or am I thinking of something else?)

Tobytook

 

[mom2kngr]

I was just reading my emails and got a book club offer from one called Zooba. Has anyone heard of them? Does anyone use book clubs to get their books from? It has been a few years since anyone has brought this up again so I thought I would. I use to belong to Doubleday but got out 2 years ago and never have joined one again. My friend keeps trying to get me to join the Literary Club. What are your thoughts on these?

 

[abecedarian]

I was just reading my emails and got a book club offer from one called Zooba. Has anyone heard of them? Does anyone use book clubs to get their books from? It has been a few years since anyone has brought this up again so I thought I would. I use to belong to Doubleday but got out 2 years ago and never have joined one again. My friend keeps trying to get me to join the Literary Club. What are your thoughts on these?

I have a zooba membership and I really like it. The main drawbacks are: 1. I HAVE to buy a book each month or get charged $9.95, and 2. The only way to pay is via credit card, and 3. Their selection is limited(but better than any single bookclub since they draw titles from all of them)

The good points are: 1. All books are $9.95, which includes shipping and handling, and 2. I can make a wish list and have books sent automatically and 3. So far, they've had plenty that I want

My dh isn't too crazy about the mandatory automatic bill, but the prices are so good..

 

[mehastings]

I was a member of the Children's Book of the Month Club, and the Book of the Month Club. They give you the great offer up front and then require you to buy X number of books within a certain time period. You also get a book or two sent to you every month if you don't decline on time. I thought the membership was reasonable, however, the selections didn't do it for me. Both clubs focus on hardcover books that are currently very popular with no concern for quality. I found that I wasn't willing to pay a fortune for mediocre books in a format I don't like. So, I set both clubs up to send me the monthly packets, but to auto-decline my monthly selections. I rarely order, for myself, but have used them since for gift purchasing.

 

[cabrasopa]

I have been a member of a few book clubs in the past.
The initial offer to tempt you to join is good, Usually 6 books for 1p each or similar, but then you have to commit to a minimum of about 6 books a year depending on the club. If you do not order a book when the monthly magazine is sent they automatically send you their book of the month, which means if you don't want it you have got to go throught the bother of sending it back. I've also found that a lot of the books you order are 'book club editions' which are normally smaller. After the initial offer the books are not any cheaper than buying them in the shops when you add on postage.
I now order online with Amazon, Abebooks etc and buy on Ebay.
I haven't joined a book club for years now but i still get them sending me mail offering me these 6 book deals.

 

[Billy]

Didn't a club called "The Softback Preview" give a no-ties offer? They sold some trade paperbacks for a few pounds each.

I was a member of this book club several years ago. It's not true that there were 'no ties'. Each month they would send you their book of the month for you to peruse. If you didn't like it, you could send it back within a certain amount of days, but this meant that you would have to pay for postage to send it back. I ended up with quite a few books I didn't want simply because I forgot to tell them not to send me their book of the month. I'm not certain, but I think that you had to purchas a certain amount of books per year and you had to remain a member for a year. I withdrew my membership shortly after the year was up. However having said this, I did get quite a few really good reference books that I hadn't been able to find in shops, so although I didn't like the commitment involved, I did still get something out of it.

 

[abecedarian]

I got very good at carefully peeling the invoice envelope off the front of the box to slice it open with a steak knife so I could see if I'd actually ordered the book(or cd). If it wasn't something I wanted, I carefully re-glued it all back to the front of the box, wrote Return to Sender across the envelope, and put it back in the mailbox.

 

[G4G]

Book clubs are devious and evil. They offer something upfront that you can't resist, then you're tied to buy cack for x months, as suddenly they stop offering anything you want to actually read.

 

[abecedarian]

Book clubs are devious and evil. They offer something upfront that you can't resist, then you're tied to buy cack for x months, as suddenly they stop offering anything you want to actually read.

And in the good old days of monthly snailmail newsletters, one could only order from the current list. They were counting on us not keeping the old newletters, and ordering something they didn't include in the new one. Drove me bonkers because certain companies were bad about offering great stuff in the ad, but never having anything I wanted in the newsletters. Record companies were even worse.