What would it take for you to sign up for a book club like Book of the MonthClub, Doubleday, Scholastic, etc?
bev208@bellsouth.net
I would sign up for a book club, but the shipping is too expensive. The shipping would have to be free. Also, it is too expensive to send the hardbacks to other people. Paperbacks are much easier to send to other people. Also the hardbacks take up too much room to store --- that is one reason why I quit the book club the last time.
KMishkin@aol.com
I'd like to see these clubs sell paperbacks. I realize it's probably not profitable enough for them, but I'd prefer to buy $7.99 paperbacks than a hardback I might not end up liking. Also, have a less required number of books to buy. The last time I received an offer in the mail it was something like pick 5 for $1 each, must buy 4 in the next two years. I'd rather pick 2 and have 1 book to buy.
Ackurtenbach@aol.com
I have been in several book clubs, both for adults and children, and I am not planning to do so again. It becomes complicated as far as returning envelopes and receiving books you haven't ordered. I feel pressure to purchase the required amount of books in the time frame they designate. I prefer to order my books through online services or in my local bookstore.
AcornLiz@aol.com
I do now and have belonged to several book clubs. I almost always buy only the minimum needed to remain a member but use the newsletters to find out about new books. The reason I do not purchase more is the "handling fee." Once you add the handling fee to the tax and shipping, you cancel out any discount and the jacket cover price is almost always the price you are paying. I purchase most of my books at a discount club --- like Sam's or BJ's, or through Barnes and Noble online --- because in most cases this is cheaper than any retail store.
cjluther@charter.net
I would belong only if they were regular editions, not BCE. I do, in fact, belong to three clubs with the Mysterious Book Shop in New York. I pay full price to receive first editions that are, for the most part, signed. If the books were not signed first editions, I would think that the prices would have to be comparable with the online booksellers.
Rochelle017@aol.com
They would have to offer authors who I like to read.
I just finished The Last Juror by John Grisham and Nighttime is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark.
KLLovelady@aol.com
I have belonged to a book of the month club and would enjoy one. But my frustration was that you needed to sign for the books when they arrived, and if no one was there, the books weren't sent back and I was charged. It needs to be a simpler process.
PFIE@aol.com
There is an audiobook rental company that has something similar to a book subscription program. For a charge of $19.95 a month, I am able to rent three books at a time and as soon as I return a book, I am sent the next book on my wish list. As I spend quite a bit of time in my car, being able to listen to an unabridged CD has been a lifesaver.
ATESSL@aol.com
It would take prices and shipping like Amazon.com. I love getting the reviews, etc. that you get with a book club, but is it worth paying more when so much is available online? No. Match Amazon and maybe I'm there.
VickyRD@aol.com
I do belong to a book club but decline the books every month. Book of the Month club is now sending out the book club edition books the same as Literary Guild but still charging higher prices. If the book clubs would send out regular editions of the books at store prices, it would make them more desirable. Also, charging the actual price they state as a sale price would be good also. Just about everytime I get books on sale from the book clubs, they do not send them with the sale price stated. Last, make the shipping prices reasonable so the price of the book does not come out more than the publisher's price. Do they not know about the post office shipping rate for books? Makes one wonder.
Josephine Anna Kaszuba Locke
No long-term commitments.
Rickimc@aol.com
I currently do belong to QPB, but that is only because I belong to Stage 'n Screen to get theatre books that are hard to find elsewhere. When Stage 'n Screen folded/dissolved/went under/whatever, they switched me to QPB. I would enjoy it more and join others if the shipping and handling was not so high and no books were sent automatically (responding online is easier than mailing in the card, but it still requires one to respond). Also, the prices could be cheaper.
jscady@efieldguide.com
I would like to be able to buy hardbound or paperback, bestsellers from big publishers and independent booksellers, all types of books. In other words, Amazon.com is my Books of the Month Club. I don't see how any other company can improve on it.
WWendyis@aol.com
Lower shipping and handling charges. These costs make the low prices moot. I currently belong to two clubs, but only purchase my commitment books, and then only when they have a free shipping promo.
CandyM49@aol.com
The best way for me to join another bookclub would be if it were possible to order the books you want from the catalog instead of having to tell them by a certain date that you don't want a book that they selected. I tried doing this online and half the time the site wasn't working, so I ended up receiving books that I did not intend to order.
Nancy from Lillian, Alabama
Ah, my pet peeve! Here's what it would take for me to sign up:
1) A clear statement of charges for the shipping and handling of "free" books; not a total, but the charges for the first book and each "free" book thereafter.
2) Stop the practice of billing books to my credit card without authorization.
3) Customer service representatives who use email to respond with specificity and within 48 hours --- to email correspondence related to order and billing errors.
4) Assure me that customer service representatives want to provide accurate and timely "SERVICE." Failing to receive a response after 6 emails I imagined that representatives took my 6 emails, shuffled them, and drew one to respond to, throwing the rest away.
5) Design one Doubleday (Book-of-the-Month, etc.) website that works instead of seven different websites that don't.
6) AND offer free shipping on all books!
I can buy brand NEW (always 30% off) books from Amazon for $3.99 shipping.
I routinely buy USED ("LIKE NEW") books from Amazon.com for $0.01+ $3.49 shipping.
I can pay $0.75 for a (gently) USED book at Half.com with (paperback) shipping charges of $2.79 for the first book and $1.49 for each additional book from that seller.
With the marvelous service and the guarantees I get from these two Internet booksellers, why oh why would I put up with the guaranteed frustration of dealing with book clubs, particularly Doubleday? Because THE BOOKS ARE NOT FREE!
vitale@grantsburgtelcom.net
Free shipping and handling.
SWeeaks@aol.com
I have several authors whose books I enjoy. If there was a book service that offered select authors at a very low price, I would seriously consider joining. For instance, I read all of Robert B. Parker's books. I enjoy all of his characters so I buy or borrow all of his books. I also enjoy many other mystery/suspense authors and read all of their books, so yes, I would definitely be interestedIF, and only if, I defined all of the parameters.
GandmaRI@aol.com
Reasonable prices, low postage and handling, online access to order or decline, only 1 or 2 additional purchases to begin getting more discounts and to fulfill membership.
PTOHawk@aol.com
No automatic mailings. Order what you want only when you want it without having to send a reply back by a certain date.
Booksdoral@aol.com
I would join a book club if I was able to review the book first and not just get sent books automatically. They have two sites online that offer previews now. One is for audio books and you can actually just listen to them, and one sends you chapters everyday to read. Some are for new books and some are for books that are not even released yet. This way you know what the book is basically about and whether it "catches" your interest.
mmiceli@stephenspress.com
I don't belong to any of the reading clubs because they don't offer anything I like, and certainly not anything on a consistent basis. I rarely read modern fiction. If there was a group that had books on books/publishing industry, then I'd consider it. Otherwise, I read either canon classics or scholarly nonfiction.
Current books: Publishing for Profit by Tom Woll and Desert Solitaire by Ed Abbey
Ginnylazar@aol.com
I currently belong to a few book clubs. Their attraction is information. I learn what books have been published and discover authors who I might not have been aware of otherwise. However, I do tend to purchase books by authors I know, and the clubs serve to let me know when these people have new books out.
FalseMillennium@aol.com
I would never join a book of the month club, short of being in prison, living in some remote country, or being socially isolated in the extreme.
DStegmanCrawford@aol.com
Good prices, free shipping. Make me give up the library forever!! I really don't have an urge to OWN books, as I like them to be circulating. Once I read them, I rarely return and revisit the same story. If I own a book, I usually end up giving it to someone else to read and then never get it back. Or I donate it to my local school or community library. I guess you could say, I'm a firm believer in the public library system. I pay taxes for it, why not use it??!
bookluvr@bellsouth.net
I was recently a member of Rhapsody and in the past I have belonged to all of the big clubs, at one time or another. The new book clubs, like Rhapsody, make it so easy to make your selections and do everything online. There is no excuse for getting books you don't want.
What I loved about Rhapsody was the opportunity to get books I wanted in a hardcover edition, even if they were only published in paperback. I'd always prefer hardcovers, but when you come to an author late, you're sometimes stuck with paperbacks. I do appreciate the opportunity to collect the hardcovers!
The online version of the book clubs is awesome. I didn't appreciate paying for shipping, seeing as I don't on Amazon or Barnes & Noble when I order online. Once you fulfill your club commitment, special offers, including free shipping offers, will come your way via e-mail. I often took advantage of both the free shipping offers and others.
The only complaint I have about book clubs is that I'm not a great fan of the actual physical book club books as they don't seem as well bound and all the books are the same size.
cdonovan@peoplepc.com
For me to sign up for a book club like Book of the Month Club or one like it, it would have to depend on the authors it offered, as well the variety of the books. Since I read bestsellers, nonfiction and mysteries I'd like to see books by Anne Perry, Perri O'Shaughnessy, Brian Haig, etc. And the new books when they are released. I find that with some of the authors I like, the books offered through the book club in their ads are the last books, not the newest books, that these authors have written.
Jring233@aol.com
Free shipping and handling on the introductory offer
Order only status instead of automatic shipment of books
SBoyle6827@aol.com
I have been in a book club and always feel "used and taken" before I can get out of it. Their low starting price is a great come on. After that it is downhill.
EWilson297@aol.com
I would love to join a book club that only sends the books I request instead of requiring me to decline the selection or it's sent to me automatically. If the member desires the monthly selection, he/she should request the book. If the member does not respond, then it is understood that he/she does not want the monthly selection. In other words, reverse the procedure that most books clubs use now.
The Garden Flamingo
Good reviews
Great books --- controversial … not just bestsellers
No automatic ships
Free shipping
Low prices
INKPENBEN@aol.com
I do belong to Literary Guild. Their prices are 50% off the cover price and shipping is often free with an order of $25 or more (shipping often negates the savings). The downside is that some of the books I'd really like to get when they're just out are not available immediately. Not too much of a problem, however, as there are too many books and too little time anyway. Book of the Month Club generally has the new books right away, but I can get them at Barnes & Noble for about the same price, so why worry about sending back the card? Doubleday is mostly romances...
I do like getting the catalogs from the book clubs and sometimes find a book I might not have heard about had I not seen it in the promos. I always have a list of at least ten to twenty books I want to read … buy some from Literary Guild, some from Barnes & Noble local store (I can have a cookie and cappuccino there, too), and get some at the library.
Annabelle973@aol.com
I did "bite" a few months ago and joined Book of the Month Club. I have often regretted joining, mostly because there are so many mailings. Once I have fulfilled my purchase obligations, I will not rejoin this or any other book club.
Most of the books I read are available at the public library, so I am not all that interested in buying books in the first place.
mj_brown@sympatico.ca
With the presence of large bookselling chains in my area (Chapters, etc.) offering 30-40% reductions on "bestsellers," book clubs would have to become far more consumer-oriented. Some basic suggestions:
- outlets where books can be returned without shipping fees
- public appearances/readings by authors of bestsellers
- less snail mail paperwork
- unsolicited books sent only if requested.
redheadreader@hotmail.com
I once belonged to BOMC and Literary Guild. I found that I could purchase books cheaper via the Internet, Costco, etc. and not have the shipping and handling charges. So, to join once again the prices would have to be more competitive and no shipping charges. The one advantage was the monthly mailings with new featured books. However, now with the Book newsletters, I can still stay abreast of new books.
djfarris62@bellsouth.net
A book club that offers current bestsellers as well as older favorites. Also, one that does not require its members to "return the card" if they do NOT want to purchase a book.
blarue@bostonherald.com
If you could choose paperbacks rather than hardcover.
kathy@evergreen777.com
No mandated number of books that have to be bought.
shazam333@earthlink.net
I currently belong to the Literary Guild and am not at all pleased. As soon as possible, I intend to discontinue my membership. The main reason is that they send you books that you don't want and won't read, and since it would cost as much to send them back, you wind up paying for it. I just hate that. Otherwise, I would be very happy with them. I realize that if I sent back the notice, this wouldn't happen, but I usually forget...
I would love to join a book club that could offer a large variety of books without the automatic book coming; at a decent price, I would happily join it. And, personally, I would love a book club with a good selection of nonfiction books as well. Reviews are also important.
hswin@zoominternet.net
In order for me to sign up with a book club, they would have to make special offers, as in no shipping costs for a certain purchase amount, a discount card for all purchases, etc. I doubt that will happen, so I will stay with buying via the Internet.
Sismilli@aol.com
I currently belong to just about every fiction-based book club that I am aware of. I rarely actually order the books, but I love getting the catalogs and exploring the options. This is often how I make my to-be-read list.
