Has the book club a future in the age of the Internet?

While there are many variations of book clubs in a social sense – from local library gatherings to online societies to highly organised ‘Oprah’ meetings – the business of Book Clubs revolves primarily around the subscription-based method of selling and buying books. These clubs operate on a number of different levels such as educational publications from companies like Scholastic, mainstream book suppliers like Doubleday, and ‘fine art’ collectible organisations like The Folio Society.

The Australian branch of Scholastic offers a number of book clubs relevant to a child’s education level, from pre-K to upper primary. Through rewards and incentives teachers are encouraged to form reading clubs with extensive book lists supplied by Scholastic to suit practically every age and interest. Orders of $40 or more (excluding rewards) can be placed either traditionally using printed catalogues or through the company’s user friendly web site. To stimulate orders Scholastic offers a range of free resources including DVDs, user guides, posters, online tool kits, curriculum maps, task cards and class notes. Bonus coupons, free books, and celebrity readings (from Scholastic’s current Literacy Ambassador Andrew Daddo) all encourage schools to not only sign up but maintain a current membership.

Doubleday’s business plan has diversified over the past 10 years through the expansion of their book club categories and their growing online presence. Established in 1963, Doubleday is the largest book and music club in Australia. Part of the Bertelsmann Group, one of the world’s largest media organisations, Doubleday’s primary goal is to supply the very best titles from around the world. Each year their book department offers over 1,000 titles of the best and latest in fiction and non-fiction via their monthly magazine or online. Their specialist club catalogues allows easy searches for obscure titles, latest releases and back-lists designed to provide buyers with a one-stop shop experience. By breaking the club into specific categories Doubleday aims to attract readers to a particular genre or interest. These micro clubs include fitness, lifestyle and wellbeing; fantasy and sci-fi; a children’s section incorporating bright picture books, classics, and educational titles; literary fiction; history; philosophy; science; psychology; and mathematics. Whether shopping online, by mail or by phone Doubleday offers a range of customer incentives including heavily discounted introductory prices and membership reward programs similar to the more traditional book club, such as The Folio Society.

During the Second World War, Charles Ede was a soldier who fell in love with the beautiful books being produced by a number of England’s great private presses. In 1947 he started The Folio Society with an express aim to produce well-designed, quality works at an affordable price. Overcoming the problems of severe paper rationing and the scepticism of booksellers, gradually Folio began to make a name for itself. By the early 1970s Folio had grown too large to maintain Ede’s enthusiasm so he sold the company. It was sold again in 1982 to Bob Gavron, a man whose refusal to compromise on quality or the inaugural ethos has made Folio the much-respected publisher that it is today.

Part of that appeal is the way The Folio Society promotes their titles using a dazzling array of not-to-be-missed offers in press advertisements worldwide. Usually the offer is a set of books at a substantially discounted price in return for which one buys four books at full price from the Society’s catalogue. Each year Folio publishes a prospectus including the books for the forthcoming year and existing volumes in print. Members are required to buy four volumes per year to maintain membership, and a ‘presentation volume’ (usually with other incentives) is produced and given to renewing members. A batch of current offers include The Times Atlas of the World for $9.95 (worth $295) with two free leather-bound books – the Compact Oxford Dictionary and a Thesaurus (worth $160) plus a free 2011 Folio Diary.

Although Folio does turn a small profit, over the years Bob Gavron, a man whose fortune was made in printing, has donated more than $3 million of the company’s money to charity. His determination is similar to that of Folio’s founder Charles Ede. It has been reported Gavron’s need for books equals that of ordinary mortals for food and water. Bob would often buy a copy of a favourite book he already owned many times over in various guises simply because that new edition was ‘beautiful’.

Cheap production is not the Folio way. Each book, from the carefully selected typeface, acid-free paper, the stitching of signatures, the design of the slip case and the printing itself, is produced to a standard and not to a price. Yet the value remains quite impressive. No other commercial publisher could dream of producing books approaching such a level of quality unless their selling prices were in the hundreds of dollars. Gavron states, ‘I always say that if there is money, it is to be put into even better production and not set aside as profit.’ It is this ideal which sets The Folio Society apart from practically any other business, let alone any other book club, in the world.

The enticement of membership is another reason why the society continues to thrive, and with all of its eccentricities intact. Membership currently stands at approximately 140,000 worldwide with a staff of around 100 based in Holborn and at their dispatch centre. Members might be excused for believing that there are only a handful of people running Folio, thanks to the personal touch that it provides with suggestions responded to, appreciation noted, and correspondence entered into.

The scale and depth of the personal approach is best illustrated at the Society’s headquarters which boasts a stylish Members’ Room complete with book-lined walls and leather sofas with smiling employees who appear to believe in the product they’re making. This belief in the spirit of the Society can be attributed in large part to the editor-in-chief for the past 40 years Sue Bradbury and the head of design and production since the mid 1980s Joe Blundell. Between them they have overseen a impressive rise in the Society’s publication levels from twelve books a year to the current level in excess of 80. Those who assume the Society only turns out safe, retro bindings of safe, standard sets obviously haven’t browsed their range of titles which are as broadly drawn as any mainstream publishing house. A similar diversity exists in the design, ‘I feel instinctively how a cover should be, the colours and materials, and often have a particular artist in mind. Every cover is discussed by the whole team, so if everyone truly hated the concept, then I would change it. I don’t recall this ever happening, though…’ says Blundell.

With The Folio Society books, it was the bindings themselves, the beauty of the title pages and illustrations and the slipcases which have become the defining feature of a Folio book. Most collectors love the slipcase with it’s intelligent curve at either end while many second-hand book dealers who specialise in The Folio Society, would never buy, and nor could sell, any book without its slipcase. It is interesting to note the most popular titles are those that were published within the past fifteen years, for the simple reason that collectors have perceived that the quality of production and sheer tactile beauty continues to get better and better. Part of the joy of having a book published by the Folio Society, though, would lie in the knowledge that it would last for hundreds of years.

Highlighting the esteem The Folio Society is shown in literacy circles, the British Library features a Folio Society Gallery located at Euston Road, London, where a number of Folio exhibitions are held each year. This cooperation with the British Library dates back over 20 years. Between 1987 and 1991, Folio produced a number of ‘Folio Fine Editions’, a series of deluxe, limited edition publications at substantially higher prices, often facsimiles published in conjunction with The British Library. These are priced on a volume-by-volume basis, but at least one publication per year is made in the $1,000 to $2,000 range.

While all three companies mentioned are international concerns, Scholastic and Doubleday in particular are what analysts refer to as ‘retail giants’ – proving book clubs are big business in the United States. When large book clubs such as these take interest in a publication they buy the rights and print off huge runs for those who follow them, better improving their bottom line. They continue to be successful because people want to be kept informed with what’s being published,. These customers lack either the time or the confidence to do it for themselves, so they join a book club, convinced that it will do the job of keeping them up to date, through online forums or face-to-face social gatherings. Here they are able to talk about the latest releases with other members and drop book names they’ve read, confident they won’t get sneered at because the book they’re mentioning has the imprimatur of a well-known club. After all, thousands of other people are reading it and talking about it too, so members have backing for what they’re doing. This is the primary reason clubs like Doubleday exist. People want to feel sure that they’re not wasting their time, so they rely on the club membership to give them safe high-quality books. They don’t want to face the fact that quality is found in the book by a good reader. They want to be told, to be reassured. It’s not a matter of a choice between new ways of dispersing books and an old method of getting people to read. Book clubs provide a means to get people who lack confidence to take books into their hands, and even if the means change, the function will go on. Who else is going to look after those who want to know about writing but lack the confidence to make the necessary judgements for themselves?

By offering something exclusive, valuable and collectible, book clubs like the Folio Society, Doubleday and Scholastic have been able to not only adapt to any perceived threat from the Internet but embrace the technology. Members continue to be attracted to these companies because they offer items not easily accessible in one place. Their region specific web sites offer the same amazing deals which can be seen in their print material but with the added benefit of greater detail and larger product range. This allows the purchaser a more detailed understanding of the book club and their ever expanding inventory. These organisations are able to maintain a successful position by consistently reinventing themselves through clever marketing strategies designed to not only keep their membership base but attract new business, guaranteeing their futures in the age of the Internet.

While predictions of the demise of the book brought about by the rise of the web have proved unfounded, so too have the misconception that book clubs would cease to be viable against the tide of online shopping portals. While some minor players may have succumbed to the buying power of the Internet, those companies savvy enough to incorporate the web into their business plans have not only embraced this new technology but expanded their market share on a global scale.