What is a book
club sale? It is actually a rights sale or a licensing agreement: you are
granting permission to a book club the right to “borrow” your work.
You have written a book, and now you are allowing a book club to print and
distribute your book to its members. Selling to book clubs can be one of the
more lucrative book marketing strategies.
You allow the book club to
reprint your book in a specific language, in a specific format, for a specific
period of time, in a specific geographic territory, to a specific group of
people. You ensure in your contract that you maintain ownership of the
copyright and of all other intellectual property rights, such as electronic,
movie, other languages and territories, and serial rights – to name a few.
Always seek good legal advice before signing a contract for any of the book
marketing strategies you utilize.
There are many book clubs, but most
of the major clubs fall under the bookspan umbrella (www.bookspan.com). To find
other book clubs that are appropriate for your book, do an internet search: on
your browser, type in +(your book genre, e.g., cooking)+book+club.
The
chances of having your book selected by a book club are roughly one in ten,
which is really quite good. Imagine if your chance at winning the lottery was
that great!
Tip #1 for increasing the odds: It is
important to know that book clubs are always looking for new ideas to entice
their members, so if your book is well written and edited, has plans for
professional graphic design, AND demonstrates a unique slant on your topic,
your chances of being selected rise considerably.
Tip #2 for
increasing the odds: In saying that, it is important for you to
know that the earlier you submit your book, the better.
Tip #3
for increasing the odds: Book clubs are much happier receiving a
typed manuscript six to twelve months in advance of your publication date than
receiving a bound galley or finished book close to the publication date. A book
club likes to introduce your book to its members near your publication date in
order to take advantage of the reviews and publicity that you will be
generating when your book is launched. The bigger the media splash you make,
the better everyone’s sales will be.
Tip #4 for
increasing the odds: There are many categories of book clubs, so
be sure to submit your title only to the appropriate clubs. Do not send your
book to every book club that you can find. Each club’s membership has
specific interests so be sure to submit your book only to clubs that might
buy—you will again increase your chance of being selected.
For
instance, if you have a humor book, it’s unlikely to be of any interest to
a cooking club or to a mathematics club. If your book is regional, it will not
likely appeal to a general interest book club, so submit that a regional title
to suitable specialty clubs.
Tip #5 for increasing the odds:
There are rules to follow when submitting your book to the book
clubs, so following them carefully should avoid unnecessary rejections.
Here they are:
1. Send your manuscript to the Editorial
department at the appropriate club(s).
2. Include a cover
letter that details the following information:
• summary of the
book contents
• description of the book (size, binding, hard/soft
cover, black & white or color)
• expected selling price
• number of pages
• number and type of photographs
and/or illustrations (indicate if black & white or color
•
notation if the book will be part of a series
• which volume the
book is in an existing series and a sales history of the series
•
intended publication date
• plans for publicity and promotion,
and your intended budget
3. Include a brief author biography
written in the third person. Be sure to talk about any previous books published
and their sales histories.
4. Send photocopies of some of the
illustrations and photographs. Please do not send original copies – they
will NOT be returned to you.
5. Don’t forget your contact
information and website if you have one.
Unfortunately, you
usually cannot contact book clubs to follow up on your submission. It’s a
case of “Don’t call us. We’ll call you”. Book clubs receive
too many submissions to allow follow up calls or letters. If they are
interested, they will call you, usually within two to six months.
Do
you think that selling to book clubs is a book marketing strategy worth
pursuing? Absolutely! We specialize in book club and other non-traditional book
sales (more info here: Book Marketing Strategies).
For very little
effort you can achieve the sale of thousands of copies of your book. You will
likely be paid a minimum sum per copy, but you will also not have any
production costs, and a small sum multiplied by thousands can equate to a very
nice check. Your only effort will be to sign a contract, provide your book on
disk and collect that check – and just think of the free publicity!
Thousands of book club members will read about your book. You can’t buy
that kind of publicity!
© Copyright Ink Tree Ltd.
Ink Tree Ltd. helps authors publish, market and sell books. We have all the
tools you need to succeed in book publishing. Let us help you make your book a
success.
http://www.inktreemarketing.com 
