Business Glossary

direct-mail book marketing device that invites consumers to buy books (usually at reduced rates). negative option book clubs send books periodically unless the member instructs the club otherwise, according to a set procedure. positive option book clubs require the buyer's permission to send a book. Most book clubs have a minimum purchase requirement (usually within a stipulated time frame), known as a member commitment. Book clubs were originally created when bookstores were less numerous and mail-order book buying was, in some rural areas, the only option. Many of today's book clubs are geared toward cooking, business, science, or some other particular interest. The best known and biggest of the genre, however, are the general-interest Book-Of-The-Month Club and The Literary Guild. Book clubs pay a royalty to publishers and must produce and sell their own printing of each book. Publishers generally view book clubs as a source of publicity more than as a source of revenue.