|
|
Article: The final chapter? Book clubs.(Will book clubs go extinct?)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 17, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Will book clubs be left on the shelf?
The future looks bleak for an archaic corner of old media
EVERY year, across Spain, book-club salesmen knock on the doors of thousands of households. Those who fall for the pitch are then visited 21 times a year by agents from Circulo de Lectores, who bring catalogues of titles, take orders and deliver books. The club is owned by Bertelsmann, a German media firm, which dominates the market and earns revenues of more than euro2 billion ($3.1 billion) from clubs in 21 countries. Many are largely unaltered since the 1970s, but that is about to change. Bertelsmann is selling its American clubs and has put the rest under ...