Under the Bertelsmann-Time Warner deal, announced in December, Crossings, One Spirit and other book clubs that routinely feature at least a few religion titles have landed under the same corporate umbrella. Kristin Ventry, manager of book club and foreign rights for Harper San Francisco, says there is general concern among publishers that the merger will result in reduced competition for licensing, which could lead to lower author advances. We have reached the point where there is only one big book club, and if you can get your book in there, that is good, but if you don't, there are only the smaller clubs to fall back on. That could mean a publisher's books will find their way into more clubs and be exposed to a larger number of consumers. Crossings' Rapkin tells PW she is still uncertain about the ways in which the merger will affect business.
Some publishers think the line between book clubs and direct-mail companies is beginning to blur.
As we see one customer morphing and becoming like another, we need to be sure we treat everybody in that customer class equally. I think that is where the tough questions are going to come in. Book clubs and direct mail are definitely helping us to make a broader range of people aware of our brand and of our individual authors. Their buy-in might very well affect whether or not we will acquire the book. Oates also reports sometimes considering book club interest during the acquisitions process.