Aug
11
Spanish book club, anyone?
A major U.S. publisher has approached me about entering into a possible collaboration.
Here is what’s on the table:
Access to new releases in Spanish from a big publishing house which is ramping up its presence in the Spanish-language market.
Here’s what it will do for you:
Unless you’re in Spain or another Spanish-speaking country, getting new release fiction and non-fiction in Spanish is difficult, even in the U.S. Most bookstores don’t stock titles in Spanish. So, if you’re a book lover and wish to expand your Spanish-language library, this would be an easy way to do it.
So tell me, are you interested in this? If so, what would you like to see offered? Only fiction? A mix of fiction and non-fiction? Some of the books are works originally authored in Spanish while others are translations of popular English-language books.
Which of the following options appeals to you?
Option 1: A paid monthly subscription where you got books automatically in the mail, along with occasional book bonuses.
You’d pay a flat monthly fee and then automatically receive a book each month in the mail. You’d also get some additional bonuses that would not be publicly available, such as audio of a book excerpt read either by the author or a native Spanish speaker. There would also be additional opportunities to get books for free, directly from the publisher, depending on how many people participate.
Option 2: An email notice about new releases
Would you prefer to receive general info about a new book each month with a link to order it on your own? There would be no extras or bonuses with this option but at least you’d be getting a heads up about new releases in Spanish that might interest you.
Any interest? What would a book club need to offer to get you to subscribe to it? Email me your thoughts and suggestions via this page. Also, if you are outside the U.S., please let me know that. Shipping books overseas can be a challenge, so if a lot of people outside the U.S. would want to participate in this book club, I’d need to know that upfront.
¡Gracias!
Eleena


August 11th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Hi Eleena,
I live in the United Kingdom and I suspect that shipping costs from the US might put me off. I buy books via the internet from a foreign language bookshop in London (I like to read in French as well as Spanish). This is great except that they have literally just a huge list of books. So unless you know what you are looking for, a purchase can be a gamble. If this publishing house were to produce a newsletter with reviews, information about new publications, discussion about the works of a specific author etc. I might be very interested. What I want is someone to guide me towards the books that might interest me rather than just offer a discount off the current best-seller.
Tim.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Well, I’d like to opt-in for option 1, but as I’m living in the Netherlands the shipping costs could be more than the actually book’s worth.
Of course option 2 would come in handy for me as well, as I’m a member of the Cervantes Library in Utrecht, so I could pick up new books as well. But still, option 1 is the most appealing to me (if there is some way to avoid HUGE shipping fees).
August 11th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Tim & Ramses,
Thank you for leaving these comments. If I proceed with this, I really do want to find a way to service European addresses. Stay tuned.