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It’s so interesting you mention this Louise because just yesterday in another goodreads forum they were talking about subscription boxes and I thought they were kidding. I heard the author of Four Feathers on the Current about a month ago and she totally blew me away. This title is on my list. Hard Case crime,the noir publisher had a subscription series years ago but they dropped it. I guess the idea is coming back. How exciting.
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I’ve thought about this too @Susan! I would subscribe to yours! It would be great to have a better selection of books (e.g. not only indigenous CanLit) offered.
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Things to add to a subscription box would be teas, chocolate, candy, book marks, little reading lights (that you clip onto a book), pens, pencils, notepads, etc.I would rather not pay shipping but have it incorporated into the price.
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Being stuck with a broken foot gives me time to think about other things!!
What I have noticed when looking into other subscription boxes is that most of them are grouped by theme. Romance novels, YA, mystery novels, or just basic crap from some best seller list. None of them have been very literary and none really appealed to me until I found Raven Reads. I think a theme is important so that you can have more success in having books the subscriber wants to read. I would subscribe to an African lit box for example. Can lit I'm not sure because I think I follow Can Lit enough to know what I want and don't want to read. I guess it would depend on the exact description and who your target membership would be. Just for fun, here is the Globe & Mail's top 10 paperback fiction from last week. There is only ONE book in that whole list that I would want to read and I'm sure everyone can guess which one. The rest? Crap.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/...
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The problem is, people like us are the minority, sadly.I just got a membership for the NY Review of Books Classic book club. Again, it's for the serious reader and would not appeal to the masses. That sounds a bit snobby doesn't it? :-(
Members of the NYRB Classics Book Club have received new translations by, among others, Balzac, Gogol, Simenon, Zweig, Szabó and Nobel Prize winner Patrick Modiano, as well as classics by William Gass, Renata Adler, Patrick Leigh Fermor, and many others. “NYRB has made a specialty of rescuing and reviving all kinds of ignored or forgotten works,” said The New York Times, “in English or in translation, fiction and nonfiction, by writers renowned and obscure.”
Each month, our editors select a book from our newest titles, and that book is sent postage free (in the US) to club members as soon as it is available.
https://www.nyrb.com/pages/the-nyrb-c...
I know someone else who is a long time subscriber and he says it is very rare to receive a book he doesn't like.
Maybe you could do a Canadian version of this?
There is a remainder store in Toronto that for quite a few months had a table of discounted New York Review books. Not sure if it is still there.
My marketing hat says the bigger biz opportunity Susan is leveraging the Canadian theme over the book focus. Partner with Canadian products that may not have mass distribution, and could be linked to the book theme versus the act of reading.(Indigo should actually create this as extra service, they have the buying power on all fronts.)
I think there's a market!
My biz brain is on tonight (I'm an entrepreneur by nature & love to brainstorm)
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This one looks to be a new startup. I actually wondered if it was you @Susan!http://www.bookboxlove.ca/
I just saw that raven reads has a subscription box for kids ages 4-9!💕💕
Megan wrote: "I just saw that raven reads has a subscription box for kids ages 4-9!💕💕"That's awesome Megan. Thanks so much for posting.
So....I have signed up for Raven Reads which is how I was introduced to Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City. I got lots of other goodies in the box too. It's a Canadian based company who's goal is to bring more attention to Indigenous literature. Once you are a member there is also a bookclub page on FB.
All this to say, there will be a 25% discount on new subscriptions on Boxing Day only (tomorrow). This is what the email said, and I wanted to share it with the group in case anyone wants to take advantage of this great deal:
While our January box may be sold out, this Boxing Day we are offering exclusive offers for our upcoming April (Spring) box!
To take advantage of this special promotion,
head to ravenreads.org on Boxing Day and use code:
BOXINGDAY17
to receive 25% OFF your first subscription with us.
Offer valid only on December 26 from 12:00AM PST until 11:59PM PST.