Top 5 Online Book Clubs

I have always loved book clubs, and now with the convenience of the Internet, it makes joining and browsing the different clubs a whole lot easier, and if any of you have ever joined a book club, you are fairly familiar with their membership rules, but I will briefly explain for those who aren’t familiar.

Most clubs like Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild Book Club offer you a special of so many books for a low price of around $.99 or $1.00 for membership. Once you are approved, you have either one or two years to order 4 books at the regular price before you can cancel membership.

This is basically it in a nutshell, but not all book clubs work this way. Some are free to join, and they offer specials to those who order their books. Yet others offer a list of books that have been suggested to their members. So you do have a choice on what type of club you want to join, and who knows, you may want to join them all!

And that would be great! But just remember, even if the book clubs online don’t automatically send you books anymore, you still have to honor your contract of buying a set amount of books for the regular price. So please don’t go overboard unless you have the funds to do so.

Double Day Large Print Book Club
http://www.doubledaylargeprint.com

As you can see by the name of this book club, the books are in large print, and I realize that people enjoy reading, but they may have trouble with the small print in some books. Well reading these books should be a pleasurable experience because there is also extra spacing between the words and the lines, and they say a special ink was used to make reading even better.

That’s not the only reason I like Double Day Large Print Book Club… it also doesn’t hurt that the Double Day club is offering you 4 books for $.99 and a fifth book for free. They don’t automatically send you books you haven’t ordered, and you order when you get ready.

You will get a discount of up to 30% off the publishers’ edition prices. You also receive up to 65% off publishers’ edition prices when they have special sales. They give you free interviews from the authors, book excerpts, exclusive features, special promotions and a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

When you join the Double Day club, you will be billed for the $.99 after your membership has been approved. The debit or credit card you use, will be the same card they use for all future purchases, so be sure to keep it. However, if you want to change credit cards later, all you have to do is contact customer service. Another policy is that they only accept members from the USA. Sorry.

Your membership consist of purchasing 4 books at the regular price within one year, and then you may cancel your membership if you desire. If you purchase your first book when you apply for membership, all you pay is $5.99, and then you only have 3 books to purchase at the regular price.

The Literary Guild
http://www.literaryguild.com

The Literary Guild also offers you 4 books for $.99, with a free fifth book, and they also have books in large print, but the difference is that they also have books in regular print for those who don’t have trouble reading it.

You can choose books ranging from biographies, cook books to fiction, romance and spirituality. This book club doesn’t automatically ship books to you, and you will always receive 50% off publishers’ edition prices. They also give you special offers, sales, extra savings and bonus points when you buy regular priced books that you can turn in for free books.

There are free book excerpts, author interviews, a free catalog with book reviews, special promotions and exclusive features. You have a 100% satisfaction guarantee and can return your introductory package within 20 days of receipt, and it’s all at their expense.

Pick out your 4 books for $.99 and your credit card will be billed for that amount once your membership is approved. Once it is approved, you need to purchase 4 books over a two year period, and after that, you can cancel your membership. Membership is open to USA citizens only. If you purchase a book for $5.99 when you join, you will only have to purchase 3 books over the next two years. Remember that you will also have to pay for taxes, processing and shipping.

Oprah’s Book Club
http://www.oprah.com/entity/oprahsbookclub

Okay, I included Oprah’s Book Club for anyone who follows her and enjoy reading the books that are suggested on her club website. For those of you who don’t know, this book club is not like the other clubs where you purchase 4 books for $.99 and get a fifth one for free.

This book club is free to join and you will have access to what’s going on in Oprah’s world. You will also have access to daily lessons from Marianne Williamson, Dr. Oz health advice, sweepstakes, special offers and topics such as money, relationships, spirit and style, and her newsletter.

There is also a message board you can post on, where you can connect with others in hopes of being encouraged, motivated and find a new friend or two. If you’re interested in starting a book club, you will find information on that, as well as being able to listen to books on Oprah Radio. So if you don’t mind reading books that have been suggested, then you will enjoy Oprah’s Book Club.

Scholastic Book Club
http://teacher.scholastic.com/clubs/index.htm

What a wonderful book club for children, parents and teachers! If you want reasonably priced books that are of high quality, easy to read and full of information, then you’re going to love the Scholastic Book Club. Even though this book club is geared mostly toward teachers, parents also have access to it, and can place orders any time.

This book club offers you several different catalogs, a bonus catalog and a contest page where your child can enter different contest and sweepstakes, and for the teachers who place orders for parents, you get a free book when the order is placed.

All teachers have to do is send the parents the catalogs they think their child will be interested in, and if you want to, you can even customize an online welcome message to the parents. Next you need to give the parents your log-in information for your class, with a ready-to-print letter.

Now all you have to do is go over all the online orders received, enter the paper orders, and then submit the completed order to Scholastic Book Clubs. Any teacher who is interested in joining this book club, should go online and watch the video on how it works and how to get started.

Amazon Book Club
www.amazon.com

There is no membership with the Amazon Book Club. You just log on, browse through the books that are listed in categories from biographies to travel, and order. You can browse books by the subjects, new releases, bestsellers, New York Times bestsellers, bargain books and textbooks.

There is a section called the popular features that you may want to check out for a listing of the best books for 2008, popular pre-ordered books, award winners, movers and shakers, the Amazon Books Blog, the best of the month and their 4 for 3 books.

The 4 for 3 books is a promotion where you order four eligible books under $10 dollars each and you will get the fourth lowest priced book for free. You can also combine your order with magazines and items from the home and garden category.

There are 28 categories to browse for the 4 for 3 books, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding some books you want. Amazon Book Club also list 4 for 3 books in hot new releases and bestsellers in home and garden, and both categories are up dated hourly.

I tried to give you a mixture of the book clubs that are online today, and I hope I succeeded in doing just that. So take a look at all of them, and then make your decision according to your finances, as to which you want to join. Have a wonderful time browsing and happy reading!