Book subscriptions: a remedy for 21st Century information overload
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2:52 PM, 15 August 2019
This week The Read investigates the international trends of book boxes and unboxing, and how Kiwi booksellers are taking advantage of this to provide a valuable service to readers. In an era where the CEO of Netflix has declared sleep to be the enemy of endless media consumption, it’s a relief to know that booksellers are here to rescue us from the terrifying overwhelm and take the decision-making into their own expert hands.
We spoke to Jemma Pirrie of McLeods Booksellers in Rotorua, Jenna Todd of Time Out in Auckland, and Thomas Koed of Volume in Nelson about their book subscription services.
Ngā mihi, Sarah!
We interrupt our usual scheduled programming to bring you this special message.
Sarah Forster will soon be leaving Booksellers NZ and I wanted to take this opportunity to publicly thank her for all her amazing mahi. I have worked as a freelance writer and reporter for Booksellers NZ for several years now and Sarah has always been a superb editor. She gives me scope to follow stories that interest me while always having her eye firmly on what will serve the membership. I can always rely on her excellent judgement and will really miss working with her. Ngā mihi nui, e hoa.
Book boxes and unboxing
Those of you who keep up with what The Kids are doing on The Interwebs will already be aware of the unboxing craze. Unboxing is where people take videos of themselves opening parcels they have received to reveal the valuable objects within and to record their own initial reactions, and then upload those videos to the internet.
Book boxes are another craze: they are subscription services whereby readers pay a company to send them a box through the post that contains a book chosen by the company and a few book-related tchotchkes (such as tea, candles, or booky merch).
And of course these two trends come together in book box unboxing. Here’s a NZ example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbbf6BP8CbI
What’s the big deal?
If it seems odd that people would be so excited about receiving something through the post that they would go to the trouble of making a special video, consider this. As the majority of our communications have become electronic, receiving a physical item in the mail has become rarer and thus more noteworthy. It is rarer still to get something through the post that you actually want to receive, rather than endless bills and advertising. In addition, receiving a parcel that contains several small items that have been chosen to appeal to you feels like getting a care package from someone who knows you well and wants you to be happy.
The luxury of not deciding
This is a problem that book box subscriptions solve. You just hand over the cash and someone else makes the choice for you - not only that, but the book comes straight to your house. When you’re suffering from decision fatigue and your attention span has been fried by your smartphone, it’s an enormous relief to have someone simply hand you a book and say: read this.
Booksellers to the rescue!
The ability to choose what any given reader should read next is of course booksellers’ particular area of genius, and Kiwi booksellers are capitalising on this. McLeods Booksellers offers a book box service called the Cleod Crate. Staff choose one book per month and all subscribers receive the same title in a nicely presented box accompanied by related items. Each month, staff publish a haiku on their website that acts as a clue to the next title. The August haiku is:
Shadows, Spanish streets
A book cursed and forgotten
Love affair, devilry
Jemma Pirrie of McLeods says: ‘We complement our book of choice with locally sourced artisan products that tie in with the book's theme. For example:
1) Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan - we commissioned a local potter to create little handmade cups that went with the book. It was Easter at the time so we included some small gourmet Easter eggs and some literary postcards.
2) The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker - I'm a bookbinder so I created some small handmade writers’ notebooks which tied in with writing being the main theme in the novel, and we also included some Trade Aid Dark Chocolate.
3) The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland - we commissioned a local soap and candle maker who specialises in literary themed gifts (Oasis Scents) to create some handmade soy wax candles smelling of wildflowers, woodsmoke and fire, which are recurring themes in the book.’
Gift subscriptions
At Volume, they offer a Reading Subscription whereby staff select books, usually monthly, for individual customers. The books are wrapped in brown paper and include a short personalised note. Most subscriptions have been bought by the customer as a gift for someone else.
Thomas Koed of Volume says: ‘Subscriptions are just one way in which a bookseller is useful to a reader in the face of the increasingly overwhelming “book abundance”. This is why we have decided to have a small rather than a large bookshop, and why we are constantly attempting to widen our customers' reading horizons.’
At Time Out, they have a variety of gift services available, including a wide range of book bundles themed around genre, reader age and interest, and so on. The books are presented with a ribbon and bookmark, and giftwrapping is available upon request.
Jenna Todd of Time Out says: ‘I find our subscription giftees are often caught in a lull with reading and are looking for something a bit different to kickstart them off again.
‘The most popular item for us by far is the 'Year of Books' subscription - where we choose the books based on a survey the customers fill out. These subscription programmes are an amazing way to venture into new avenues of reading. We only choose books that staff have read and loved, based on each member's tastes and the feedback we receive is super positive. Members love getting surprise books in their mailboxes!’
by Elizabeth Heritage
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