Eoin Purcell
I’d like to say I saw this coming
But that would not be true. In fact it is only in retrospect that the obviousness and the attractiveness of this type of deal is evident. The Bookseller has details:
Random House is to set up a book club with supermarket chain Tesco. Tesco will select one Random House title each month which will be featured in stores nationwide, clearly marked with Tesco Book Club branding.
The launch title is Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir, followed by One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson in July. The books will be Tesco Special Editions with a branded bookmark and each will feature exclusive extra content. Titles will also feature in Tesco Magazine and be promoted to Tesco.com customers via an email campaign.
In terms of publishing coups you have to say it is quite the score for Random House. I wonder if it means the other big houses will rush to deals with the remaining chains? Of course none is quite as well positioned as Tesco is (Apparently £1 in very £8 spent on groceries in the UK is spent in Tesco).
Seems like an interesting development one way or the other.
Eoin
Filed under: Books, Bookselling, Business, Distribution, Future of Books, Future of Publishing, Business, Distribution, Random House, Tesco
I’m not quite sure how I feel about this, Tesco’s Pinky & the Brain-like attempts to take over this corner of the world seem to be steadily more invasive. I’ve already read these two books so I won’t be tempted just yet and as long as they don’t plan on publishing their special editions in hardcover I will probably be able to resist!
I know what you mean Laura.
Still, for Random House it is a good move and makes sense.
Eoin