There is no shortage of digital subscription services for e-books, such as Kindle Unlimited, Kobo Plus, or Scribd. However, print book subscription services are few and far between. A new breed of companies is sending books right to your door with book subscriptions. A few clicks of a form and a selection of new books, curated by talented experts, arrive at your door – often accompanied by collectible perks, such as special cover designs and artwork.
Readers are starting to find a strong appetite for such services: UK fantasy subscription box FairyLoot has 569,000 followers on Instagram alone, and many bookshops have started sending out their boxes. Now, some of these businesses have decided not just to sell books, but to publish their own: In January, FairyLoot announced a collaboration with Transworld, a division of Penguin Random House, while last week, Canada-based subscription service OwlCrate launched OwlCrate Press.
Jordan Fleming, head of publishing at OwlCrate, has described publishing as a “broken industry”, telling industry magazine the Bookseller that the publishing wing had been set up to “eventually address a lot of the issues the industry is facing”.
There are book subscription services for everyone who has a particular niche. Bite Me box delivers a bestselling paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and romantic fantasy novel to sink your teeth into along with goodies like themed merch, exclusive author content, self-care items, and gourmet snacks (thoughtfully tailored to human palettes). The team works directly with authors and can often get subscribers custom special editions of the books that aren’t available to anyone else! Fans of crime will enjoy Letterbox. It comes in, their curators will pair you with a crime read tailored to your taste, delivered monthly. Even the publishing news company Book Riot has its twist on book subscriptions.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.