[Stalker]

Salt-Man Z, on 28 January 2011 - 05:47 PM, said:

Had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for the Science Fiction Book Club, so I've preordered The Crippled God and The Wise Man's Fear. Can't wait.

I've always been interested in the sfbc, because of the like 5 for 1 deal when you first sign up. Is it actually worth it in the long run?

[Salt-Man Z]

Stalker, on 29 January 2011 - 01:48 AM, said:

I've always been interested in the sfbc, because of the like 5 for 1 deal when you first sign up. Is it actually worth it in the long run?

It certainly can be. The books are nice; they're about an inch shorter than a standard hardcover, and the quality is fine. I actually prefer the compact size. Yes, you have to opt out of the monthly specials, but that's just an email I get every month where I click the link and then click 'decline'.

But if you work the system, you can get some really sweet deals. I've actually got a blog post in draft form that I've been meaning to get to on how to do it. For example, they offer selected book bundles or pairings that count as a single book. So when you make your initial sign-up order, get those. My initial order was:

Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi 1-4
Lamentation/Canticle
Ender in Exile/The Force Unleashed
Gardens of the Moon/Deadhouse Gates
Dragonheart/Toll the Hounds

Each of those bundles counted as a single book, so I got 12 books for $1 + shipping. (Shipping rates are decent; it's around $5 for the first book and $2 for each additional.)

Then your membership commitment is to buy 4 books in the next year. To maximize your value here, wait for email coupons and go for omnibus editions that contain multiple books. When I put in my next order, there was a flat shipping deal on the website, plus I had a 50% off publishers' prices email coupon. Now, the club prices are pretty close to 50% off the retail price anyway, so I looked for SFBC exclusives, meaning SFBC was the publisher, meaning I got half off the club price. So I got the following for like $7 each:

Temeraire omnibus (3 books in 1)
Night Angel omnibus (3 in 1)
Under the Moons of Mars omnibus (3 in 1)
The Conquering Sword of Conan (hardcover exclusive)

And that was it. No more commitment, and the equivalent of 23 hardcovers for under $60 (as I also nabbed Dust of Dreams as the "get a bonus book for $6" part of my sign-up order.) Every now and then I'll make an order when I have a good coupon. (Get this: the day after I made this last order, the site starts running a free shipping deal for the weekend!) I haven't tried to quit yet, but supposedly you can do so at any time and rejoin.

You can pretty much get all the details at their help page.

[Abyss]

Split this off from the 'Book i just bought' thread into its own thread...

I agree with SMZ - since they moved to email instead of those rediculous postcards you had to mail back, it's a great way to get books at low prices, and the collected eds are pretty awesome.

I have one qualifier tho'. If you're a 'get it now' or 'get each book as soon as it's released' kind of reader, the delay until sfbc gets new books can be irritating. As in 'powering through the first nine Dresdencrack books (3 collected editions) and then having to wait two years until the next collected ed is out' irritating. Or then you switch to mmpbs or hbs, but there it is.

[Stalker]

Great, thanks guys. The sound of 23 hardcover books for $60 is awesome. I may do this just to go back and get some of the books that are always recommended here.

and good qualifier Abyss. I am a "get the newest book upon release reader" for many series, so waiting for the omnibus would suck. In terms of release of a single book, like DoD in hardcover, how much of a difference in time would there be between the sfbc and amazon/ book depository?

[Salt-Man Z]

There's no delay for new books. They might even arrive sooner, since SFBC does their own distribution and shipping. The omnibus thing isn't really an issue in my mind; most books that you'll want (Dresden, for example) are released individually nowadays anyway.