No Second Chance, a thriller by Harlan Coben, has been chosen as the first selection of the newly formed International Book-of-the-Month Club. IBOMC is the brainchild of Markus Wilhelm, CEO of Bookspan, and will feature about three titles a year that will be sold across most of the clubs in the DirectGroup division of Bertelsmann, the co-owner with AOL Time Warner of Bookspan.
Mel Parker, senior v-p of Bookspan, said the objective of IBOMC "is to give authors greater exposure," while also helping publishers take certain writers "to the next level." Parker said Bookspan has been working closely with Carole Baron, president of Coben's publisher Dutton, to ensure that No Second Chance is a hit. The DirectGroup, which has 28 million members worldwide, estimates that it will sell one million copies of No Second Chance.
To date, clubs in 15 countries have agreed to offer the book. Once IBOMC selects a title, the manuscript is sent to editorial directors of the DirectGroup's various clubs who, if they want to participate, then acquire the rights for their specific territory. Each club is also responsible for developing its own separate promotion piece. The IBOMC offer has already been sent to Bookspan's U.S. members, and other DirectGroup clubs will be mailing their materials over the next few months. Among the countries that will offer No Second Chance are China, France, the U.K., Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic.
Parker said that while the first pick for the club came from the U.S., editors at other clubs can make suggestions. "We want to make this an internal global initiative. You never know when the next The Name of the Rose will come along," Parker said. He explained that No Second Chance was chosen as the lead title because Bertelsmann has found that crime thrillers travel well internationally. Coben's first two titles have appeared on bestseller lists in several different countries, including the U.K. and France.
