I spent $45 on a "book club kit" and got a printed PDF

Ordered this fancy kit for discussing mystery novels - thought it'd have discussion cards and maps. Opened the package and it was literally a 5-page PDF I could've printed myself for free. Has anyone else gotten burned by these overpriced book club packs?

2 comments

2 Comments

paulw633d ago

I guess I kinda see it differently. For a small press or an indie author, putting together a physical kit with cards and maps would cost way more than $45 to actually produce and ship. You're basically paying for the labor of someone curating those discussion questions and formatting them in a way that's ready to go for your group. I've downloaded free book club guides before and they're usually just a mess of typos and generic questions you could find on Google. If you're running a monthly book club, printing out five pages is like 50 cents at the library, so the value is really in the thought behind it, not the paper. I'd rather get a well-designed PDF than a flimsy cardboard box with stuff I'll lose in a week anyway.

mason_foster683d ago

Stop right there. So you're TELLING me that $45 is a fair price for someone clicking "save as PDF" and calling it a day? How much "thought" can really go into five pages of discussion questions when I can find the SAME stuff on Goodreads for free in five minutes? If the value is in the curation, shouldn't they at least offer a nice printable layout with some artwork or something to make it feel worth the money?