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The Element of Surprise: A Study of Children’s Book Subscription Boxes in the USA

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Abstract

Through a series of semi-structured interviews with nine owner/managers of children’s book subscription boxes, this article examines the rise of book subscription boxes in the United States, contextualized within the historical precedent for the subscription model in book publishing as seen in circulating libraries, door-to-door subscription sales, and ebook and audiobook subscription services. In light of Amazon’s 2018 founding of their own children’s subscription book box, this article investigates what makes children’s book subscription boxes succeed and why they appeal to readers. Findings suggest that surprise is key to children’s book subscription box appeal and value.

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Notes

  1. The Cratejoy marketplace alone lists over 170 subscription boxes dedicated to books.

  2. The Amazon Kindle Owners’ Lending Library estimates over 800,000 https://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000739811.

  3. Unit sales of print books were 1.9% higher in 2017 than in 2016, according to NPD BookScan (https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/75760-print-sales-up-again-in-2017.html).

  4. In the first 6 months of 2018, ebook sales fell 4.8%. (https://goodereader.com/blog/digital-publishing/ebook-sales-fall-4-8-in-the-first-six-months-of-2018).

  5. Amazon accounted for 93% of e-commerce sales for books in 2016: (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-amazon-came-to-dominate-books-electronics-and-the-cloud-2017-05-12).

  6. As of December 5, 2018, nearly 26 million posts on Instagram used the hashtag #bookstagram, over a million used the hashtag #subscriptionbox, and almost one million used the hashtag #bookbox.

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  1. Portland State University, 203 Stratford, 1609 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR, 97201, USA

    Rachel Noorda

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  1. Rachel Noorda
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Correspondence to Rachel Noorda.

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Noorda, R. The Element of Surprise: A Study of Children’s Book Subscription Boxes in the USA. Pub Res Q 35, 223–235 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-019-09641-z

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