To a kid who likes to read, one of the most exciting days of the month at school is when the Scholastic Book Club fliers are distributed. We recently chatted with Judy Newman, president of Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic at Home about how the Internet is helping the book-club model evolve, why the company welcomes competition and the ongoing allure of the club format.
DIRECT: This may be a silly question, but is back-to-school still an important time for Scholastic?
NEWMAN: Yes. At Scholastic, we're all about partnering with parents and teachers and children, so back-to-school is a key moment.
DIRECT: Are the in-school book clubs still a big part of your business?
NEWMAN: [The clubs] were launched in 1948, and all these years later they're still going strong. They've evolved from the original days of the teachers placing the orders by mail and phone to being able to order online. But the basic business model where the children order the books, that whole basic classroom excitement is still the same.
DIRECT: How long have you offered online ordering?
NEWMAN: Teacher ordering online has been available now for several years, but the parent component is in its second full year. Parents can use their credit card to place the order online [as part of the teacher's order], but the books still come to the classroom.
DIRECT: Is there any worry that because parents are placing the order online themselves, they might shop around and buy the book someplace else?
NEWMAN: No. I feel once we get them there, parents are hard-pressed to find a better editorially curated selection of books and better prices. I'd encourage the comparison, actually. Each month we have 95-cent books — you can't find that anyplace else.
DIRECT: Do you have any channel conflict between the clubs and the online and offline retailers that sell the books Scholastic publishes?
NEWMAN: Not really. We're obviously a trade publisher [of series like] ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Captain Underpants.’ I always say until the day comes that every child in this country has too many books, I don't feel like we're stepping on each other's toes. I often hear that books get started in the book clubs. We'll typically be out there with a book in the club for one month and then we'll hear that kids in the class will go into the store looking for books they saw in the club. And of course the book clubs reach kids in hamlets and little towns where there are no bookstores. [Clubs and retail] really are complementary.
