Audio Book Club Debuts New Continuities

The Audio Book Club began testing two new continuity programs last month — “Foul Play: Detective Mysteries” and “Swept Away: Stories to Fall in Love With” — using direct mail drops of 250,000 each.

Promotional pieces were included in package insert programs of other continuity program buyers from Bookspan, Columbia House and BMG based on the target profile for the two new clubs. Ninety-percent of the offers went to prospects while the other 10% reached a segment of the firm's house file naming 2.2 million members, said Magnus Gustafsson, vice president of marketing for MediaBay Inc., a direct response audio-content producer, and parent of the Audio Book Club.

Provided the tests indicate a promising response, an infusion of $450,000 will be used to conduct another test to one or both programs early next year. That mailing will include 500,000 to 1 million pieces. “We're poised and ready to do whatever makes sense, based on the results from the tests,” said Traci Cothran, vice president of editorial.

Detective and thriller books are the firm's most popular audio category. Romance is an under-served genre whose demand outweighs supply at the firm, Cothran said.

“We wanted to see what more we could do to capture a bigger audience, to come up with some original content in that genre and price it a little differently,” she said.

Both “Foul Play” and “Swept Away” are presented similarly in the mail pieces. The offer is a free gift package and two preview cassettes. For those who join, two cassettes are shipped every three weeks for $9.95.

A scratch-off gift claim certificate reveals the free gift: either two additional cassettes, “spicy audio episodes,” in the case of Swept Away, or four free cassettes and a cassette storage box and carrying case.

The Audio Book Club sought out writers to pen the books. Several types of story lines follow three or four different characters throughout the tapes, which may conclude after 50 to 100 episodes. In the detective stories, for example, plots follow a New York City detective, a Philadelphia police officer, an amateur sleuth working in the suburbs and a lawyer investigation various crimes.

“Swept Away,” or four free cassettes and a cassette storage box and carrying case.

The Audio Book Club sought out writers to pen the books. Several types of story lines follow three or four different characters throughout the tapes, which may conclude after 50 to 100 episodes. In the detective stories, for example, plots follow a New York City detective, a Philadelphia police officer, an amateur sleuth working in the suburbs and a lawyer investigating various crimes.

“Once people find a character they like to stay with that character, so we're going to stay with that model,” Cothran said.