DirectGroup Bertelsmann Introduces Worldwide ‘International Book of the Month’ For 28 Million Customers

“No second chance,” the latest thriller by best-selling U.S. author Harlan Coben kicks off DirectGroup Bertelsmann’s global “International Book of the Month” (IBOM) project. Over the next few weeks and months, the novel will be offered to some 28 million club members in more than 15 countries on four continents. After the first phase, which involves readers in the U.S. (publication day 2003-03-28), Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Great Britain, the plan is to offer translated versions of the novel to members in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, and China.
In each case, the book will be sold in the respective language of the country. DirectGroup Bertelsmann estimates that it will sell one million copies of “No second chance” worldwide.

An “International Book of the Month” will initially be picked three times a year – it will be identified by a logo that will be visible in the catalogs, on the Club websites and on the book’s cover. In addition, the book will be plugged to members in special and exclusive marketing campaigns.

The „International Book of the Month“ is DirectGroup’s first worldwide program initiative for the members of its media communities. The book clubs’ publishers and senior editors in Europe, Asia, Australia and the U.S. will choose the titles, focusing on authors and books with the potential to become international bestsellers.

The campaign’s name is derived from the “Book-of-the-Month Club” (part of the Bookspan joint venture with AOL Time Warner), a 75-year-old institution in the U.S. The “Book of the Month Club” (BOMC) has become established as a reliable guide for American readers. Last year, Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones” was a BOMC recommendation - with the Clubs’ support, the book became a top bestseller.

Ewald Walgenbach, DirectGroup CEO and member of the Bertelsmann Executive Board, gives further details: “The ‘International Book of the Month’ campaign gives authors and publishers an opportunity to present new books to an international audience. At the same time, the program underscores the book clubs’ global mission of offering its 28 million members truly attractive books that can hold their own internationally. The campaign accentuates our unique position as a bridge between readers, publishers and authors in the highly competitive book market.”

In Germany, Der Club members can expect to see the translation of the thriller sometime during Q4/2003.

Best-selling author Harlan Coben is fully aware of what it means that his latest novel was chosen: "Having my book selected as the first-ever "International Book of the Month" is wonderful, marvilloso, wundervoll, fantastico, incroyable, fabuloso... well, that covers my knowledge of foreign languages."

About Harlan Coben
Although it’s hard to think of New York Times and internationally bestselling author Harlan Coben as anything but a writer, he was once involved in the travel business. “I set up tours and then listened to tourists’ complaints.” To pass the time during long plane trips, he wrote. In the first books he immersed himself in the exploits of sports agent Myron Bolitar. Critics loved the series, saying, “You race to turn pages ... both suspenseful and often surprisingly funny” (People magazine). The Chicago Tribune raved that the series was “a constant and increasing delight.”

After seven whodunit books Coben moved away from Myron Bolitar for two reasons. “One, I put Myron through an awful lot. After the seventh book, Myron looked at me and said, ‘Give me a break. okay?’ The second, more important reason is that I came up with a great idea that simply would not work for Myron.” The result was the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller TELL NO ONE, which became the most decorated thriller of 2001 – nominated for an Edgar, an Anthony, a Macavity, a Nero, and a Barry; winner of the Audie Award for Best Audio Mystery/Suspense book; and a #1 hardcover book on the Booksense 76 list. The next year (2002), Coben followed the success of TELL NO ONE with the blockbuster New York Times bestseller GONE FOR GOOD.

Since their debut in 1995, Harlan Coben’s books have been published in twenty-two languages and in more than twenty-five countries. He has won the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, the Private Eye Writers of America’s Shamus Award, and the Anthony Award – the first author to win all three. Coben has been twice nominated for the Dilys Award by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association, and his novel ONE FALSE MOVE (1998) earned him the prestigious Fresh Talent Award, given annually by Great Britain’s largest bookstore chain, W.H. Smith.

TELL NO ONE is in pre-production with Columbia Pictures, with Michael Apted scheduled to direct.

A graduate of Amherst College, Harlan Coben was born, raised, and still lives in New Jersey with his pediatrician wife, Anne, and his four young children.

NO SECOND CHANCE – the storyline
Marc Seidman awakens to find himself in an ICU, hooked up to an IV, his head swathed in bandages. Twelve days earlier, he had an enviable life as a successful surgeon, living in a peaceful suburban neighborhood with his beautiful wife and a baby he adored. Now he lies in a hospital bed, shot by an unseen assailant. His wife has been killed, and his six-month-old daughter, Tara, has vanished. But just when his world seems forever shattered, something arrives to give Marc new hope: a ransom note.
We are watching. If you contact the authorities, you will never see your daughter again. There will be no second chance.
The note is chilling, but Marc sees only one thing: He has the chance to save his daughter. He can’t talk to the police or the FBI. He doesn’t know whom he can trust. And now the authorities are closing in on a new suspect: Marc himself. Mired in a deepening quicksand of violence and deadly secrets – about his wife, about an old love he’s never forgotten, and about his own past – Marc clings to one unwavering vow: to bring Tara home, at any cost.
Both a white-knuckle thriller and a story about the loyalty of old friends and the love of a father. NO SECOND CHANCE is another breakneck ride of explosive tension from an author who People magazine says “stands on the accelerator and never lets up.”