Addicted To Crafts? Are Craft Book Clubs The Answer?

I've cut down on fatty foods, I drink less, I've even given up smoking... but the one thing I can't reduce is my addiction to crafts! I wonder if I can at least manage the effects of over indulgence with craft book clubs?

OK, you might think I'm over-doing it a bit talking about craft as an addiction, but if you're anything like me you'll understand. Every time I see a craft book I want to see what's inside. Every new craft book I see has secrets to tell me and skills to teach and I want to learn them. It doesn't matter whether it's a craft I already do or one I've never tried before. Many crafts are actually relatively easy and cheap to start so I always feel I can have a go at another one, just sort of dabble with it to see if I want to take it further. Trouble is before you know it you've bought two or three more craft books at anywhere from $10 to $40 a piece. I know it's not serious money (and I don't have starving children because of it), but I like to think I'm fairly thrifty and if I can save a few dollars here and there, why not, even if I'll probably end up spending it on more of the same! I thought perhaps craft book clubs would help.

So I entered "craft book clubs" in my favourite search engine and found thousands of results. I very nearly rubbed my hands with glee thinking of all the money I'd be saving! Sadly, when I started to look at each craft book club site I was more than a little disappointed. Site after site seems to recommend another site. I have a little experience of the internet so I know the trick - each time you click one of these links the site owner gets a few cents - but it's disappointing nevertheless to find so little value and so little information on the craft book clubs I was looking for. Like everything online though, a little patience usually turns up some things of use. Crafter's Choice seems to offer good value. There's Reader's Union (although I don't know if they send craft books outside of the UK where they're based) and there are several other book clubs which might offer craft books within their selection, but sometimes you might struggle to find sufficient titles.

All these organizations run on what my mother used to call a "sprat to catch a mackerel" technique. You buy a few books at very, very low prices and then need to buy one each month after that. There's usually a "craft book of the month" recommendation that you're not obliged to buy, but you are usually obligated to buy at least one. The problems with buying craft books like this are twofold. Number one, maybe there's nothing in a particular month that you like. Number two, they may not carry a particular title that you're looking for. In fact they're largely not selling new titles but those which have been around a while. The craft book clubs increase their profitability by trying to sell on books that publishers will let them have very cheaply.

There's nothing necessarily wrong with that in my view, that's business, but it does mean you can't always rely on craft book clubs for titles hot off the press. So will they still save you money? They certainly can if you're the kind of addict I am, but then again, Amazon offer competitive prices and you might also want to have a look at craft ebooks - digital versions you can download to your PC - which are often cheaper.

I'm not for a moment suggesting that craft book clubs are a bad thing. You might however want to look for free ones, or ones which don't require you to purchase a certain number to fulfill your obligations. I may be a craft addict, but I do like to get value for money!

Xandra Veal runs Craft Books Now. Visit now for details of their free craft book club.