Penguin Random House Creates Reader Loyalty Program | Hacker News Reader

Penguin Random House Creates Reader Loyalty Program

publishersweekly.com

28 pointsakakievich9 comments

This is their replacement for their "First Look" program which gave readers early proof versions of books to drive "influencer" reviews. I found that the book selections there were really poor; I often found that I didn't want to read any of the books on offer, even for free.

They kept the points tech, and dumped the free books portion.

You can only earn a maximum of 10 points per single ISBN. You may not earn additional points by purchasing multiple copies of the same ISBN. Members can earn a maximum of 720 points per calendar year. If a title is not eligible for points, there will be a note on the book detail page that reads “This format is not eligible to earn points towards the Reader Rewards program” or “This title is not eligible for the Reader Rewards program.”

It looks like you get a $30 reward for every twelve books.

You can only use the reward on orders under $30, and if your order is less than $30, you lose the difference.

Hmm... I wonder if this would fall under some state's laws regarding things like balances on gift cards and the like.

Do many of the gift card laws cover rewards programs?

I don't speak lawyer, but here's an excerpt from Florida's law:

> (a) “Credit memo” means a certificate, card, stored value card, or similar instrument issued in exchange for returned merchandise when the certificate, card, or similar instrument is redeemable for merchandise, food, or services regardless of whether any cash may be paid to the owner of the certificate, card, or instrument as part of the redemption transaction.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Displ...

Would "or similar" suffice?

IANAL, but yeah maybe. Interesting.

Sounds like the just hired a fresh MBA grad. :-/

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