Club offers book to members only

Taking a page from the movie industry’s marketing playbook, global book club DirectGroup said Thursday that it will sell the latest thriller from bestselling author James Patterson to its members in 16 countries in eight languages simultaneously.

“Honeymoon,” whose female protagonist is a murderous, gold-digging interior decorator, also will be available exclusively to book club members for at least six weeks -- and in some countries for up to a year -- before it is sold in stores.

It is the first time a book has been published so widely on the same day, a tactic being used more frequently in the film industry to combat piracy. Recent blockbuster sequels in the “Matrix” and “Harry Potter” series, for example, were released simultaneously in many countries.

For Bertelsmann AG’s DirectGroup, however, the ploy is an attempt to generate some buzz among readers and book publishers. DirectGroup has 32 million book club members.