Children’s books in English for families and schools

[mvgrogan]

Host an English book party and receive lots of FREE Usborne books!

Do you have English speaking or bi-lingual children?
Do your friends have English speaking or bi-lingual children?

Are you interested in earning FREE books for them by hosting a book party for your friends, family & colleagues? It’s simple – you provide the venue, the guests & the refreshments; I’ll bring some of our lovely Usborne titles for you and your friends to browse and order and in return I’ll give you some FREE books.....

Similarly, if you are an English teacher or PTA member and you would like FREE books for your school or playschool, I will advise staff, parents & pupils and then give your school a percentage of my sales in FREE books!

Who could say no to FREE books?

If you would like to know more, please PM me or check my website at http://www.usborneonline.org/MariaVatanen

[onkko]

You should check what customer laws in finland says about using "free".

[mvgrogan]

OK, thank you Onkko, in order to avoid upsetting anyone I would be happy to clarify the conditions on which I am giving away these high quality children's book in English.

I am looking for individuals, organisations or schools to host book parties, events or sales at which I will sell Usborne books to the guests, visitors, staff, parents, teachers etc. In return for allowing me to do this, and subject to minimum sales (which is very low & almost never not achieved) I will give the host, organisation or school books of their choice, from the Usborne range (currently totalling over 1800 titles) worth a percentage of my sales. The percentage itself varies according to the type of event and the total sales. In general it ranges from 10% - 60%. There is no obligation for the individual, organisation or school hosting the event to purchase any books at all in order to receive these complimentary titles. As long as I reach the minimum sales total, then the host gets the books! Of course I will work with the host to ensure the event is a success for me AND for them...

I have been doing this in Turku for just over a year and now I want to expand out to other areas; building my business, as you do! If you would like to do the same, you can - just ask me!

I have already heard from a couple of people since my original post yesterday and would love to hear from more.

If you have ANY questions, please feel free to ask me - or have a look at my website http://www.usborneonline.org/MariaVatanen

[hl_82]

Not to be horribly offensive, but that's what we have libraries for.

[mvgrogan]

Of course, if you can get hold of good quality children's books in english at your local library, then you will certainly save money... In Turku, the city's central library's collection of children's books in english was quite old and in need of updating/refreshing, so I sold them some and many of my friends here have borrowed them!! Some even saw them and then asked me for some more. How's the collection at your local library? Maybe I could refresh their collection, too? Feel free to pass on my contact details. Then you could borrow them for free! Better still, if you became an organiser for Usborne, then you could sell them some AND get books for your own children at the same time!

Many people prefer to have their own books at home - just as many like to buy them for their children, grandchildren, godchildren or friends' children as gifts. A book is a gift that really can last a lifetime (and longer!).

Many of Usborne's titles are simply not available in your local library. Usborne's range includes over 1800 titles for children from birth to mid teens.

Of course your local school might also be interested... feel free to give them my details. If the school hosts a book event, then they would also get FREE books for their library - and so benefit ALL the pupils!

Don't worry - I'm not at all offended.

[Rosamunda]

Is Usbourne the same thing as the Red House Book Club? That's the one we seem to have in Espoo.

[mvgrogan]

Hi Penelope

Thanks for the question. Usborne is not the same as Red House Book Club. I don't know them well but with just a little research I can tell you that Red House Book Club appears to have closed this month and become part of the International Schools Book Club.

- they focus on purely on selling direct to schools, Usborne sells to schools, libraries, families, youth organisations; we also sell at book parties, craft fairs, markets, book fairs, christmas fairs & markets...in fact anywhere we can!
- although they offer discounted books from a number of different publishers, they are distributors rather than publishers. The Usborne brand is very highly respected and has been so for over 30 years, we sell our own titles and so can supply the full range of over 1800 titles (from birth to mid teens; fiction & non-fiction; pre-reading skills through very first reading, first readers, young readers and all in an integrated reading programme and so much more), Red House may not be able to offer the full Usborne range.
- they sell adult's as well as children's books, Usborne specialises in high quality books tailored for your children's needs.
- they only offer books ordered through catalogues & leaflets, Usborne offers books ordered from samples you can see, touch & read before ordering. Many Usborne organisers in the UK sell direct from stock; I personally carry almost 200 samples from across the range, taking orders. Usborne also offers advice & support, organisation of book sales, sponsored reading & listening events, community book pledges, book parties and I can offer the same personally tailored service for any other events you might like to host!
- their maximum FREE books percentage appears to be 30% (first order only, 20% thereafter), Usborne offers a maximum of 60% to schools each time they host an event (where sales reach set targets) and this is independent from the commission earned by the organiser. This means that if I makes sales of £500+ at your school book event, then the school will receive £300+ worth of FREE books in addition to anything they choose to order for themselves! For the same event, an ISBC organiser would only be able to offer £100-£150+ worth of FREE books.

So, in summary - as your Usborne Organiser, I would do all the work for your event and you would reap the benefits!!

Hope that answers your questions - maybe you would now consider hosting an Usborne book party at home for your friends?

Feel free to ask me more ....

p.s. as an Usborne Organiser I also earn good commission, have fun and get the chance to win fabulous holidays....

[onkko]

You already forgot what laws and requlations say about using word free?
Can you please send me some free books or tell where i can collect them, if i have buy or sell something then its not free.

[Mook]

You already forgot what laws and requlations say about using word free?
Can you please send me some free books or tell where i can collect them, if i have buy or sell something then its not free.

Of course, youll find that the laws and regulations only apply to Finnish langauge terms...

[onkko]

You already forgot what laws and requlations say about using word free?
Can you please send me some free books or tell where i can collect them, if i have buy or sell something then its not free.

Of course, youll find that the laws and regulations only apply to Finnish langauge terms...

No you dont, its about telling something is free when it isnt even if its written in chinese.

[Rosamunda]

Thanks for all the info but my kids are older now, they don't read "children's books" as such any more. We tend to order all our books straight from Amazon or the Book Depository as it is so much cheaper (ie the Book Depository doesn't charge P&P or VAT).

In Espoo the municipal library service runs the school librairies. The kids used their library cards to borrow books from the school library. So there is a big selection, even of English books. And my kids primary school had the FULL selection of all the Oxford Reading Tree books which seems to be the prefered method used in the English language schools here.

Good luck in your ventures!

[mvgrogan]

Can you please send me some free books or tell where i can collect them, if i have buy or sell something then its not free.

Onkko - I am delighted that you have decided to host a book event in order for me to sell my books to your friends and colleagues. As I believe I have explained very clearly above, you will receive your FREE books when I have sold a minimum of £100 worth of books the guests at your event. There is no obligation for you to buy (or sell) any books for yourself .

Please contact me to confirm the date & venue for your event and I will assist you with compiling the guest list. I will provide you with some invitations to distribute and I will run the event on the day - all you need to do is provide a large table (or 2 small ones) for me to display my samples and a small area where I can set up to deal with taking orders & payments. Your guests would probably appreciate some refreshments.

I look forward to hearing from you again soon.

In Espoo the municipal library service runs the school librairies. The kids used their library cards to borrow books from the school library. So there is a big selection, even of English books. And my kids primary school had the FULL selection of all the Oxford Reading Tree books which seems to be the prefered method used in the English language schools here.

Good luck in your ventures!

Penelope - thanks for your interest and for the info about Espoo. It is interesting to learn how the systems work in other areas. In Turku I have been selling to schools and libraries independently of each other.

[onkko]

Again, if i have provide anything then its not free and its illegall to call it free. Believe me.

[mvgrogan]

In my son's school the English class has a small library, built mostly from donations. The classroom teacher's may also have their own but they're books stocked up over the years.

Hi Cory - would your son's school be interested in some more donated books? If they host a book event for teachers, parents & students then I can donate a percentage of my sales (up to 60%) to the school. I have already done this at Pulolala School and the International School as well as the Finnish American Playschool (where my daughter is) and next week I'll be at Wendy House Playschool (come & say Hi if you're in the area!). Maybe you could suggest it to the English teacher, the Principal or the PTA? Or, let me have a contact name and I'll approach them myself.

There's more info on my new FACEBOOK Fan Page - you can find me at "Usborne in Finland" if you want regular updates on special offers, new titles & upcoming events.