This weekend, Doubleday Canada will be mounting one of the most elaborate “ and crazy? “ sounding book promotions we’ve ever heard of. According to a press release the company sent out today, it has partnered with the National Post to give away 10,000 copies of Joy Fielding’s new-to-mass-market 2008 thriller, Charley’s Web, by bundling it into subscriber copies of the paper in the Greater Toronto Area. The giveaway is intended to promote Fielding’s new novel, Still Life, which was released in hardcover earlier this week. From the press release:

Our hope is to use this direct-to-consumer marketing campaign to encourage existing fans to read her latest work and revisit Fielding’s extensive backlist, while also building an even broader fan base for this wonderful author, says Randy Chan, Director of Marketing at Random House of Canada.

We’re not sure what to think about this. Free books are swell and all, but 10,000 copies?! Who’ll be left to actually buy one in a bookstore? And not to get all finger-wagging, but think of the paper wastage! How many of those National Post subscribers will actually read the book? One in 10, at best?

And finally, what of the backs of all those poor newsboys?