The company is reducing the size of its Direct Group division after annual revenues fell 4.1% in 2007 to €2.56bn (£2bn).
Last week it sold its Direct Group North America business to investment company Najafi and it has already said it is pulling out of China, South Korea and South America.
Now it has put up for sale its Direct Group businesses in the UK, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Flemish-speaking Belgium, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Australia and New Zealand.
It will hold on to businesses in German and French speaking countries and Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Bertelsmann's German book club Lesering was founded in the 1950s and helped generate the money that allowed the book publisher to expand into magazine and music publishing and TV.
Book Club Associates runs a number of book clubs including Books Direct, History Guild and Fantasy & Science Fiction.