How to Sustain Book Club Membership

Writing a club membership recommendation letter is an easy task. The point to be noted is the type of club you are writing to must be considered. There are various types of clubs like golf clubs, boating club, swimming club, etc. When you write a recommendation letter for club membership write the details as per the type of club.

Most of the clubs have membership fees; so many times you need a recommendation just because it is a rule. When you ask a member to write a recommendation, he may agree to merely sign the letter and ask you to draft it.

So how do you recommend yourself? The advantage is you know yourself so it is not difficult; the only thing is don’t overdo it. Keep it simple and stick to the point. Don’t drive around for any reason. To clear your doubts below is a sample club membership recommendation letter.

Sample Club Membership Recommendation Letter

Subject: Membership recommendation letter for Mr. Roan Keating to our Beach Town Boating & Sailing Club.

Candidate’s Name: Roan Keating
Address: XYZ Villa, ABC Street, Los Angles, 90101, CA
Telephone No.: 213-559-070

To the Board of Directors,

I am John Rambo, a member of our boating club (Membership no. – A122005) for the past six years and am writing this letter to recommend Mr. Roan Keating for membership in our club. I have known him for the past two years as he lives in the house next door and has become a dear friend.

You May Also Like:

He is an enthusiastic person with a great liking for boating and can be an interesting new member of our club; someone who will be actively involved in the activities of the club. He looks to be eager to join our club as it is one of the best we have in town.

He owns an I-36 race vessel, a registered one; which he used in some races in the past couple of years in Miami. He previously had a Laser Sailing vessel as well. He has a sound experience of boating in both inland water as well as oceans and has participated in many events winning some of them. He has the certificates of all the participations to show for evidence.

He has attended almost all the weekend events of our club in the past 10 months, ever since he knew that I am a member. He is curious about the events and always bubbling with excitement whenever he attends one. Once in a while, we even have a heated discussion about what could have been better in the events.

Above all he is keenly interested in the racing event and even participated in a couple of races we had organized which were open to non-members; unfortunately lost on both occasions only by a whisker. Our club members are too good. He is interested to take the racing events to the next level and is brimming with ideas and plans to make it a reality. He also has some fantastic plans to raise money for the club and for attracting more people to join the club.

Overall he looks to be a promising prospect for our boat club and I am confident that you will welcome him to the club. I strongly recommend Mr. Roan Keating to be a member of our Beach Town Boating & Sailing Club.

This is a sample of club membership recommendation for a boat club. You can use the same format and make changes according to the type of club you are writing a membership recommendation for.

January 22, 2015

Whether you’re an avid reader or not, book clubs can be fun — a great way to enjoy books, challenge your mind, laugh, share ideas (and maybe some wine) with a few friends. But let’s face it — book clubs can be really hard to pull off successfully. Managing all the logistics and event planning can overwhelm you because you’re constantly dealing with questions such as:

Where’s the reading list and calendar?

How long does each meeting run?

Who’s running the next meeting?

Where do we meet? Are we rotating locations for each meeting? When am I scheduled to host the meeting?

Who’s bringing the coffee/tea? Cookies/snacks?

Must refreshments reflect the theme of the book being discussed?

Do we have any book discounts or coupons?

How do you make life easier for you and your book club members? How can you all have quick access to important information? What if you had an easy way to manage your book club and all the crucial details? What will it take to make the book club fun instead of stressful for you?

So many details, so little time!

Meet Himari

Himari enjoys nothing better than a lazy day with a good book while sipping her favorite cup of tea. About two years ago her love of reading led her to eagerly begin hosting a monthly book club. She recruited some friends, selected a few books to start, and set up monthly meetings in her living room. She quickly came to realize that it was a lot more work than she expected. Organizing and managing the everyday minutiae to make her group a success – maintaining the member contact information list and book lists/schedules, answering new member questions, sending reminder emails, etc. took a big chunk of her time every month.

She was overwhelmed and the time needed to run the book club was cutting in on her much-cherished reading time. She wanted one central place where she could easily keep track of all of the important details and communicate with the members online. She decided to use Samepage.

Thanks to Samepage, she now has one place where she can see essential contact information, schedule and coordinate upcoming meetings, communicate with members and easily keep track of book lists/schedules and all book club activities.

All members can access and post club information anytime as well from anywhere on the Internet. Now, making the book club happen takes very little effort on any one person’s time. Marisa spends less time organizing the club and more time doing what she loves most, reading!

In fact, they’re using Samepage to discuss and collect ideas for future books so that their meetings are now spent discussing that book instead of wasting time on administrative stuff. Everyone is so much happier and satisfied.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to organize and manage your book club, or to set one up, don’t stress — check out Samepage. (It’s free!)

(Don’t be surprised if you get more time to read when you do.)

Posted: April 18, 2020 2:04 PM

A friend of mine recently contacted me because her in-person book club is moving online during the COVID-19 pandemic and she’s worried about making the transition, particularly as, while she loves her group, their discussions have a tendency of devolving into friendly chit-chat at the best of times with people talking over each other and sharing personal anecdotes, rather than the meaningful book discussion that she hoped for.

I asked her if her group had considered designating a facilitator – someone who, generally speaking, helps the group get the most out of their discussions by being prepared, keeping things on track and making sure that everyone’s voice is heard. She said they had, but that she felt some trepidation as to how to be an effective facilitator, particularly while also navigating an online discussion forum – did I have any suggestions?

Here are the tips I shared with her:

Decide who will facilitate.

More than three-quarters of book clubs have a facilitator with most groups rotating the role, but if somebody doesn’t feel comfortable facilitating there’s no rule that says everyone has to take a turn.

Side note: according to BookBrowse’s book club report, facilitators frequently take on organizational duties (see the chart at the bottom), but be careful that the facilitator doesn’t take on too much! In some book clubs, particularly in public groups such as those organized by libraries, we found that administration falls largely or completely on one person and that many leaders would like to see the load shared more equally (and conversely, some members of these groups would like to have a greater say in the group).

Prepare discussion topics

Look for questions that make people think or draw out personal opinions, and generate good conversation (and remember, yes-or-no questions are a big snooze). Your preparation will help keep the conversation on track and add depth to the discussion. Be ready to introduce new topics when the discussion of the previous one seems to have run its course or is going off track, and don’t feel that you have to cover every topic you’ve prepared.

If you choose to create the topics/questions yourself, jot down notes, poignant quotes and page numbers while you read so they’re handy for the meeting (more ideas here). If you need a little inspiration, BookBrowse offers thousands of recommended book club titles, and each has a discussion guide. You can also check out our online discussions to discover which topics have generated the most (and the best) conversations.

Book club members say:

“At one point we were getting off track too often, so we decided we should each come with a question or two to keep the discussion centered on the book.“

“We were not spending long discussing the books. This has been resolved by having talking points ready to stimulate the discussion.“

Gather background information

Background information on the book or author can deepen and enhance the reading experience. Find out what inspired an author to write a particular book, or learn more about the underlying history, culture or context behind the book. Explore BookBrowse’s author interviews and “beyond the book” articles, which provide digestible amounts of information that inform without overwhelming.

Book club members say:

“I expand my knowledge of the world and grow as a person by being exposed to different ideas.“

“This group educates me, challenges me to think differently & listens to my point of view.“

Share the floor

As the facilitator, it’s sometimes easy to fall into the role of lecturer. After all, if you’ve spent time doing research and worked hard preparing for the meeting, you’ll naturally want to share what you’ve learned. But it’s your responsibility to encourage the exchanging of ideas among everyone, and all opinions deserve to be heard. Break the ice and guide the conversation when necessary but be willing to sit back and let the conversation flow. And if things get heated or tense, make sure that everyone is still treating each other with respect. You don’t want anyone feeling attacked, belittled or dismissed.

Gently guide the conversation

Talking about personal experiences and how they relate to a particular book can enhance a group’s discussion, but it is all too easy to get sidetracked. Before you know it you’re talking about a grandchild’s choir concert or someone’s yoga class, and the book discussion is lost in the mix, to the tacit disappointment of all. In your role as facilitator, you should be recognized as an authority among friends and have the ability to bring the discussion back on track without being seen as “bossy”.

Book club members say:
“Some people offer too much personal information that at the start relates to the book and then they get off track and others join them.“

“There are always a couple of people who go a little too deep with their personal experience and how it seems to relate to the book. It frustrates some of us.“

Manage “overly dominant personalities”

According to BookBrowse’s research, more than one-third of all book clubs report having an “overly dominant personality” – i.e. someone who, whether intentionally or not, talks too much and doesn’t give others an equal opportunity to participate. As the facilitator, you can ask for others to speak up and create the space needed for quieter members to jump in. You also carry the authority to gently mediate any conflict that might arise. For more on this topic, see the article, What to Do When a Book Club Member Talks Too Much.

Book club members say:
“As the facilitator, I carefully rein in the dominating ones while still allowing them to jump in. It is done delicately and sometimes with a bit of humor.“

“We start each meeting by going around the room asking what each person thinks of the book. This allows the quieter ones to have their say.“

Taking an in-person book club online

Interestingly, according to our research, book clubs with facilitators report higher levels of satisfaction with their overall experience: 75% of those in facilitated groups reported feeling “very happy” in their book club, compared to 65% in groups that are not facilitated. Book clubs that do well without a facilitator tend to be either those that lean more towards being social groups, or ones where the membership have spent time establishing ground rules so that all participants feel confident redirecting the discussion when needed.

But even groups that do just fine without a facilitator in person might benefit from someone in the role when chatting online. For example, it’s easier for people to talk over each other online so that nobody can hear, and you’ll want to be on the lookout for those who want to express their thoughts on a topic but haven’t had a chance to speak, and call on them directly. In some cases, you might want to ask each person if they want to share their thoughts on a topic (starting with a different person each time) before opening the discussion up to the group as a whole.

For more advice on temporarily taking your in-person book club online see Safe Book Club Ideas in the Time of Social Distancing.

See also BookBrowse’s book club advice pages, which are useful resources for both new and established groups; and other blog topics based on our Inner Lives of Book Clubs research.

Book clubs are a great way to meet people, to actually fit some leisure reading into your schedule, and to learn. What’s not to like about taking the best parts of English class—reading and discussion—but trading tests and homework for lattes or cocktails?

Well, one thing comes to mind: It doesn’t always “work.” Between finding a time that works for everyone’s crazy schedules and picking books people will actually want (and have time) to read, it can be hard to start and sustain a successful book club.

If you’re having trouble getting your book club off the ground or looking for new ways to keep your current group energized, think outside the old-school rules. We’ve put four new spins on the traditional book club to help you host events that everyone will love to be part of.

Old Way: Read Books of One Topic

New Way: Rotate Through Each Member’s Pick

Keeping the book club rooted in a genre (historical fiction, chick lit) or a subject matter (politics, religion, ecology) seems like a great way to gather a group of people with similar interests and provide them with engaging material. But I’ve found that it’s not always sustainable. After the umpteenth book on the same subject or with the same feel, your members will long for a palate cleanser and may even—the book club kiss of death—take a break from reading the books.

My favorite way to troubleshoot this fatigue is to rotate through every member picking a book he or she wants to read. I first experienced this approach at my book club in DC, where we read quite the eclectic mix: Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink, Sophie Kinsella’s Remember Me?, Toni Morrison’s A Mercy, and Kevin Roose’s The Unlikely Disciple.

Now, does this mean you may have to read YA, even though you’ve sworn you never would? Well, yes, but remember that reading different books chosen by different people with different tastes will keep your book club fresh and exciting—not to mention open your eyes to topics and authors you may never have considered. And of course, in a future month, you’ll get to read exactly what you want.

Old Way: Have One Common Meeting Place

New Way: Try Different Restaurants

Now, I’m not totally knocking the old-school approach of meeting up in different members’ living rooms, but let’s be honest: That means the host needs to provide a meal (or at minimum, coffee and dessert), and—oh yeah—have a living room that can accommodate a group.

To make the meet-ups more fun (and feasible for those of us who live four roommates deep), pick a new bar or restaurant to meet at each time instead. Unleashing your inner foodie adds another fun element to the group, and you can even match the food to the story (book set in Spain—tapas!).

Just remember these quick caveats: Check out the restaurant at the time you plan to go and make sure it’s quiet enough that you’ll be able to have a discussion; make a reservation so you won’t have to wait for a table; and make sure the restaurant has a variety of price points, so no one feels they can’t join in due to the cost.

Old Way: Plan One Set Date Each Month

New Way: Use an Online Calendar

The old-school approach was to have one set date—the second Tuesday or the third Thursday of each month—at a specific time. But the truth is, most of us need more flexibility. And being rigid on the date and time may discourage members from beginning a book when they have a busy month coming up (which depresses turn-out before you’ve even started reading!).

The best solution I’ve found is to set a frequency of meetings (i.e. once a month) but use an online calendar like Meeting Wizard to poll everyone’s availability a couple weeks before. If you met in mid-March, send out a few different days in mid-April, and vary the start times by up to an hour to accommodate commuting or slightly different hours. Then, select the date with the greatest availability at least one week in advance so members can schedule accordingly.

Just don’t get too crazy with variance—if you generally meet for happy hour on weekdays, don’t throw in Saturdays and Sundays for good measure. You want to provide a sense of flexibility, not inconsistency.

Old Way: Follow the Reading Guides

New Way: Use Reviews and Opinion Sources to Start Discussion

Conventional reading guides at the end of books or on the publisher’s website can help get the conversation going, but they can also feel a bit academic. On the flipside, just hoping the conversation will happen doesn’t always work. So what should you use to start things off?

I’ve found that reviews, articles, and other less-traditional sources are a great way to kick off discussion ideas. For example, instead of starting your discussion of Gone Girl with a reading guide (old-school) or diving right into the (polarizing) ending, you could begin with the article “Gone Girl: The Thinking Woman’s 50 Shades?” Another great trick for the books “everyone” seems to be reading: Search for the book title on Twitter. You’ll get a quick overview of the opinions and articles that are trending.

Just because book clubs have been around forever, doesn’t mean we have to keep hosting them the same way. Don’t be afraid to mix it up with some new ideas and see what works best for your group. Now, get reading!

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The Benefits of Attending a Book Club

Stephanie Bachman on Aug 11, 2017 9:08:00 AM

When I was in the sixth grade, we had what our teachers would call ‘literature circles.’ To some students, they were forced book clubs where you had to read the entire book (grueling work for some), make notes, and then gather together to discuss the plot, characters, and themes. To me, a shy, new-to-the-school student who read more than I spoke, these literature circles were my domain.

This was where I could actually speak without being frightened of saying the wrong thing (which I often did during math hour). This was where I learned how my other classmates thought about themes in books, characters’ decisions, and the tangled webs of plotlines within some of these books.

It was also where I first got a taste of what book clubs were like, squeezed between a classmate who used her book to hide her report card from her parents and another classmate who liked to use his book as a makeshift desk pillow.

And although to this day I haven’t joined an official book club, I’ve recognized the benefits that come from discussing literature in a group.

It Gives You a Push to the Finish

We all have heard that books are mental food for the brain. Yet some of us struggle with sitting down and actually finishing them despite our best intentions. And if you’re one of many who pick up a book but never reach the last page, book clubs can help put just enough pressure on you to finish it due to the club’s reading deadline. It will help you stay on top of reading and could even help beat this habit for good.

Decreases Stress

Informality is sometimes a blessing. One of the things I didn’t love about literature circles was that, ultimately, it was for a grade. But book clubs aren’t—they are there so you can discuss, at liberty, anything about the book: what you loved, what confused you, what plot device you thought ruined the story, and much more.

And because you can speak anything about the book that crosses your mind, it lessens the stress that you’ll say the “wrong thing.” This helps you communicate your thoughts out loud and without fear.

Gain New Friends and Get Involved with the Community

Books have the potential to bring strangers together. By learning about their own views on the stories you read, you get a better perspective on what your club members are like and how they think. It also opens up paths for you to start a new friendship as you have things in common—whether that be hating a certain character or absolutely adoring another.

Gain New Perspectives

Sometimes the pieces you read in literature clubs are books you would put your nose up at or ignore on the bookshelf. By being introduced to new genres and styles, you see the perspectives of different people and different cultures. And the more perspective you gain, the more you grow.

Boosts Teamwork Skills

Book clubs are actually used in business to help workers grow closer to one another and work more efficiently. For example, Neil Blumenthal, the founder of eyeglass maker Warby Parker, explained the benefits of his company wide book clubs here. He says, “From a team dynamic standpoint, it helps build stronger working relationships. It helps build trust when you create what is a safe environment to share ideas, or to debate ideas.”

Good for Those of Retirement Age

BMJ Open, a UK medical journal, found results that social interaction allows people to enjoy healthier lives after they retire (read more here.) This is because social isolation actually increases dementia and cognitive decline after retirement. So if you are of retirement age, joining a book club may help combat those dreary diseases.

Better Your Own Writing Skills

If you are writing your own book or are interested in starting, learning how people dissect plotlines, characters, and settings in books will help you see what writing techniques work and which don’t. Reading books of different genres will also let you experience different styles, which will help your writing skills in the long run.

Snacks Are Often Provided

And for those who still aren’t 100% sold on reading books, there is almost always food at the club meeting. Sometimes they are basics, like crackers and cheese, and other times they are themed to go along with the book. Knowing that you’ll get tasty snacks is an incentive to at least tag along.

“When you sell a man a book you don’t sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue — you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night — there‘s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.” —Christopher Morley

Five Steps to Starting a Book Club

Step One: Decide what kind of Book Club you want to start.

• Is the purpose of your Book Club to read or to socialize?
• Do you want to read a specific genre, bestsellers, high literature, etc.?
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About Doubleday Book Club

Doubleday Book Club is one of the most popular book clubs in the world. They have special deals with all sorts of publishers which makes it possible to give you rock bottom prices on all of your favorite books. This club is a general book club that spans all genres as well as carries books for all ages. You won’t be disappointed, it’s guaranteed!

The Doubleday Book Club selection features a vast selection of the latest fiction and nonfiction including best sellers, popular favorites, mysteries, romance, cooking, home decorating & more! As a member, you’ll save up to 60% off publishers’ edition prices on every book.

For the avid reader, selecting the perfect books can be a difficult and daunting task. Reading more than three or four books a month can become an expensive hobby and finding the time to go to a library and browse through the titles can be difficult. Offering ridiculously low prices and an easy-to-use online system, Doubleday eliminates the time and cost associated with choosing your books and allows more time for the reading. Read our Doubleday Club Review for more information.

Offering a vast array of fiction and nonfiction bestsellers, Doubleday carries all the favorite authors from romanticist Danielle Steel to the king of mystery, James Patterson. When driving to your bookstore twice a week becomes a hassle, Doubleday provides a convenient way for stocking your shelves with the kind of books you genuinely enjoy reading.

Through this book club, members can save up to 60 percent off publishers’ edition prices and can choose titles on a range of subjects, including: business, fitness, diet, biographies, sports, romance, cooking, gardening, home, design, mystery, reference, how-to, beauty, travel, computers, classics, pets, career, health, wellness, inspiration, religion and crafts, to name a few.

One of the greatest advantages to being a Doubleday member is being able to access the newest books without waiting in bookstore lines or fearing that all copies will be sold out. With the ability to purchase titles ahead of time, members are guaranteed to receive all the new releases the moment they’re made available.

Finding titles by popular authors (such as Nicholas Sparks, John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, Sandra Brown and Dean Koontz) can be difficult in bookstores, but Doubleday Book Club offers all the titles you’re dying to read. While online bookstores can offer the convenience of ordering from your home, none can offer the same low prices as the Doubleday Book Club, where you’ll find the same titles for up to 60 percent less.

For reading enthusiasts, Doubleday not only offers selections from their favorite authors and genres, but also provides articles written by book industry experts and authors. Providing a close-knit network of customers, the Doubleday site is dedicated to sharing information about the books you love or wish to read in the future. Share your book reviews and recommendations with other members and read theirs to decide which books you want to order next.

Doubleday makes your reading selection easier by listing author profiles and experts from new books. Since you’re using the Internet in the comfort of your own home, you no longer need to feel pressured to make a quick decision as you stand cramped in a store reading book summaries on the back covers. Doubleday strives to help readers choose the kinds of books that would interest them and then provides them for a fraction of the cost they would pay elsewhere. A book club that caters to the serious reader, this is the place to go for all your reading needs. Join Doubleday Book Club.

Books “I feel like a different person. I have a richer & different perspective on the world. I never read much non-fiction before I joined.” Sarah

Meets “I’ve been attending lots of online events and last nights RBC was epic, by far the most well thought and well executed I’ve seen!” Pranath

Action “I’ve loved RBC so much since joining. Its not a stretch to say the books are triggering me to change my life & such a great group.” Claire

Books. Meets. Action.

Membership Benefits

Regular Reading: 1 x Non-Fiction Book

1 x theme with 3 x books to vote on. Then, weekly nudges to keep you on track + lots of related content & experts.

Focused Chats: 2 x Monthly Meets

Not another zoom call.

1 x meet focused on the theme.

1 x meet focused on the book.

‘Cocktails from your Cupboard‘, special guests, breakout sessions, member chat roulette & games.

Action Stations: Unlimited Learning

Not only will you read more, but you can connect with a community of thinkers & doers. Book & theme inspired member projects: start a venture, learn a new skill, hustle a job, join a campaign.

Membership Options

1 x non-fiction book

2 x member meets

Unlimited learning & connections

(£11/month for 3 month signup & £10/month for annual signup)

90 Day Membership

3 x non-fiction books

6 x member meets

Unlimited conversation & community

One-off payment £45 (£15/month)

9 reasons to join us

Feed your hungry mind and fight the curse of Tsundoku* with a motivated community of readers, thinkers & doers.

*Japanese for the growing pile of unread books on your table/shelf/kindle.

Reading Health

Finish them! We push you to start (and finish) more books. Weekly nudges, power hours, monthly meetups.

Read differently. Dive into topics outside your book bubble. Diversify your library & perspectives.

From aha to action. Turn your reading insights into real life adjustments or exciting changes.

Real Connections

Skip small talk. When everyone is reading the same book you get straight to the juice. Cocktails help too.

Curious cats. Entwine your wandering mind with others and form new friendships.

Un-networking. Get the benefits of networking – career hook-ups, startup guidance, creative connections – without, ahem, networking.

Personal Growth

Dive deeper. Often fleeting, we want the important stuff to stick. A monthly focus gives us a better chance to change.

Light a Fire. Be prepared to spark your synapses with fresh data, stories & ideas.

Back yourself. Reading by yourself is an escape. Sharing with friends solidifies knowledge and builds your inner-confidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

We live in confusing times.

We can access more information than ever before. We can easily connect with like-minded people around the world. We can work from (almost) anywhere. We can explore content, topics and subjects with a couple of clicks.

But, despite this abundance, many of us often feel overwhelmed, slightly lost and disconnected from each other.

Over the last five years we’ve discovered that diving deeper into different topics and discussing them helps us make more sense of the noise in our heads and around us.

It helps us improve our ability to focus in a distracted age.

It helps us connect on a human level beyond emoji’s (although we use them a lot) and notifications.

It helps us develop the habit of lifelong learning that can lead to all kinds of exciting shifts.

Rebel Book Club is a home for those who are hungry to learn without going ‘back to school’.

It is a place for people to re-connect with others who share their curious mindset and concerns for our changing world.

It is a place to make friends, have fun and maybe be part of something special.

. you want to meet people who are similarly curious.

We’re a tribe of open-minded thinkers who are motivated to invest valuable time and energy into learning, connecting and cultivate a growth mindset towards life.

If this sounds like you (or who you want to be), jump in!

All memberships include:

1. Read: Amazon Kindle-priced voucher delivered once a month within a couple of clicks (you can use the credit towards the paperback or audible if you’re short on time). UK members there is a non-Amazon option with National Book Tokens.

We guarantee a minimum monthly voucher based on current kindle price.
UK minimum £5, max £10
EU minimum €7, max €13
US minimum $8, max $15

If voucher unclaimed after 6 months we use to buy books for literacy charities like Echo Refugee Library.

2. Nudges: Weekly emailed newsletter to keep you accountable and up-to-date with community, votes and books.

3. Tribe: See who’s who and connect directly with the rest of the community. The book club is just the start.

4. Meets: During lockdown we’re hosting 2 x remote meets a month. These are a Zoom free zone! ‘Cocktails from your Cupboard‘, special guests, breakout sessions, member chat roulette & games.

You can opt out anytime if you aren’t 100% happy. The average membership length is 9 months. Some members have been with us sine the start 🙂

When you signup to one of our membership options your direct debit gets automatically setup. The fee will be charged every 1, 3 or 12 months on the date you signed up. Make sure you signup at least a week before the end of the month so this has time to process before the next book vouchers go out.

You can also join with a one-off membership payment for 90 days.

Do you have friends and family who are passionate about books? Give them a subscription to BookBrowse which they can enjoy all year!

The best books entertain, engage and enlighten; they wrap us in their world giving us a window into the lives of others or a mirror to reflect on ourselves. These are the books that we seek out and recommend, both fiction and nonfiction.

Your Gift Includes:

BookBrowse’s twice monthly online magazine stuffed with reviews & excerpts of the best current books; and previews of books publishing soon.

Our unique ‘beyond the book’ articles that explore a factual aspect of each featured book – perfect for all who read to expand their horizons.

Free books to read and review, or discuss. Members who participate regularly usually receive about four books a year (US residents only). More info.

Plentiful resources for book clubbers including recommendations by theme (all with reading guides), online discussions & book club advice.

‘Read-alike’ suggestions for thousands of books and authors so your recipient can find books similar to ones they’ve already enjoyed.

Recommended reading lists by time period, setting and a wide range of themes.

‘My Reading List’ to keep track of the books they’ve read and want to read.

I just wanted to say thanks again to BookBrowse for providing such a wealth of info on new books. Thank you for helping me to find truly terrific books amidst a sea of literary mediocrity!

I love your web site. You are directly responsible for expanding my reading horizons exponentially.

Sites like meetup.com are a godsend to social organizers.

Welcome back to the series “How to start or join a book club.” I have already told you how to join a book club and, if you choose to create a club of your own, how to find that special niche. This week, we’ll continue our discussion by talking about how to recruit and manage members.

So you have decided you are going to start a book club, you have identified the niche that will make your group special, now what? Perhaps even more than good books to read, every book club needs enthusiastic participants—members. People are the impetus for any successful book group, not just finding the right people, but also developing a system for keeping everyone connected and on the same page.

There you stand, book in hand, eager to set up a discussion. How will you find people to join in and prevent you from being that crazy lady talking to herself in the coffee shop? Recruiting members is not dissimilar to finding a book club to join.

Networking is the best way to slowly start building your member base. Ask your friends if they are interested, ask them to ask their friends and your friend-once-removed can tell any interested parties he may know. Since many times we choose to associate with people who have interests similar to our own, chances are your friends will be excited about the idea, or, at least pretend to be to spare your feelings.

A word of warning, don’t expect a huge turnout from your network base. Even though your buddies may be enthused at inception, there are many factors that could get in the way between now and discussion day. Maybe they don’t really have enough free time to be in the group, the book you have chosen doesn’t hold their interest, something else comes up or they plain forget when and where the discussion is happening—anything can happen.

If you are OK with reaching out to unknown people for the sake of a broader member base, by all means, do so. You can make fliers advertising the nature of your group, the next discussion and how to join. For added ease on the behalf of your perspective members, you can even add easy tear off tabs with the most important information.

Post your fliers up at the local library, book shops, coffee houses, grocery stores, college campuses and pretty much anywhere that you believe your target demographic may frequent. Before posting flyers, make sure to ask the permission of the establishment—you don’t want to get into any trouble!

This is the flier I created to advertise the very first meeting of Ann Arbor Classics Book Group. You may want to apply similar concepts when creating a flyer to advertise your new book club.

The absolute best way to both recruit and manage members is through social media on the internet. Sites like Meetup, Facebook, Yahoo Groups, BookBundlz and the like are excellent places to host your group. Many of the sites are free-of-charge, though ones offering more unique features may have a small monthly or one-time fee.

I began hosting Ann Arbor Classics Book Group on Facebook, but growing tired of the paltry turnout, I chose to move on to bigger and better things. Moving my group to Meetup, has so far increased my membership 10-fold and the meeting turn-outs 4-fold. The $15 per month I have to pay to use the site features was definitely worthwhile, given that Meetup made it easy to design my page and advertise my group for me. Meetup sends e-mail reminders to my members of upcoming discussions, provides message boards for further discussion and allows me to create customizable polls. It even asks members to rate and comment on each meeting.

The administrative fee has easily been recovered by charging members $1 to attend each meeting. The decision to distribute your maintenance costs across your members or to simply cut your losses is 100% your choice.

I definitely extol the wonders of social media for helping me to turn my book group into a momentous force, introducing me to many new friends and even setting me up with AnnArbor.com, allowing me to realize my dream of writing something and actually having someone read it!

Of course, there are other ways to manage your members, but they do take a good deal more work. You can appoint a group secretary to send e-mail reminders to members about fast-approaching book discussions. You can set up an e-mail thread where your members discourse with one another about past and future meetings and make important group decisions.

If the whole of your membership is your closest circle of girlfriends, you can give them personal reminders whenever you see them for other outings. However, without the use of social media, it is challenging to make sure you remember to plan and communicate the everyday minutiae that is required to make your group a success. If you are versed in the Internet (which you must be, because you are reading this article online), then there is no reason not to host your group online, especially when so many of the resources are absolutely free.

This is part 3 in the multi-part series “How to start or join a book club.” Look for more articles in the coming weeks that will highlight such topics as: choosing your selections and discussion dates, deciding on a venue, and leading discussions.

Melissa LR Handa is the founder and organizer for the Ann Arbor Classics Book Group and the lead books contributor for AnnArbor.com. If you would like more information or to join the group, please feel free to send an email her way.

Comments

Melissa LR Handa

Wed, Jan 13, 2010 : 2:21 p.m.

Meetup.com is also extraordinary for starting and joining other types of groups. Here in Ann Arbor, we have walking groups, film groups, dining groups, knitting groups–a huge variety to choose from!

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Anyone who has excitedly started their own book club, managed to have everyone read some Oprah-popular book, only to have the whole thing fall apart before it was time to pick book #2 knows my pain. A book club requires a very delicate balance. It’s walking the fine line of personalities, scheduling, discussion questions, and Pinot Grigio versus Merlot.

But the book club wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for… books. So, it could be argued that book selection can make or break a book club. It’s a difficult middle ground to obtain. You need something that will inspire interesting discussion, but nothing that will result in black eyes. You need something that will appeal to a large group, but you want group size manageable so there aren’t just 40 people talking over each other about symbolism. You need something that is widely available and not a book that will send group members scouring estate sales and stalking eBay auctions.

So with the plethora of literary material available to us in the 21st century, how does one decide what your book club will read? How exactly do you pick books for a book club?

1. Poll the group– Everyone has that book (or 60) they’ve just been dying to read. Give group members a voice by opening the list of books up to them. You’ll find there’s a lot of overlap so you’ll be able to prioritize those books.
2. Group voting– Once you have a good running list of possible selections, have members vote. You can do this with an online survey, Facebook poll, or in-person. The book that gets the most votes wins, and the runners up can always be used for upcoming months.
3. Paperbacks– The book club I’m loyal to has a strict paperback rule. They don’t want to alienate those people who may not be able to dish out $30 every month to participate. And the library usually only has so many copies of books available. So give your book club members an affordable option.
4. Consider genres– Lots of book clubs that started out as “anything goes” break out into more focused groups. My own book club has introduced a “history” group, featuring historical non-fiction. Be it romance, mystery/thrillers, memoirs, it might be easier to determine what books to read when you start with a genre in mind.
5. Themes– Especially in this particular political climate, I’m seeing a lot of book clubs focus on books about race, politics, historical figures. If you have something going on locally to you that you think may be on your group member’s minds, give them the space to meditate and discuss these themes in the safety of their beloved book club. Other great options on themes can be based on seasonality (Christmas stories during the holidays, horror during Halloween), authors, events/hobbies, and people (ex: read Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen and then read Circling the Sun by Paula McLain).
6. Talk to your local indie– Your favorite local bookseller likely has a good idea of the big, buzzy, conversation-inducing reads of the moment. Stop in and get a better idea of what works are just flying off their shelves (and be sure to purchase a book to thank them for their time).
7. Keep your ear to the bookish internet– Whether it be Book Riot, a podcast (including All the Books), bookish Twitter, or your favorite blogs, let the people in The Know tell you what readers are really dying to crack open.
8. Diversity– One of the biggest issues with book clubs is their lack of diversity. For the longest time, the name of the book club game has been suburban middle-aged white women. That is slowly changing, but with that, we have to ensure that we’re being representative in our reading. Even if your club skews highly white female, it’s important for us to build empathy and understanding through our reading. So have them pick up that Ta-Nehisi Coates or that copy of Americanah. Encourage reading outside of our experience in your book group and you’ll foster learning and interest in other cultures.
9. Delegate, delegate, delegate– A good way to have all members feel involved is to have them select the books. A good way to do this is to assign each member a month and have them solely responsible for deciding what your group will be reading that month. This way everyone feels engaged and involved, and no one can complain that “you never read anything I want to read”!
10. Read Harder– Use Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge as a guideline for what books your group will be reading. Group members will have fun picking which challenges they want to focus on, and the idea of getting through the complete list each year will motivate and inspire!

But the most important part of book club selection… listen to your members. As long as they feel heard, chances are they’ll be willing to read a book they normally wouldn’t think to pick up on their own. And that’s how we encourage diversity and growth in readers!

How to pick books for a book club- it’s the question for the ages. But hopefully this post gave you a starting point to having an amazing book club experience. But be sure to save a glass of Pinot for me!