How To Start A Book Club: A Complete Guide

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“Book clubs are totally dope – like English class if you were allowed to read only books that you actually like and snack and sip while discussing them.”

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It’s a sensation that all readers have experienced: putting a book down and being so overwhelmed with thoughts and feelings that you just want to talk to someone about them all. And, whether these reactions are overwhelmingly positive or infuriatingly negative, book clubs have become the go-to places for sharing opinions and gaining new perspectives on the material we read. They’ve also become some of the best places for making new connections and forming strong social circles, with sociologists discovering that they had a profound impact both socially and introspectively. Join us at What We Reading as we guide you through how to start a book club and maintain a successful reading group! 

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1. Assess Why You Want To Start A Book Club, And What Sort Of Group You Want It To Be

Before embarking on your quest to kickstart your reading group into life, it’s worth taking some time to reflect on why you want to start a book club. After all, everything flows from the vision and goals you have in store for it. 

It’s important to always be open to the idea of your reading club changing and evolving, but understanding the reasons behind wanting to start a book group in the first place will go a long way in helping you plan with purpose. Here are some common reasons people want to start a book club: 

• Looking to meet new people and form new connections.
• Looking to talk about books because you just love reading.
• Looking for critical new perspectives and ideas around specific books you’ve been reading.
• Looking to bring together existing connections in your life through a shared activity i.e. friends, family, work colleagues etc.
• Looking to get back into reading with support and inspiration.

Book clubs can act as the perfect ice-breakers for people as you are already brought together through a shared interest and a common goal to achieve together. A lot of the potential unease people have in talking about themselves is also completely skipped over! 

2. Decide On A Online vs. In-Person Book Club

Thanks to the wonders of technology, book clubs can come in all forms. There are different advantages to online book clubs, namely flexibility when it comes to scheduling, comfort and cost, with people being able to attend virtually from their own homes. In-person book clubs tend to bring a greater sense of socialisation, however, with meetings at a set venue providing refreshments, a greater sense of routine and a motivator to get out and engage in an activity. 

Of course, there’s always the option of blending the two and hosting a hybrid book club! Maybe the majority of your reading groups are held virtually but once a month you rent out a space somewhere and host an in-person event. Social media and platforms such as Slack are great for organising book clubs, allowing you to talk to all members of the group in one space. 

3. What Type Of Vibe?

We touched on it above, but identifying the vibe of your book club before you start organising it is such an important step. No two reading groups are the same, and often the biggest reason book clubs fail is because members have different ideas of what they want sessions to be like. 

Some readers want their meetings to be to the point in dissecting key themes and questions around what they’re reading, whereas others may want a vibe that is more laid-back and free-form with opportunities to go off-topic. Here are some of the key considerations to bear in mind when planning your book club:

• Will your sessions be structured or more casual? (Utilise specific agendas, or allow for more informal conversations?)
• Will the books take centre stage for the session, or serve as an entry point to other topics for socialising?
• Will you be analysing the literary merits of a book, or offer a more casual approach to it? (I.e. conversing over techniques and strategies employed by an author vs. how a book made you feel, the memories it conjured up etc.)
• Will your sessions be casual, intimate or formal? (Much of this can come from the venue you choose for your in-person groups. A crowded coffee house gives off a much different vibe to someone’s house.)

Having a concrete idea of what you want your book club to be about will be a great way to help you choose the right people to invite. It will ensure you are all getting what you want out of it, and help minimise the risks of it failing. 

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Check Out The Best Questions To Ask Authors

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4. Find Book Club Members

It can feel daunting, sometimes even awkward, going out and recruiting members of your book club, especially if it’s your first time or not something you’re used to doing. A good way around this is by recruiting someone to help you. An extra pair of hands may bring a new set of skills to the party and help take a lot of the stress out of bringing your reading group to life. 

It’s not a problem if you don’t have someone to help though. There are plenty of ways of advertising a book club on your own. Start by telling friends and family (that you know would be interested), and encourage them to share the word around. Post on social media and encourage your followers and online friends to spread the message. If these things aren’t possible (maybe because you’re new to town and don’t know anyone yet), libraries, coffee shops, community centres and bookstores are great places to put up flyers and posters. 

Don’t be discouraged if numbers are low to begin with. It takes time for word to spread. Book club numbers naturally fluctuate, with even the biggest of groups having times where very few members attend. 

One other thing to consider is how many people you want to attend your book club:

• A smaller book club is better if you want a more intimate-feeling session. Planning and scheduling are much easier, there’s less potential for drama and more opportunities to be heard.
• A bigger book club is better if you want to open the floor to more thoughts and opinions, socialise with a bigger range of people, and guarantee a respectable turnout, even if some members can’t attend.

5. Scheduling

Without a doubt, the most challenging part of starting a book club is the scheduling. With work, families, friends, social life and other life events, our planners are all full to the brim these days, and finding a consistent time when every member can attend is much easier said than done. What’s more, you’ll want to leave enough room for all your members to actually pick up, read and properly digest a book. 

If you’re looking to separate the reading so that your group has a more flexible schedule, a meeting once a month may be the best option to aim for. However, if being goal-orientated and having deadlines is a great motivator for you and your members, a bi-weekly or even weekly meeting may be the way to go. 

A platform such as Doodle is great for scheduling, taking so much of the hassle away from you. Whether it’s the final Thursday evening of every month or Sunday brunch every week, Doodle will allow you to send calendar invites to every member’s email, giving them ample time to prepare. 

6. Picking The Book

Before picking what you’re going to be reading, it’s worth thinking about how you’re going to decide what you’re going to be reading. Some book clubs act as benign autocracies where the organiser’s word is law, whilst others prefer a more democratic approach to proceedings. We here at What We Reading are always advocates for democracy, so we recommend either allowing each of your members to have a turn at picking a book, or incorporating a voting system when it’s time for a new read. The benefit of this is obviously in how it allows everyone to feel included and like they have a say. 

When it comes to picking a book, if you’re struggling for inspiration, we know a great website for reading recommendations for every genre and situation… 

Self-promotion is out the way, as a book club organiser, it’s always a great idea to encourage you to keep your group diverse in terms of narratives, authors and themes. The best book clubs are the ones where everyone has an opinion and things to discuss – better to go with a book that is going to generate conversation than play things safe! 

Finally, it’s always worth bearing in mind complexity and page counts. Expecting your group to demolish the entirety of War & Peace in one week is a little unfair.

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Check Out Our Guide To Finding Great Book Club Picks

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7. Formulate Discussion Points

We spoke briefly about it above, but having a rough structure for your meetings is a great way of ensuring the conversations remain flowing and all your members remain engaged. Winging your meetings completely free-form is fine, but steering things back to a few questions allows everyone to leave knowing they’ve gained a better understanding of the book. 

Some books come with book club questions already included making them great choices for reading groups, but Reader’s Digest put together some great alternatives to keep the conversation flowing. 

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Check Out Our Best Book Club Questions

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Asking your members to rate the book out of 10 is always a great place to start as it will give you a good indication of what everyone’s rough opinions were. As the leader of the group, you can dip into this knowledge by inviting counterpoints and opening the floor to wider and more critical discussions. 

8. Establish The Ground Rules

Finally, let’s talk about guidelines! As we mentioned earlier, it’s important to establish the sort of vibe and expectations for a reading group when you’re inviting members so they don’t arrive expecting something different to you. Expectations clashing are undoubtedly where most reading groups end up failing. 

Whilst it’s not for us to tell you what your rules should be, the most fundamental expectation should always be that everyone is afforded the respect they deserve. Everyone reads books in their way, and what they take from each story is forged from their own experiences and ideologies. Open minds and compassion for different opinions are what makes a book club worthwhile.