7 Advantages of Joining Book Clubs

by Michael Gorman

As an excellent outlet for people who love to geek out over the same genres, there are tons of advantages of joining book clubs. 

But before you start or join a book club, you need to know what it is. Like any other club, book clubs consist of groups of people who share common literary tastes. These can relate to an author, a series, or a genre. People in a book club normally read books based on a predetermined reading list and then get together to discuss them as a group.  

These discussions will differ between book clubs. Some prefer a more academic style, where they critique the book on a literal level. Others might prefer talking about the characters or the story in more general terms. But all in all, anyone can attend a book club, as long as they can follow the rules, and benefit in many different ways from being an active member. Here’s how! 

Read More and Expand Your Horizons

The best part of being in a book club is that you get to read more! By reading more books, you’ll also develop an interest in sharing your thoughts in a group setting, and maybe even reviewing them on your own.

You can share why you liked or hated a book, and through these opinions ignite a strong discussion with the other book club members. These discussions can help you identify new things that you might need to try, in your reading habits or in writing projects of your own. You might even resolve to try entirely new books, authors or genres.

By being part of a book club, you get to tick off more books in your “To Be Read” list. Of course, you can choose to skim through books you aren’t as sure about, but this takes away from the experience. You won’t be able to delve as deeply into discussions during meetings, and so you might feel left out.

We all have our own biases; you may be a fan of a certain genre or author and rarely stray from that. This isn’t a bad thing, but you can still stand for some diversifying in your collection. Since many book clubs have a reading list that is made by members, these are great opportunities to check out something new. 

You can also reach out to other members for book recommendations. This way, you can try new genres that you never thought were any good, and make personal connections with your fellow members.

Meet New People and Learn New Things

Book clubs happen to be one of the best environments for intellectual stimulation. Members study books in depth and provide critiques that might open you to new ideas and different viewpoints along the way.

On top of that, a book club is a great way to meet new people. A good book club brings people together from different backgrounds, races, religions and more. People come in as strangers and join the collective to become a part of a new community that shares a common interest. 

The different emotions, insights and knowledge that you share with the rest of the club will help foster a meaningful connection to each member. You can make connections and friends that you never thought you would!

Support Local Businesses

Book clubs can also help support your local businesses. After all, where do you think those great snacks come from? Book clubs may meet at the local book store, restaurant, or at someone’s house and sample all sorts of specialty treats. 

No matter where you meet, the amount of shopping and foot traffic to a local business for a book club session can make a huge difference in the establishment’s numbers. If you want to support the mom and pop shop, join a book club and suggest that business as the next meeting point.  

Boost Your Writing Skills

Is there a better way to learn how to write better than to listen to the opinions of actual readers? If you’re trying to be a better writer, then a book club meeting is an excellent place to start.

Book clubs offer a great way to learn what the recipes are for a good story. As a writer sitting in on a meeting, you’ll get to listen to the critiques being offered by the other members on the books they read. 

Sophie McGraw, who is a team leader for essay writers service at Assignment Writing and dissertation service UK, has something interesting to share. She says, ‘’You can use these sessions to learn what makes the best plot points, settings, and how to develop your characters in the most appealing ways. By regularly attending book clubs, you can improve your writing skills in order to write the best book for your audience.’’ 

Improve Your Soft Skills 

Book club meetings are some of the best places to improve your soft skills such as communication, negotiation and debating. 

Some book clubs are huge, with more than ten members. You can imagine ten people sharing their viewpoints on certain aspects of a book and having to convince them that yours is viable. Being able to navigate through that and share your ideas in a manner that’s accepted by a majority of them (you can’t please everyone), is an awesome skill to have on hand! 

Besides, if you’re a fan of debating, but are tired of the politics around it and want a calmer arena in which you can share your ideas, join a book club, where you can debate in a civilized and respectful manner. 

An Affordable Way to Have Fun 

There are many ways that you can have fun with your friends. You can go for brunch, clubbing, or catch a movie. All of these are fun, but can get expensive.

If you’re looking for an affordable way to have fun, a book club is both. All you need to pay for is either the club membership, if required, or to chip in for snacks when you’re meeting at someone’s house. Book clubs also allow you to take a break from your routine. The discussions and books can transport you to whole new worlds, allowing you to relax and recharge for busy days ahead with great food, drinks, and lots of laughter. 

All you need to start a book club are people with a shared interest and an undying love for books. If you want to join one, look around your community to see if some already exist. Joining one will provide you with intellectual stimulation, possible lifelong friendships, and most importantly, great reads.

Michael Gorman is a highly skilled freelance writer and proofreader from the UK . Being interested in everyday development, he writes various blog posts and discovers new aspects of human existence everyday. Feel free to contact him via Facebook or check his Twitter.

Cold? Curl Up With These Giveaways!

In New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis's latest historical novel, a series of book thefts roils the iconic New York Public Library, leaving two generations of strong-willed women to pick up the pieces.

It's 1913, and on the surface, Laura Lyons couldn't ask for more out of life—her husband is the superintendent of the New York Public Library, allowing their family to live in an apartment within the grand building, and they are blessed with two children. But headstrong, passionate Laura wants more, and when she takes a leap of faith and applies to the Columbia Journalism School, her world is cracked wide open. As her studies take her all over the city, she is drawn to Greenwich Village's new bohemia, where she discovers the Heterodoxy Club—a radical, all-female group in which women are encouraged to loudly share their opinions on suffrage, birth control, and women's rights. Soon, Laura finds herself questioning her traditional role as wife and mother. But when valuable books are stolen back at the library, threatening the home and institution she loves, she's forced to confront her shifting priorities head on . . . and may just lose everything in the process.

Eighty years later, in 1993, Sadie Donovan struggles with the legacy of her grandmother, the famous essayist Laura Lyons, especially after she's wrangled her dream job as a curator at the New York Public Library. But the job quickly becomes a nightmare when rare manuscripts, notes, and books for the exhibit Sadie's running begin disappearing from the library's famous Berg Collection. Determined to save both the exhibit and her career, the typically risk-adverse Sadie teams up with a private security expert to uncover the culprit. However, things unexpectedly become personal when the investigation leads Sadie to some unwelcome truths about her own family heritage—truths that shed new light on the biggest tragedy in the library's history.

In 1933, twenty-two-year-old Marion Crawford accepts the role of a lifetime, tutoring the little Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose.  Her one stipulation to their parents the Duke and Duchess of York is that she bring some doses of normalcy into their sheltered and privileged lives.
 
At Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Balmoral, Marion defies stuffy protocol to take the princesses on tube trains, swimming at public baths, and on joyful Christmas shopping trips at Woolworth’s. From her ringside seat at the heart of the British monarchy she witnesses twentieth-century history’s most seismic events. The trauma of the Abdication, the glamour of the Coronation, the onset of World War II. She steers the little girls through it all, as close as a mother.
 
During Britain’s darkest hour, as Hitler’s planes fly over Windsor, she shelters her charges in the castle dungeons (not far from where the Crown Jewels are hidden in a biscuit tin). Afterwards, she is present when Elizabeth first sets eyes on Philip.
 
But being beloved confidante to the Windsors comes at huge personal cost. Marriage, children, her own views: all are compromised by proximity to royal glory. In this majestic story of love, sacrifice and allegiance, bestselling novelist Holden shines a captivating light into the years before Queen Elizabeth II took the throne.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mystery Author Victoria Gilbert On the Importance of Query Writing Skills

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. SAT authors have conquered the query, slain the synopsis and attained the pinnacle of published. How'd they do it? Let's ask 'em!

Today’s guest for the SAT is Victoria Gilbert, who turned her early obsession with books into a dual career as an author and librarian. Victoria writes the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series and the Book Lover’s B&B series for Crooked Lane Books, and publishes fantasy with Snowy Wings Publishing. A member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, Victoria is represented by Frances Black at Literary Counsel. She lives near Winston-Salem, NC with her husband, son, and some very spoiled cats. You can find buy links for all her currently published books here (and order via indie bookstores!)

Are you a Planner or Pantster?

I’m definitely a plotter. I always have been, but writing mysteries has pushed me to do more intricate plotting before writing each book. I truly can’t imagine adding in all the necessary clues and red herrings without careful plotting beforehand.

That being said, I do allow for some divergence from my outline when I’m actually writing the book. Sometimes in the writing process, things develop that work better for the story than my original plotting, and I will change details. I just try to adhere to the major plot points and arcs.

How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish? 

I have been on a 5 to 6-month contract schedule over the last few years, which is doable, as I can usually write the actual draft in about 3 to 4 months. Of course, they still need revision and editing before I turn them in! (For context: my books are generally around 80K words). 

But I’ve discovered I’d like a little more time for pre-planning and research before I even start writing. So now I will have 7 months between my next contracted books. 

Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

I draft one project at a time, but since I am on a publisher’s release schedule of a book about every 6 – 7 months, I’m always also revising and proofing a prior turned-in manuscript while I’m writing my new one. 

Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

Well, it took me until I was around 55 to actually ever complete a novel, so I think I had fears all my life about not being “good enough.” (I also had another career that was demanding, and family responsibilities, so those were other factors).

I finally decided that I wasn’t getting any younger, and if I ever wanted to fulfill my childhood dream of writing a book, I’d better do it. So I sat down and wrote an adult scifi novel that was around 115k words – in a very short amount of time, actually. Then I wrote the sequel to that book, which I probably shouldn’t have done, since it never sold. Finally I wrote a YA Fantasy, CROWN OF ICE, which garnered me an agent and a pub. deal. I was 58 when CROWN published, by the way. 

How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

Two – the two adult scifi novels There was supposed to be a third book in that series, but I never finished it. 

Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

Oh yes, definitely. As I said, I abandoned the third adult scifi. I also have several shelved concepts – written up as proposals, which included a query/pitch, synopsis, and the first three to five chapters. These are ideas I developed, that my current agent pitched on proposal, but were never picked up. (Yes, this happens, even if you become somewhat “established.”) 

In addition, I have the first third of a fantasy novel that was acquired by a former pub. on proposal – we got rights back on that manuscript when I left that publisher. I may finish that one someday, so it isn’t entirely “trunked.” (I may also revise the adult scifi mss. and finish the third books and self-pub. them someday – who knows?) I don’t like to think of any of my ideas as being totally “lost.” I save them on my computer/flash drives with the thought that I might return to them at some point.

Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them? 

My agent story is a little different. I actually connected with my first agent through a Twitter contest. (That was for the CROWN OF ICE manuscript). She represented me for about two years, but then left the agent business. Fortunately, I was then picked up by her boss (the owner of the agency). Honestly, that was the best thing that ever happened to me. My current agent is Frances Black at Literary Counsel, and she has been a tremendous help to my career, as well as a great supporter of all my writing efforts.

How long did you query before landing your agent? 

I queried CROWN OF ICE for about three months before I got my agent and, basically, a publishing offer simultaneously. I can’t remember how many queries I sent out but I did get a lot of rejections as well as interest and requests.

Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

Try different avenues – traditional querying, Twitter or other contests, conferences, and so on. There’s no one path that works better than all others.

Also, study other successful queries. You can find these on various websites. Study blurbs of books in your genre or your areas of interest. Work with mentors who can help you hone your query. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Writing queries is hard, but it is a task you need to learn, especially because – guess what? – once you have an agent you are going to have write queries (now called “pitches” or “blurbs”) for your book(s) when they go out on submission. So it is worth spending time to learn how to do it well.

How did that feel, the first time you saw your book for sale?

It was wonderful, but a little surreal. I’d always wanted to be an author, and then, I was. 

But… My journey was a little complicated. I was writing SF/F and working with a small traditional publisher. I thought that was going to continue (and I did have ongoing contracts) but then some things happened that made my agent and I decide to pull my books and rights from that publisher. 

That was pretty devastating, although it was the right decision. But I had to reinvent myself at that point, and that’s when I switched genres. I wrote a cozy mystery (A MURDER FOR THE BOOKS, book one in the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series) under my current pen name. That book sold very quickly, in a 3-book deal, to Crooked Lane Books. Four years later, I have four books out in that series, with a 5th book, A DEADLY EDITION, due out in December. I also have another series – the Book Lover’s B&B series – with Crooked Lane. Book one, BOOKED FOR DEATH, was published on August 11, 2020, and book two, RESERVED FOR MURDER will release in June 2021. 

How much input do you have on cover art?

Crooked Lane Books allows my agent and me a good amount of input. First, they always ask me to send them information on the book that I feel is relevant to the cover before they even commission a design. Then they send a preliminary sketch and ask us for our input. We can have some back and forth about details before everyone agrees on the final direction for the cover, but usually that is very limited. Happily, I’ve always loved my covers for my cozy mystery series books. 

What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

I think I didn’t really understand the publishing marketplace very well when I started. I knew it was competitive, but I thought if a book was written well, intriguing, and unique it would sell. But that isn’t always true. Publishing is a business, and publishers need to make money to survive, just like everyone else. Sometimes a book can be great, but it doesn’t fit into the market, so everyone (usually) passes on it. I’m not making a judgement about this (although I do think we need a lot more diversity in all aspects of publishing) but it is something one has to bear in mind. Now, I’m talking about traditional publishing. There is also the indie publishing option now, and I think that is equally valid.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that an author needs to think long and hard and decide what they want out of their writing career. Sometimes traditional publishing is the best route, and sometimes it isn’t. It all depends on the book(s) and the author. I’ve done both indie publishing and traditional, and while I personally prefer trad. pub., there are certain books I want to write that I’ve realized don’t fit the traditional market and will probably need to be indie pubbed.

How much of your own marketing do you? 

I try to do a reasonable amount of my own marketing. My publisher does a lot too, but they have numerous authors to support and promote. They can’t be expected to do everything for me.

In addition to my own accounts, I do guest blog posts and interviews, as well as video and podcast interviews on other bloggers’ channels. Here’s a link to my website page listing my media appearances.

I have a website and blog, an author Facebook page, a Twitter account, an Amazon author page, and an Instagram account. I also post the book trailers I create on my YouTube channel.

When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

I think you can build a social media platform before you have an agent, but I also do not believe it is absolutely necessary to have a significant social media presence in order to get an agent. Some people will say that you need that, but in my experience, agents care a LOT more about the quality of your query and pages and, ultimately, your full manuscript, than they do how many followers you have on any social media platform. 

Do you think social media helps build your readership? 

I believe it helps to build friendships and networks in the publishing industry, and to connect with readers, but I’m not sure it has much impact on sales. Which is fine by me. I use social media to let readers (and potential readers) know about my new books and projects, but I don’t try to use it as a direct sales tool.

I think it is more important to be genuine, welcoming, and helpful to readers and other authors than it is to try to use social media to sell books. Readers who connect with you will seek out your books!