Book Clubs (Daily Tip for Authors)

November 9, 2021-This month, we’ve been focusing on a tip a day for authors to promote themselves and their books; today, we’re going to talk about book clubs! Book clubs are a great way to get your books in front of an audience and build vital relationships with your readers.

Steps: 

1. Find a book club. Whether internationally or locally, reach out to book club organizers and see what their schedule looks like. Some clubs decide their reads up to a year in advance, and others are a bit more flexible. Also, there are genres of book clubs where some choose romance only or thrillers, or true crime etc. be sure that the book you’re pitching matches their needs.
2. Make it personal. If you’re in the area and have chosen a local club, offer to stop by their meeting and answer questions in person about your book. If you’re overseas or have chosen an international club, offer a video shout-out welcoming the members by name and thank them for reading your book. You can also do a live Q &A online. Here’s Balli Kaur Jaswal, author of Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows saying hello to the members of our book club, click here to view:  https://youtu.be/TLQ1Ocm8OAA
3. SWAG. Give them a little extra. Maybe it’s a coffee mug with the cover from your book for each member, maybe it’s a list of discussion questions, perhaps it’s a bookmark, or maybe you’ve signed and personalized each copy of your book that has been ordered for the group. Whatever you choose, make the participants of the group feel special.
4. Inside scoop. People love to feel like they’re getting insider information, so why not let the group in on some behind-the-scenes happenings! Share with them a little tidbit of something that not many people know, like that time you got to go on a ride-along in a police car to research your next thriller or that time you went on a literary pilgrimage to stay in the city where you were setting your new novel. You get the picture. You could also offer the members of the club exclusive access to your next book launch, online launch, newsletter, or blog that you don’t offer members of the general public.

It’s essential to forge long-lasting relationships with your readers because they are the people who can make or break your career. If you remember that and are authentic and genuinely interested in them, you’ll be unstoppable!