Not surprisingly, more book clubs are created in January than any other month and you’ll be pleased to know that book clubs formed as a New Year's Resolution are twice as likely to still be together a year later. Whether you’re starting a book club for the first time or you’re a book club veteran, January is the best time to re-invigorate your book club and your reading resolutions.
Keep reading for tips to help you determine what a successful book club looks like for you and how to achieve it by finding new members and inspiring your current members. The Bookclubs app makes your book club’s goals accessible: whether it’s reading more books, connecting with your community, gaining new perspectives, or meeting new people with similar interests. Read, share, and explore in the New Year with Bookclubs.
Bookclubs Best Practices for Growing Your Book Club
1. The first step is defining success:
What is the intention behind your book club? It might be helpful to write this out as a few sentences to brainstorm. Once you find an intention, include it in your club’s About Us description. For instance, the SOAR Book Club, led by Calvin Niles, describes itself as a club “created for anyone who loves stories, community and wants to grow in awareness in a fun, positive club.”
2. Once you pin down your goals and intentions, you can start to figure out how to do it well.
What is the most important goal: A long-lasting club? A high membership count or reach? Rich discussions? Stronger and more durable personal bonds between members? Great book recommendations you can share? An excuse to see your friends and keep your brain active? It may be helpful to rank these priorities. You can even vote on them with Bookclubs polling tool.
3. Figure out how many members you want, and what their participation expectations are.
The most important consideration for participation is typically size. Bookclubs hosts a wide variety of public clubs and private clubs that range from expansive online communities to tight-knit intimate groups. Here are the advantages of each:
Large club (300+ members): It’s really exciting to watch your club bloom to hundreds of members, but it’s helpful to remember that while you have many members, they might not all be active participants. Big clubs work well as a “Read with Me” style club, where a central figure shares a reading list with followers, like Oprah or Reese’s Book Clubs. You can also create a more actively engaged group with regular discussions but might choose not to rely on live meetings. There’s no right or wrong measure for participation, the important thing is to manage both your expectations as the club leader and for your members.
Medium club (50-300 members): This club size works well with either structured or free-form meetings centered around the discussion board. You need to figure out whether every member is expected to contribute to the discussion, and what their time frame for doing so is. Here are pro-tips on leading online book discussions.
Small club (3-50 members): This size is where live meetings shine. Consider: What level of preparedness do you expect? Do members need to read the whole book? Should they come ready with questions?
4. Identify, find, and recruit members for your club.
Feel free to ask prospective members why they want to join your book club. Take advice from Priya Parker, author of "The Art of Gathering," and ask yourself “who is this club for first?” rather than “who doesn’t belong?” Be clear about what you expect from your members. Your members will appreciate transparency! You can also set up a custom questionnaire to screen prospective members.
Reach out to friends, family, and coworkers who you think might be a good fit for your book club and ask them to invite other people who they think might be interested. You can also find quality members by sharing your club invitation link within your social and professional networks to find members who are active, engaged, and interested in your content. Be sure to tag us and we’ll cross-promote your club content! Connect with us @bookclubshq via Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook.
5. Member introductions & community building:
As new members join your club, you’ll receive a notification on the notifications tab. Introduce yourself by sending them a warm welcome message encouraging them to introduce themselves to the group. Share a little history about your club, ground rules, expectations, and any other relevant information new members should be aware of, and invite them to engage with the other members. You could ask a few questions like why they wanted to join this book club or about their favorite book, etc. These questions will not only help you get to know new members better but also help them feel more invested in the club and fellow members.
As author Henry Miller said, “A book is not only a friend, it makes friends for you. When you have possessed a book with mind and spirit, you are enriched. But when you pass it on you are enriched threefold.”
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