Life, as of Late

Although I’ve always loved to read, it wasn’t until recently that the idea of starting my own book club finally occurred to me. I wanted to start a book club for a number of reasons. As a Mom living in a state I wasn’t raised in, I wanted to cultivate friendships with other Moms in my area. With the help of my book club, I was able to meet several other Moms near me who were also transplants and we bonded over our mutual love for books.

It was also important to me to have one outing a month in which I could treat myself through this meetup, without feeling overwhelmed since it’s only a once-a-month commitment. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I wanted to get back into reading, while also diversifying the type of material I read. And what better way to read more than by starting a book club with set books and deadlines?

So, if you’re anything like me and resonate with this venture, here are a few tips on how you can form and organize a book club of your very own.

1. Decide What Kind of Book Club You’ll Be

When starting out, you’ll want to determine a few of the basics of your book club. For example, what kind of book club do you want to be? Some book clubs read only one specific genre, such as mystery or romance. Some book clubs are co-ed, while others are gender specific. Some, like mine, are catered mostly to Moms with busy schedules. Some meet in person, while others are entirely virtual.

By figuring out some of the details early on, you’ll find it far easier to recruit other like-minded members to your club, and also sustain membership longer since people know what they’re signing up for. During this initial planning process, you might also consider how often you’d like your book club to meet. Perhaps you want a club made up of avid readers who meet bi-weekly or even once a week. Or maybe your club is like mine and can only commit to meeting once a month.

Take this time to determine all of the specifics for your club. Consider location boundaries (to ensure your meet-ups are accessible to all or majority of your members), how the club will decide what book(s) to read, as well as agreements or commitments to get the absolute most out of your book club.

2. Find Members

Now that you’ve figured out what kind of book club you want, it’s time to recruit and find members! With the help of the internet, this can be fairly straightforward.

Utilize social media, especially local Facebook groups, to announce and advertise your book club. For safety reasons, try to avoid anonymous platforms like Craigslist and consider meeting in a public setting for your first book club meet-up.

Because my book club was primarily for Moms, I utilized the Peanut app. This is a popular app amongst the Mom community and helps Moms in local areas with mutual interests connect. I created a profile solely for the purpose of finding other interested Moms.

In my bio, I detailed my intentions of starting a book club along with my anticipated start date, meeting frequency, and location for the first meeting. I gave myself about a month and a half advance and was able to connect with 4 interested Moms.

You’d be surprised how many people not only share your same interests, but are also looking for and eager to be a part of an organized group.

I strongly suggest networking through social media and putting yourself out there.

3. Set a date, place, and time

Once you’ve found members for your book club, set a date, choose a location, and pick a time in which everyone can attend. The earlier in advance, the better.

If you’ve recruited strangers, consider dedicating your first meeting to getting acquainted with everyone. This is a great opportunity to build a foundation of friendships by sharing what genres or authors each of you enjoys to read. By allowing the initial meet-up to focus solely on getting to know each other, it presents the perfect opportunity to foster a baseline understanding and connection amongst yourself as well as the members in your group.

During this meeting, you should also set aside time to establish agreements regarding your meeting frequency, location, how you all plan to decide what book to read next, and any other relevant details. This is also a great opportunity to pick your book club’s first book to read for your following meeting.

For my first book club meeting, I provided a charcuterie board, drinks, and muffins, along with book-related goodie bags for everyone. My intention was to set the tone as I wanted our book club to allow us Moms to enjoy each others company in a fun way. You can read more about the book club favors I provided in my post, Creative Book Club Favor Ideas.

4. Utilize the Bookclubs App to Stay Organized

Originally, I had started a group chat via text between myself and all of my book club members to communicate and vote on meeting places and books. However, that quickly became inconvenient and inefficient.

After a short search through the AppStore, I came across the Bookclubs App. I have no affiliation and receive no commission by plugging this app. I and my members just found it incredibly helpful in organizing our club.

The app allows you to invite members, establish your presence online for the purpose of recruiting others, create and vote on polls, plan upcoming meetings, and much, much more.

You don’t at all have to use this particular app, but I do recommend utilizing some form of technology to communicate and organize your book club. It will serve as a common space outside of your text message inbox dedicated solely to your club and its members.

I’d love to hear about your experience starting a book club or if you found any value in these tips on how to start your own! Happy Reading…