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Speaking to Book Clubs
By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Friday I spoke to abook club in my hometown of Anderson, South Carolina. It was a great group and a very
well-established one—it had been founded in 1920. My grandmother had been among the early
members.
In the past five years or so, I’ve spoken
to a variety of different kinds of book clubs.
Some have been very casual with a loosely-organized program. Some have been dressy, organized events. Some have been at retirement homes. Sometimes there’s even supper involved. I’ve found that it’s good to know what to
expect before you arrive.
It’s also nice to know if you’re expected
to give a talk, for how long, and on what topics…limited to a particular
title? About writing in general? Or will the host going to introduce you and
then the club will start discussing the book and ask questions afterward?
And, as with our writing, it helps to
know our audience. I’ve spoken to book
clubs made up of a variety of different age groups…and I try to tailor my talk
to fit in more with their group. If it’s
a group of moms, I’ll talk a little bit more about trying to write a book
around children. When I talked in my
hometown, I talked about growing up there and my influences and the way the
town has figured into my writing.
Although the groups have been very
different, I’ve noticed that, mostly, their questions are the same.
The most common questions:
When do you write? How much do you write
a day? How many books do you write a year?
Do you write yourself into the books? Do
you write your children into your books?
How do you bring characters to life?
How did you get started with a publisher?
Do you like ebooks/what do you think
about ebooks/are your books available as ebooks?
How do you keep your series straight?
Do you do signings at bookstores? (And when I immediately answer ‘not usually,’
they ask ‘why?’)
How long does it take you to write a
book?
Do you write about people you know?
Do you help with your titles? With your
covers?
How many books are printed by the
publisher?
Do you write on the computer or longhand?
Sometimes I’ve spoken to groups about
writing, in general. Sometimes the talk
has been focused around a particular book. If they’ve read one of your books,
you’d better know that book backwards and forwards. I now have cheat sheets of all my books that
I can review before speaking to clubs.
I know writers who give away door prizes
at book club meetings.
And make sure that you bring books and a
pen with you. Ugh. As ridiculous as it sounds, I’ve forgotten to
bring books to sell before.
Dina
Santorelli guest
blogged here in April and had some great tips about talking with book
clubs. Among them, she recommends
bringing a mailing list signup sheet, a camera, and giving the book club a
group discount on books.
Finding book clubs can be a
challenge. I’ve heard some people have
had luck on MeetUp. I know people who have contacted retirement
homes, senior centers, bookstores, and libraries and asked if they needed
speakers at club meetings. The times
I’ve spoken with book clubs, it’s been a word-of-mouth process. Usually it’s a family member or a friend’s
club—sometimes it’s more of a friend-of-a-friend thing.
Have you spoken to any book clubs? Have any tips?
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