Starting a Book Club 101

Starting a book club is often easier than you think! Simply follow a few basic steps, and you'll be well on your way to book club success.

• The first step is to find people who want to join book clubs. There are several good ways to do this. The first is to ask your local librarian. They often keep a file of people interested in book club membership. You could also post a notice at your local book store, coffee shop or grocery store. Many people find book club members the old-fashioned way: they ask their friends, then ask those friends to ask their friends. Before long, you have plenty of potential members.

• Next, decide on the target size for you book club. When starting a book club, some people let their group get too big! It's best to start with 6-12 people and see how it goes.

• Now it's time to decide what types of books you want to read (if you haven't already). Many book clubs decide to read just fiction or just non-fiction. Many focus on fiction but read one or two non-fiction books a year. Genre book clubs like Christian book clubs, romance book clubs, mystery book clubs, craft book clubs and sci fi book clubs are also becoming increasingly popular! Get book club recommendations here.

• Decide how often you want to meet. Monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly or bi-weekly are all possibilities. Once you've decided on a meeting frequency, draw up a schedule listing the meeting date and the book selection for each meeting.

• Determine where you want to hold your book club meetings. Many book clubs choose to hold a meeting at member's homes on a rotating basis, while others meet at libraries, community centers, coffee shops, restaurants or book stores.

• Set ground rules. Book clubs can turn into a social hour without ground rules. Feelings can even be hurt! Read more about setting book club discussion ground rules.

Once you've completed this list, you're off and running! Remember to be flexible as time goes on - members, schedules and book selections may change. But one thing is certain: starting a book club will enhance your reading experience for many years to come!

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