Big thank you to Cindy Hudson and WOW! Women on Writing for setting up this guest blog post and sending me a copy of Book by Book. With Mother's Day coming up, I think you'll find it's a very appropriate read!
By Cindy Hudson
Technology has made it easy for book clubs and authors to find each other, and many authors are opting to attend meetings of groups who read their work, either virtually or in person. While it may be tempting to see these connections as a major benefit for the book club but a chore for the author, I believe writers can gain a lot when they encounter their audiences.
Here are two of what I consider the major reasons authors may benefit when they get together with book groups:
- They hear readers’ perspectives about their books and possibly get ideas that may help them in future writing. When my guidebook for mother-daughter book clubs first came out I was asked to attend a reading group for women in my neighborhood. I knew none of them had daughters and didn’t intend to start clubs of their own, so I was curious what they would find interesting in my book. We ended up having a great conversation about parent-child reading and how to choose books to read with sons or daughters. I learned a few things that night that may help me expand my audience.
- They get to interact with an interested audience and possibly create a group of loyal readers who will pick up whatever they write in the future. I know this is true of both of my book clubs. We’ve attended readings at bookstores for Gennifer Choldenko and Zlata Filipovic. We all enthusiastically read whatever they write after meeting them and getting to know them a little bit. Author Laura Whitcomb also attended one of my mother-daughter book clubs to talk about A Certain Slant of Light. Now we can’t wait to read the sequel when it hits bookstore shelves.
The biggest concern I hear from authors who opt not to interact with book clubs is their fear that it will take too much time. But with so many ways to connect, getting together doesn’t have to take a lot of your time or energy. Book groups are often happy to connect whether you send them an email, have a Skype conversation, recognize them from the stand at a bookstore reading, or make a personal appearance at one of their meetings.
Keep in mind that you’re in charge of how much time you’ll spend meeting with book groups. It may be helpful to remember that when you find yourself having too much fun getting together with your adoring fans.
Cindy Hudson is the author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press, October 2009). She is the founder of two long-running mother-daughter book clubs, and she lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two daughters. Visit her online at www.MotherDaughterBookClub.com
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