How to Lead Online Book Clubs

Ever since Oprah Winfrey started her own book club a few years ago, reading has made quite the social comeback. Online book clubs have also increased in popularity. Online book clubs are convenient. They allow people to discuss their favorite works of literature whenever they want. Online book clubs also break down geographical barriers. Leading an online book club requires initiative, energy, enthusiasm and diligence.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Determine what kind of books you want to discuss. Since you are responsible for the book club, you decide what genre or genres you want to cover, how often you want to "meet" and the tone of your online book club.

2. Choose what tools you want to use to manage your online book club. You can start a Yahoo! group, listserv or email list, chat room, weblog or a combination of these options to manage your online reading community.

3. Publicize your new online book club at book discussion forums and websites. Of course, you don't want to spam any message boards, but send a note to the webmasters, letting them know you want to mention your new club on their sites; usually, they will comply.

4. Kick off each book or genre of books with a compelling introduction and some topics that will ignite some discussion. Check out the Book Clubs Resource website for some great ideas for discussion questions.

5. Make sure to follow up every member response with another thought-provoking question or comment to keep your forum active. Keeping in touch with your members is very important when leading your own online book club.

6. Stay positive. Don't worry if you don't have that many members yet; worthwhile online communities such as online book clubs take some time to build.

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