The Planning Stage
Step1
Decide on exactly what kind of club you want to establish. What kind of book club do you want to start? Romance? Sci-fi? Current events? It helps to be specific, otherwise you'll have a hard time getting club members to agree on what to read.
Step2
Decide on a day and time for your club to meet. Naturally, you'll start with what works according to your own schedule, but you'll want to take other things into consideration: hours most people are working or eating dinner, nights with good TV shows, etc.
Step3
Find a place to meet. You could simply have the club meet at your home. If you're not comfortable with that, you'll want to find a public place that will allow you to hold regular meetings. Try asking area libraries, bookstores and coffee shops about the use of private rooms. A library will likely have a room you can use for free, but you'll have to work around the library's hours. Bookstores and coffee shops may charge you a small fee, but you'll be able to meet later and buy things to eat and drink.
Step4
Find people to join your club. Perhaps the easiest and cheapest way to do this is to hang fliers up in places where people who would join your club might go -- for a book club, try the library, bookstores and coffee shops. Make sure you include the date, time and location of your first meeting, as well as a phone number people can call if they have questions. You could also place an announcement in the local paper, just try to keep the word count down to save money. You could also post announcements online on bulletins like Craigslist or social networks such as MySpace or Facebook.
The First Club Meeting
Step1
Get to know each other. There's always a social aspect to clubs, regardless of the kind of club you're making. Allow everyone a chance to get to know one another. The group will likely look to you to get the ball rolling -- you can start simply by introducing yourself and talking about why you've made this club.
Step2
Decide on a goal. Your club's goal doesn't need to be set in stone or to hard deadlines, just enough to give the group some purpose and direction. Are you looking to tackle a new novel every month? Read through an entire series of books? Discuss this among your club members to see what would be feasible.
Step3
Make adjustments. You may have come into the first meeting with your mind set, only to find the majority of club members have something else in mind. Don't be afraid to make adjustments in the set-up of your club. Allowing club members to make changes will give them a feeling of ownership, and they may come up with some brilliant ideas you hadn't thought of.
Step4
If necessary, set dues. You may need to collect dues to offset the cost of supplies, room rental, etc. Since you're not looking to profit off the other members (and if you are, you should find an article on starting your own business), it's best to simply divide the costs between all of the members -- yes, you, too. Any leftover money could be put into a slush fund for the club to be used at a later time. How you handle the money isn't as important as keeping in mind that it is not YOUR money. Discuss with the club how you want to spend that money: perhaps you could save up for new supplies for the club or to take everyone out to dinner.
Novice 
