How to bootstrap a book club?

June 1, 2018 5:21 PM

I've taken over as organizer for a previously active book club that went dormant for the last two years. I've never done anything like this before so I'd love some basic guidance on how to get this off to a good start. Details within.

I would especially appreciate advice on:

• How to establish a regular monthly meeting space at a cafe, library, bookstore, etc. Previously we met at the leader's home but my place is not set up to comfortably host a group like that.
• Making the reactivated group visible to former members and interested prospects.
• Seeding the suggested book list. The previous list has unfortunately been lost.

This group is organized by Meetup.com and based in San Francisco.

(And if you're located in the SF area and interested in joining a book club aimed at LGBTQ women, but reading a variety of genres and topics, please drop me a line.)

posted by 4rtemis to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Best answer: I manage a book club on Meetup. Choose a time and a place that's convenient for you and get two or three events scheduled, so people can see the kinds of books you'll be discussing. Don't worry if people can't make it to every meeting; you want to establish a pattern so people will get it on their calendar. I charge a small fee to offset the cost which also seems to encourage people to attend.

We choose a year's worth of books in December at a pot luck party for the coming year (February to January). January's book is a little longer since we have two months to read it and there is no book in December. People present two choices and we choose books by simple majority vote.

Meetup has lots of tools for you to contact former members (if you took over the group) and new ones will find you if they're looking. They have decent online help and tutorials to help you learn and market your group. I'd recommend choosing three books you want to read, finding a place to hold your discussion, and scheduling your Meetups. It's easy - have fun!
posted by XtineHutch at 7:21 PM on June 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

> Seeding the suggested book list

My book group decided a genre to read each month (western, historical fiction, etc), which helped to limit the wide world of books.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:03 AM on June 3, 2018

This isn't really as feasible for a Meetup, but in my book club, our members rotate picking the book of the month. Is there a way to do a poll in Meetup? I like the idea of having a genre theme and then maybe have a poll where people can either suggest books and/or vote on them to help narrow down a winning pick.

Our meeting place rotates based on whose book pick it is, but for a Meetup it might be a good idea to locate a couple of good reliable bars or coffee shops that has enough space to accommodate a small group and then you could maybe rotate the book club meetings through them? In case some members find some locations more convenient than others?
posted by helloimjennsco at 5:53 AM on June 5, 2018