Recently I have been getting emails every week stating that this, that or the other book club wants to include my book on their list. The emails are all from bots or are some kind of scam,* but they do make me think. How do you know if your book is a good book club selection?
I did a bit of research and talked to the members of my book club. Here is the list I came up with.
Will it stimulate conversation?
There are a variety of ways that books stimulate conversation. Usually they are complex in some way whether it is the plot or the characters. Or it might be a detailed and complicated piece of nonfiction. Good book club selections encourage everyone to speak.
Will there be disagreement?
Often the books that generate the best discussions are books that people disagree about. One book my book club read featured a protagonist who was a drug dealer. We aren’t talking corner deals. This guy had a speedboat and a South American village creating product. Some people adored this anti-hero. Those of us whose lives have been touched by addiction had a whole different set of opinions. The book did generate a lot of conversation.
Is there a villain everyone can love to hate?
Complete agreement can also lead to great discussion. My book club just discussed Cyanide Canary: A True Story of Injustice by Robert Dugoni and Joseph Hilldorfer. This book is about a major EPA case against a business owner who poisoned his workers. Everyone had something to say about him and his business practices.
Is your book about current events?
Read a book that has something to do with current events and watch the conversation take off. These are frequently topics about which people have strong opinions. These books are also often educational and about topics that people are interested in learning more about. Because these books feel relevant, more people are likely to finish reading them which also helps fuel the conversation.
Does your book have an open ending?
Open ended books also lead to good discussions as people debate what the ending meant. Because the ending is open to interpretation, this makes the discussion personal, and more people are often interested in taking part.
There are other things that can determine whether a title is a good choice. The more formats the better. My book club looks for books that are available in print, as ebooks, and as eaudio books. Why? Because we have people who prefer each of these formats. We also insist that the books we read be available through out local library. Why? Because we don’t want an inability to buy the book to keep someone from attending. The book also has to be a length that can be easily read between meetings. It helps if there are discussion questions but that isn’t a deal breaker for us.
These are some things you might consider if you are trying to create a book that would make a good book club selection. Whether or not that email you got last week was from a legit club? It really is one of the most recent scams.*
*As is always the case when something isn’t genuine, the claims from scam book clubs are over the top. My book will be introduced to some inflated number of readers. My book is a masterpiece combining spectacular research and artful narrative. My favorite one complimented me on my use of mythology.
--SueBE
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Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 80 books for young readers.
- To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog.
She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin on the first Monday of every month. She teaches:
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