Author Visits to Book Clubs

by Guest Blogger Beth Groundwater

When I suggested to my book club that we invite a local women's fiction author to discuss one of her books and her writing career, the other members went all a-twitter.

“She'll think we're so unsophisticated.”

“What if we don't like her book?”

“What if she hates what we have to say about the book.”

“Goodness, a real author, I won't know how to act around her.”

Confused by their reaction, I said, “Wait a minute, I’m a real author, too, and you aren't self-conscious around me.” Also, I could vouch that this author was a person just like us, was very friendly, and would not judge their literary astuteness. I knew my book club would enjoy her book because it was set in a nearby town and was the type of book we had enjoyed reading in the past.

The group finally agreed, but when the evening of the author visit came, the nervous sweat was apparent. I got the discussion going after introductions by asking the author to talk about her writing career and her other books. Gradually everyone's shyness wore off, and we had a wide-ranging discussion about the book we'd read and the typical questions that we authors are used to answering.

“Where do you get your ideas?”

“What's your writing schedule?”

“How did you sell your first manuscript?”

Later, the author said my friends were delightful and thanked me for encouraging the group to invite her. The book club members said the experience was less intimidating than they thought it would be, and they'd like to invite other authors to visit. They talked about that author's visit and how exciting and entertaining it was for months afterward!

I visit one or two book clubs a month, both in-person if the group meets within an hour's drive from my home or on a speakerphone if the group meets farther away. I discuss the first book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, A Real Basket Case, and answer whatever questions the group has for me. These are my favorite kind of promotional events, because I spend an hour or two with book lovers and avid readers like myself. I invariably come away with titles of recommended books to add to my personal reading list and to suggest to my book club.

I encourage you, too, to invite authors to visit your book club. Here are a few tips that hopefully will make an author visit less intimidating.

1. If you haven't already read books by local authors, ask your librarian or favorite bookseller to recommend some. Local authors and those who are not New York Times bestsellers are the most likely to have the time and desire to visit book clubs.

2. Once you've selected a few authors to invite, go to the first author's website (which you can find by searching for the name on the Internet) and click on the “Contact Me” or equivalent link. Send an email saying how much you admire his or her writing and name the book you hope to discuss, then request an in-person or speakerphone visit and list suggested dates and times. The worst that can happen is the author won't reply or will politely refuse and you can move on to your second choice. The best outcome is that the author will agree and arrange a visit.

3. Encourage your book club members to purchase the author's book and to bring the books to the meeting so they can be autographed by the author, if it's to be an in-person visit. If it will be a speakerphone visit, the author may be willing to mail autographed bookplates to you. Buying the author's books is the polite thing to do. Since authors usually are not paid by book groups for their time (though gas money is always appreciated), the least you can do is for the majority of the members to buy the book.

4. If one is available, print and bring a list of discussion questions for the book. Many authors, like myself, provide discussion questions for their books on their websites. Another place to find discussion questions is http://www.readinggroupguides.com/ . Also, encourage your members to come prepared with one or two other questions for the author.

5. For in-person visits, I like to arrive 10-15 minutes early and set up a small display of my books, bookmarks, and a sign-up list for my email newsletter. Other authors may want to do the same thing. Also, we appreciate the opportunity to sell books to members, who may not have had a chance to buy one before the meeting or who may want to gift the books to others.

6. Someone should introduce the author and thank him or her for coming, then have the members of the book club introduce themselves. Especially if this is a speakerphone visit, it’s helpful for the author to know something about each member to distinguish them. And, if it’s a speakerphone visit, members should re-state their name each time they ask a question.

7. Relax and enjoy the interaction. If you normally serve food during your meeting, continue to do so. Just let the author know beforehand. Most authors won’t turn down a meal or a glass of wine! Make sure someone watches the time so you don’t keep the author longer than the agreed upon period, and plan for time at the end to autograph books, if it’s an in-person visit.

Having an author visit your book club can be a fun and rewarding experience. I encourage you to conquer any qualms you have and go for it!
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If you have any questions about author visits, ask away. And, if you’d like me to discuss my new release, To Hell in a Handbasket, with your book club, please contact me at: [email protected] . Also, please visit my web site to sign up for my email newsletter and see where I’ll be appearing.  Everyone who comments on this post will be entered into a drawing for an autographed set of both books in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series: A Real Basket Case and To Hell in a Handbasket.

Comments

[Karen Brees]

Loved the posting. I would invite Laurie King. The Moor is my favorite of her books - I like the Mary Russell series.
Local authors can be a bit like prophets - not respected in their own towns. People sometimes don't think of you as a "real" author - after all, they know you!

[Gayle Carline]

Great post, Beth! As a brand-new author who hasn't scheduled anything beyond her launch party, I'm going to save these suggestions for possible book club dates.

If I might add a plug for my friend's website, too: If anyone is wondering how to start a (fun, interesting) book club, or if there's a book club that's feeling a little boring lately, check out http://www.bookclubcheerleader.com. They have great tips on how to create and keep an energetic club for book lovers.

Gayle Carline
http://gaylecarline.blogspot.com

[Beth Groundwater]

Thanks for the useful link, Gayle!

I'd love to hear more from folks about what author(s) you'd like to invite to your book club. And, if you have any good stories, good or bad, about authors visiting your book club, share them. If you're an author, do you enjoy visiting book clubs? How could a book club make your experience better? (I suggest serving wine! ;) )

I'll be checking in here both today and tomorrow.

The schedule for my whole blog tour is at:
http://bethgroundwater.com/Book_Blog_Tour.html

My next stop Monday will be at:
http://theladykillers.typepad.com/the_lady_killers/

Intrepid Summit County reporter Ina Bigjam (yeah, I know the name is hokey!) will interview my amateur sleuth Claire Hanover about a recent death on the Breckenridge ski slope. I hope you'll visit there and ask Claire questions!
- Beth

[Marvin D WilsonM]

Good post. And for heaven's sake - yes - invite local authors. They are actual real people, just like you! :)

[Karen Walker]

Thanks for this great information. Hadn't thought about visiting book clubs at all.
Karen

[Chester Campbell]

Some great ideas, Beth. I visited one large book club with two other mystery writers once. They're always fun to do. What's really interesting is to hear some of the things people read into what you wrote. Things you never thought about when writing.

[K. A. Laity]

Fun post -- I'm always surprised when people say they're nervous around authors (or authors they don't know). I was impressed with the way you negotiated them through it.

[Dr.Mani]

And I thought it was only the authors who were nervous! :-)

Nice advice, Beth. Am enjoying learning about book tours through following your own.

All success
Dr.Mani

[Ketutar]

I am so glad you invited me to this book blog tour! I am learning things I never even thought I needed to learn!
I think it is great to encourage people to contact authors, because you are people too, how many novels you have written and how famous and popular you ever are :-) I am always surprised by this fact :-D Humans are prone to idol worship and to push people onto pedestals, I suppose...

Thank you for another great blog entry :-)
Ket

[Beth Groundwater]

Yes, we authors put our pants on one leg at a time, shop at the same grocery stores you do (where no one but our friends recognize us--as friends), and worry about our children's secrets just like everyone else. ;-) So, I encourage folks to invite a local author (are you listening Colorado people?) to come for a visit and invite not-so-local authors to call in. If you want to invite me, click on the Contact Me link at http://bethgroundwater.com/ . And while you're there, sign up for my email newsletter!

[NA Sharpe]

This is a great post - definitely going to bookmark for later reference. Naturally as a new author I have thought about signings at bookstores and libraries and local schools (I have a children's picture book coming out early 2010 and have a YA fantasy out now, but hadn't considered local book clubs. Great idea! Thanks!

~Nancy

[Janet Rudolph]

Great post, Beth. I've been inviting authors to At Homes (talks at my home) for over 30 years, and each event is so different depending on the author. I open the events to the entire community-and actually publicize internationally (always good publicity for the author). They're always fun. Usually more turn-out for out of town authors, so I try to match up local authors for better exposure. Format changes a bit with each author.

[inara/Dana]

I love both meeting other authors at events like these and being invited to speak! And I've yet to meet an author who isn't delighted to be asked to do stuff like this. I'm sure there are some, but most of the ones I know are personable and love meeting other writers and readers. Nice post, Beth!

[Patricia Stoltey]

Hi Beth -- Writer Critique Groups should think about inviting "real" authors to special event meetings as well. One of the largest groups in our area has a guest speaker at their annual Christmas Party, and treats the guest to an excellent dinner plus lots of time to speak and do Q&A. The funny part -- even the published authors in a critique group still look upon the unknown guest as the "real" author.....Pat

[Holly Y]

Hi Beth,
My sister is in a book club that had a bad experience with an author visit. When the club members began discussing the book, she became defensive and angry. The club has decided to be more careful in the future.
What should an author do if the club becomes critical?
Holly

[Beth Groundwater]

Hi Holly,
First I would recommend that the club NOT become critical. Yes, it's okay to ask the author why he or she developed the plot or a character a certain way to learn the reasons behind choices that were made that some folks in the group may not agree with. The author visit is a chance to learn more about the writing process, how this author works, and how this story was developed. It is not a time to criticize.

On the author side, most of us are used to criticism. We have fat files of rejection letters, we've received "helpful suggestions" from critique groups and editors, and we've all had our share of bad reviews. However, in a visit to a book club, we expect to answer questions and explain the choices we made, not to hear criticism. If an author does hear criticism, about all he or she can do is say something like, "I'm sorry my writing/plot/character doesn't appeal to you. People have different tastes. I'm just gratified that so many readers did enjoy my writing/plot/character. Now does someone else have a question?"

[Harvee Lau]

Some good comments that will be helpful when I do become an author, Beth. :)
Always nice to hear what authors have to say about their experiences.

For some reason, the comment's posting won't accept my URL. Here it is: http://www.bookbirddog.blogspot.com

[Charlotte Phillips]

Beth,

Mark and I recently attended the first book club meeting to which we were invited. We were surprised to find this well-read group was shy - until we got them going, of course. We did that by first introducing ourselves and then asking each of them to do the same. We asked if they had questions and no one wanted to go first. So, we told them we'd love to hear what they liked about the book, but first we wanted hear what they didn't like. We told them that we don't like every book we read and we don't expect anyone else to either. This put people at ease, gave them permission to share honest opinions. As soon as they had permission to be themselves, the meeting got rolling!

Mark and I had great fun hearing directly from readers and highly recommend the experience.

[Donna S]

Great post. I am sure a lot of book clubs dont think about looking for authors in their area and inviting them for a chat. Thinking they might be too busy or not interested.

[Sheila Deeth]

I'd never thought about inviting an author to a book club. Of course, we'd have to persuade all the members to read the book and turn up to the meeting, but it sounds a really neat idea.