Archives - Reading Group Guides Newsletter

We got some nice feedback from readers about inviting authors to book group discussions, which we talked about in the last couple of newsletters.

Lory wrote, "My book club, Monaco Book Club, read Lisa See's THE ISLAND OF SEA WOMEN this month, and we were lucky enough to coordinate a Skype session with her last night. It was very exciting and, as always when we get the author's perspective, revealing. We are so hoping to have more experiences like this in the future. I've included a picture we took at the end of the evening to share with you. It was awesome."

Last month, I wrote about how our group had done a Skype book group chat with an author. Susan wrote, asking, “How do you engage an author to speak with your book club? Is there a fee or donation? I really like the idea of having the author interact with the readers to explore and gain insights.”

We agree that it is great to have an author participate in your book group via Skype or speakerphone; note that many prefer Skype these days. We have not seen any author charging for this. The best way to see if an author is available is to check his or her website. Those who actively speak with book groups will have information about this either on a book group page or on their contact page.