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Post by shawninmon on Mar 4, 2014 17:45:52 GMT -5
I mentioned this on Kboards the other day, but I think it was off the front page in about 12 minutes, as so often happens over there. Anyway, I thought I'd share it here in case it could help anyone.
I've started doing my own book club on my FB page. So far, it's been great. I announce three books, my readers vote on which one they'd rather read, and we do whichever book they pick. Last month it was The Book Thief. I set a date about six weeks out to discuss the book.
At that date and time, I have certain discussion topics already scheduled to run every 15 minutes for about an hour and a half. That frees me up to be part of the discussions and encourage more views, ask questions, etc.
It's been a good thing for several reasons: It establishes a sense of community on my page, it really ups the interactivity, both during and leading up to the event and it's free! Aside from buying The Book Thief on my Kindle, it didn't cost me a dime.
I'm doing it every other month now.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2014 18:09:51 GMT -5
That's a really good idea. I love it when people think outside of the box.
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Post by Daniel on Mar 4, 2014 18:56:05 GMT -5
That sounds like fun. When is the next book choice scheduled?
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Post by Alan Petersen on Mar 4, 2014 19:04:03 GMT -5
That's cool. Do you stick within the genre you write? And did you create a separate FB page or do you do from your author FB page?
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Post by shawninmon on Mar 4, 2014 20:11:12 GMT -5
The next one is March 27th at 6:00 Pacific time. We're doing Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl.
I don't write in a single genre, although it leans toward romance most of the time, so that's freed me up to discuss whatever we want. If I was a strong genre writer, I would try and focus on that.
A nice thing happened this week - several readers got together and asked if we could do one of my own books, which I never intended to do. I told them I wasn't sure I wanted to do that and that my intent was just to have fun with it, but they asked me if I would just include it as one of the choices soon, then let the readers decide.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 4, 2014 23:05:26 GMT -5
I saw that KB post. I think it's a great idea. How many active page participants do you think one needs in order to make something like that work?
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Post by shawninmon on Mar 4, 2014 23:24:12 GMT -5
I had maybe 40-50 people actively participating last time, out of 1650 or so FB fans. I really think you could do it with as little as 5-6 active commentators and have it work fairly well. I would guess you would need a page with maybe 500 fans and a semi-active base.
One other added benefit - it was really fun.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 5, 2014 2:21:13 GMT -5
I had maybe 40-50 people actively participating last time, out of 1650 or so FB fans. I really think you could do it with as little as 5-6 active commentators and have it work fairly well. I would guess you would need a page with maybe 500 fans and a semi-active base. One other added benefit - it was really fun. I'll keep this in mind for the future. I think you're right that a reasonable base is probably needed, because you know the problem with bookclubs -- more people think they're going to get to the book than actually end up reading it on time! Ooops, out of net time!
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Post by Suzy on Mar 5, 2014 3:08:55 GMT -5
That's a really good idea, Shawn! Thanks for telling us.
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Post by Pru Freda on Mar 5, 2014 4:29:15 GMT -5
I like this idea Shawn, thanks for sharing it. I can't do it on my own fan page, I don't have the numbers (only 67 likes), and few people interact when I do post stuff. I've just started a FB group for writers and readers of cozy mysteries set in Britain. Unsurprisingly (and unimaginatively) I've called it British Whodunits - Readers and Writers www.facebook.com/groups/258839424290929/There are 30 members after 3 days, so if it keeps growing, I might suggest this idea at some point. Thanks again.
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Post by shawninmon on Mar 5, 2014 11:03:41 GMT -5
I like this idea Shawn, thanks for sharing it. I can't do it on my own fan page, I don't have the numbers (only 67 likes), and few people interact when I do post stuff. I've just started a FB group for writers and readers of cozy mysteries set in Britain. Unsurprisingly (and unimaginatively) I've called it British Whodunits - Readers and Writers www.facebook.com/groups/258839424290929/There are 30 members after 3 days, so if it keeps growing, I might suggest this idea at some point. Thanks again. You're very welcome. I think with a definite genre like you're doing there, you could probably tackle it with smaller numbers because more people would be likely to participate. On another note, in the last book in my serial that I am publishing, I tried to think of a clever, punny name for a book club for mystery readers. It evaded me. In the end I called them the "Locked Room Readers," which conveyed what I wanted, but wasn't clever. I love the name I came up with for the used bookstore they meet in, though: The Prints and the Pauper. I'm going to try something with this series that I've never seen done before. I am writing it as a series of five novelettes (10-12k) released over a twelve month period, tying in with major holidays. It is an innocent romance. When this serial is done, of course, I'm going to bundle the five shorter stories and publish it as a collection. After it's done, though, I'm going to take those characters and that world and try to move them into cozy mysteries. I don't know how bright it is start in one genre and move an entire series and its occupants to another, but I'm gonna give it a try!
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Post by Suzy on Mar 5, 2014 11:09:36 GMT -5
Brilliant! It's a great idea though. But genre hopping, like I've done can be risky. I found that I'm known for one genre and that's where my readers go.
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Post by shawninmon on Mar 5, 2014 12:08:01 GMT -5
That's my fear too. For now, I've resolved to write one in the genre my readers expect (innocent romance) then something else, and keep rotating them that way. I really enjoy writing the romances, but I also have cozies and a horror story I want to write. I thought about doing a pen name for my horror, but I've decided to stick with my name and just warn my romance readers away from it via blurb and cover.
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Post by Suzy on Mar 5, 2014 12:13:19 GMT -5
That's my fear too. For now, I've resolved to write one in the genre my readers expect (innocent romance) then something else, and keep rotating them that way. I really enjoy writing the romances, but I also have cozies and a horror story I want to write. I thought about doing a pen name for my horror, but I've decided to stick with my name and just warn my romance readers away from it via blurb and cover. I've written two detective stories (co-written), which got amazing reviews and two historical novels, also with rave reviews. Very slow selling. But all my romantic fiction books sell away every month with out fail. I think your first few books establish you in one genre and readers of other genres *might* (I'm not sure)see you as a romance writer trying to do something else so they don't trust your books. That's just my theory, based on what happened to me. Readers are hard to... read
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Post by Suzy on Mar 5, 2014 12:23:16 GMT -5
I love your Facebook page, Shawn. It's the most interesting one I've seen. I love scrolling down it to find all the fun stuff there.
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Post by shawninmon on Mar 5, 2014 18:03:44 GMT -5
I love your Facebook page, Shawn. It's the most interesting one I've seen. I love scrolling down it to find all the fun stuff there. Well that made me happy. Thank you! When I first published, I had no idea what to do, of course. So, I picked one thing: Facebook, and decided to try and connect using it. I've diversified now, but FB still gets a lot of attention from me and I have found it to be really helpful in building that core group of fans we all need. I probably spend an hour a day or so looking for things to share on there.
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Post by The Scroggins! on Mar 6, 2014 0:02:02 GMT -5
I love your Facebook page, Shawn. It's the most interesting one I've seen. I love scrolling down it to find all the fun stuff there. I have to agree with you. I've never seen a fan page that interactive and inviting before. He does a great job with it.
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Post by Becca Mills on Mar 6, 2014 16:49:55 GMT -5
I like this idea Shawn, thanks for sharing it. I can't do it on my own fan page, I don't have the numbers (only 67 likes), and few people interact when I do post stuff. I've just started a FB group for writers and readers of cozy mysteries set in Britain. Unsurprisingly (and unimaginatively) I've called it British Whodunits - Readers and Writers www.facebook.com/groups/258839424290929/There are 30 members after 3 days, so if it keeps growing, I might suggest this idea at some point. Thanks again. What a great idea, Lynda! A book club sounds like a natural addition to a page like that.
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