by Anita Mae Draper
The Book Club Network Inc
Finding Hope In Reading Groups
The Book Club Network (TBCN) is giving away 10 books every day in August as they celebrate their BIRTHDAY BASH. As book lovers, we're helping them celebrate and spread the word.
When I mentioned to the founder, Nora St Laurent, that I didn't know much about TBCN except that they give away books every month and hold on-line book discussions, she said she'd send something about the background of TBCN. What follows here is an informative interview of Nora and TBCN by Lisa Harris. After you read this, I hope you rush over to join TBCN and get in on some of those free books up for grabs.
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Nora St Laurent’s
Bio: Nora is the CEO of The Book Club Network
Incorporated. Nora and her husband run The Book Club Network www.bookfun.org She runs two
book clubs near Atlanta , Ga. , Former ACFW On-Line Book Club. Nora
currently writes a Book Club column for the Christian Fiction OnLine Magazine
and is a Book Club Talk Columnist for Novel Rocket. You can read author
interviews on her Finding Hope Through Fiction blog, located at http://www.psalm516.blogspot.com,
and reviews around the web at The Christian Pulse Mag, Title Trakk, Novel
Reviews, and Suspense Zone.
What inspired
you start TBCN?
The Book Club Network was born out of a desire to share
Christian Fiction authors with other book clubs, share book club ideas with
other leaders and to encourage the authors who are writing such amazing books.
The economy has been really tough for a few years and people are not parting
with money like they used to. Through TBCN they can take their time and find
the right book or win it. We have give away opportunities each month. ALL of
our contests are from the 19th – 21st of the month.
I run two face to face book clubs one at the Christian Book
Store I work at and the other at the church I attend. It’s a position I never
imagined I’d be in since I didn’t read for pleasure much before I started
working in a Christian book store 11 years ago.
But since I love talking with people and the main thing to talk
about in a book store is books I started reading Christian Fiction (publishers
sent ARC copies to our store and I started checking them out) The first book
that rocked my world and got me hooked in Christian Fiction was a book by Linda
Nichols called Not a Sparrow Falls her
next book did me in and I couldn’t stop talking about it, At the Scent of Water was her next book that prompted me to contact
the author and let her know how much her book touched my spirit.
After reading these two books and telling customers about these
reads I had a reason to read. These
books spoke to me because I wasn’t expecting it. It reminded me of the stories
in the bible. Jesus is the greatest story teller and He knew a story could
change a life or prick our spirit and move us in a direction we never thought
we’d be in.
I tell you all that to say I’m dyslexic and I have not been a
fan of reading. Movies were more my thing. I could watch a movie of a book and
have a lot more fun. Reading Christian Fiction changed my life in more ways
than one. I wanted to tell everyone
about the greatest book I read, and I’d do that at the book store. It was possible to talk about the new book I
read and loved for about a month or more but when At the Scent of Water and Not a Sparrow Falls were not on the shelf
anymore, I had to find some other books to talk about at work. I’m not a very fast reader so; discovering the
next new book was a challenge. Would I get the book read before it disappeared
from the shelf? How long do books live
on a book shelf? The shelf life of a book was a mystery to me and still is.
I was whining to my husband Fred about my problem. How can I get
the word out about great books for a very long period of time??? Being a man
who likes to face challenges head we began to talk about how we could do this
and the fact that I can’t read books fast enough to keep up with it’s shelf
life at the store.
I also told him as a book club leader I wanted to promote great
books and share them with other groups. Not everyone has the advantage of working
at a book store and see what new books hit the shelves each week. Another
struggle I had was if I had an author speaking at my book club I wanted to
share them with other book clubs in the area. How could I do that? Where are
book clubs meeting?
Our answer to many of these questions and more was the birth of
The Book Club Network - TBCN. Connecting authors to book clubs and readers to
their books; it’s also a network of book clubs as they post what they’ve read
and how the meeting turned out.
It’s a place to find where a book club is located. We have a
member map where you can find a book club near you. Message them and see if
they are accepting new members. I envision it to be similar to be similar to
the Weight Watchers program (don’t laugh Grin) you can go to a meeting anywhere
in the country right? All you have to do is look on line and get connected.
This is my hope for the future of TBCN.
Have there
been any surprises for you @TBCN? What benefits have you seen by bringing
readers and authors together?
I’ve been encouraged and fascinated by our growth. I can see
there were other people out there like me wanting to connect with other book
club members.
I’ll tell you what has surprised me is the author/reader interaction
each month. This is something I didn’t foresee as I’ve watch the authors are
having a blast interacting with the readers and visa/versa. The beauty of this
discussion is it’s there forever for all to read no matter when you join TBCN.
The authors have done a great job coming up with questions for
reader to answer that give them a peek into their book – create interest and
then the discussion helps book club leaders connect with the author. I’ve been
pleasantly surprised at the amount of authors that want to be featured @The
Book Club Network. It’s been a great thing.
The interaction with the authors is almost like having a book
club meeting on line. It’s a huge benefit for both the authors who’ve wanted to
ask clubs questions and readers who want to get to know authors. The authors
are catching on. Our sponsors have loved the interaction as well. Members have
told me that they love the author interaction from the 19th-21st
as much as having a chance to win all these books. It’s hard to know if a book
will be a fit for your group so these interaction times are helpful for that
and so much more. Another thing I love about TBCN members is the fact they are
not afraid to share what they think in a good way. I’ve learned so much and
laughed out loud in some discussion where the questions lead to sharing funny
moments.
My hope is that book club leaders and/or members participate in
the discussions and make that book connection with the author and their book. I
want TBCN to be a tool for them in picking out their books. Maybe invite the
author to speak to their book club on the phone. It’s my hope. The discussion
will be there forever. No worries about a books shelf live here @TBCN. So,
everyone has time to get to know each other!! It’s a beautiful thing!
How can
readers join in the anniversary celebrations?
It’s easy to sign up to be a member of TBCN. We ask a few questions for you to answer and
for other information that helps us keep spammers and other information seekers
out of the network. It’s also FREE. You have opportunities to win lots of
books. For our BIRTHDAY BASH we are giving away 10 books a day and announcing
winners once a week. You’ll have all week to enter the daily featured contests.
Do you have
any other comments for my readers?
If you are avid reader this is the place for you to learn
about the latest in Christian Fiction and interact with the author each month.
Are you a book club leader? Well this is the place for you to
find your next book club pick. We’d also love for you to set up your Book club
page at our site for others to see. It’s a place to share your latest featured
book. Post pictures of your club and the field trips you’ve taken. The authors
you’ve met and the book fun you’ve had. Learn from other book clubs that have
already set up their pages.
Want to start a book club but felt it was too overwhelming? You
can learn from other experienced book club leaders, and you can start right
away making your book club list!
Do you like to win books? This is the place for you. You’ll have
a chance to get to know the authors and their books and read genre’s you
normally wouldn’t. We’ve been giving away about 100 books a month and for our
birthday bash it’s going to be 10 books every day; starting August first.
Winners are picked weekly and announced each weekly.
THANK YOU! You’ve been a grand host to have
me here and let me talk about The Book Club Network and our Birthday Bash!! I
hope to see you there @TBCN www.bookfun.org
You are a Blessing!!
Nora :o)
The Book Club Network CEO
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Anita here again... As a book club, TBCN has 59 different groups a book lover can join, like the ACFW book club, and including publisher groups like Bethany House and Revell. If you want to be in the know about today's book market, you should at the very least head over to www.bookfun.org to see what all the fuss is about.
I can't stress enough that if you're a Christian author, being a member of TBCN is a great way to help share the news about your own book, as well as get to know the people who've either read your book, or may read it in the future.
You might also want to check out the TBCN Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/146903260542/?ref=ts
As well, Fred St Laurent recently announced the addition of a Facebook page for The Book Club Network Store (and magazine). Fred stated, "We really encourage everyone to continue to post HERE in the Group. Of course things get buried here quickly and so we decided to build something where we can focus more on what will be in the Magazine, the Giveaways (300 books this month) and special in store promotions... Please stop by, like it (if you do) and let us know what you think"
So, there are an additional 200 books up for grabs, plus... I saw this tidbit on the TBCN home page:
Click the picture to register for the Kindle Fire 2 giveaway!
Be sure to sign up as a customer in our store (no purchase required) to be entered into our Kindle Fire Give Away!!!
That's a LOT of giveaways! Thank you Nora and Fred St. Laurent for starting TBCN.
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Believe me if you've never been part of a party /giveaway night on TBCN, you are missing something!
ReplyDeleteFast paced fun and chats and questions and a lot of participation by the guest authors as well as Nora and Fred (or his alter ego Phred).
Thanks for hosting Nora, Anita. Nice job!
congratulations Nora, on such a successful and fun group!
I joined TBCN a month or so ago, and haven't yet had time to really experience what it's all about. So I appreciate this opportunity to learn more about it. Thank you, Anita and Nora, for this great explanation.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deb. I think the best part of TBCN is that Nora and Fred have a true love of books and try their absolute best to match up authors and readers. They're not pushing one particular author or only one publisher...they just want people to read and enjoy what they've read.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit Suzie, I haven't explored everything TBCN has to offer, but the website is so big, I have fun exploring it.
ReplyDeleteOf the 59 bookclubs, I only belong to one so far - the ACFW online bookclub. I like the voting to see which books will be discussed, and I enjoy the discussions although I haven't joined in yet. Yes, I'm a book club discussion lurker. One of these days, I'll jump in and surprise everyone. LOL
Terrific information, Anita and Nora! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Niki.
ReplyDeleteI'm a member of TCBN, too. And (of course) I haven't had time to really find out what it's all about. Thanks for the information, Anita! :)
ReplyDeleteTHANKS SO MUCH for having me here today Anita!! We are very excited about celebrating our Second Birthday Party in a big way, thanks to Wynn Wynn Media, Bethany House Publishers, and Revell for making our birthday party possible!
ReplyDeleteEveryone will have a chance to enter our contests everyday. FIRST you’ll have to join The Book Club Network – it’s free. Then you’ll answer one of the questions that the authors have come up with to be entered into the drawing. Winners will be picked once a week and announced once a week.
We have so many great books being given away. You'll have a chance to enter drawings for different Christian Fiction books every day. The winners will be picked once a week and announced once a week.
We are also THRILLED to announce that we'll be publishing our FIRST BOOK FUN MAGAZINE SEPT 1st. It's a digital Magazine about Book Clubs, Book Clubs, Events, Food, reviews and so so much more!!
Our Birthday Bash is well under way and there is lots of reader and author interaction. You can still enter to win SERPENT OF MOSES by Don Hoesel, To Love and Cherish by Judith Miller and Tracie Peterson, The Haven by Suzanne Woods Fisher and tomorrow you’ll have a chance at winning Irene Hannon’s new book Lethal Legacy!! We have new book giveaways every day. I’m Thrilled to say that many of the authors will be interacting with readers as much as their schedule allows!! What’s has been GREAT fun to read!! The beauty of that is the discussion will be discovered by book club leaders and readers long after this month is gone!!
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!
Nora St.Laurent
The Book Club Network CEO
www.bookfun.org
Oh, P.S. If you are part of ACFW my husband and I did a webinar a few weeks back that takes you through the behind the scenes of TBCN and how things work.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a member you can view it. Angela said that they taped it and you can watch it at your leisure!!
THANKS ANITA for sharing about us and our Birthday Party!!
We've changed things a little from when we did giveaways in the beginning Debra. Now we have AUTHOR INTERACTION with our giveaways. The authors come up with fun questions for readers to answer to be entered into the drawing.
Our contests are usually form the 19th - 21st. Authors promise to interact with readers as much as their schedules allow for the contest dates only. It's been great fun to read.
The Beauty of this dialogue is it's at the network forever so other book club leaders, members and readers can get to know the authors behind the book they've written. It's been a blast!
I agree with you Anita we want to expose readers to good Christian Fiction and Non-fiction. That's why we have the Monthly polls on our site each month.
We write a monthly article for the CBA that features the favorite book of the month chosen by readers of TBCN. We had a tremendous increase on nominating books (we encourage multiple nominations it helps to get in the top three for the network to vote on it).
We have members nominate fiction and non-fiction Christian books. After the first two weeks of nominations then we vote on the top three. The winners of the contest get into our monthly article as being the FAVORITE of the month. Only readers can nominate books each month!! It's been an added feature that has been so much fun to experience each month!
THANKS for letting me ramble Anita. I appreciate everyone else stopping by. Hope to see more of you @TBCN!!
Blessings
Nora St.Laurent
The Book Club Network CEO
You're welcome, DeAnna. As an author, you can really expand your readership on a website such as TBCN. :)
ReplyDeleteHey Nora, I appreciate all this extra information you've shared in your comments. I'll ensure I draw attention to it whenever I 'talk up' the post.
ReplyDeleteYou're like our personal ambassador and your exuberance for Christian books shows in everything you do.
May God bless you and Fred richly for everything you do. Thank you for being here today.