How to run a book club for your business: 10 tips for success

Business leaders can help businesses make a splash by organizing book clubs, but the process can also be overwhelming, experts say.

Here are the 10 tips to help you organize a successful book club: 1.

Make sure everyone gets paid What should you pay the members of your book club?

How should they be compensated?

And how much?

This is the key to keeping everyone involved, according to Richard Wozniak, founder of Woznico, a book-club software company.

He also said book clubs should be structured in such a way that they’re always in competition with one another.

2.

Have everyone sign a confidentiality agreement What kind of confidentiality does a book or business book have?

Do you want to be on the hook if someone else breaches the confidentiality?

The answer depends on the business.

If you’re publishing a book, it’s important to ensure that you have all the necessary information about the author, publisher, editor, and publisher’s agents.

3.

Make the book club a shared experience Everyone at the bookclub should feel comfortable talking to the members, but also have a voice, Woznarick said.

The more the members talk about what they’re excited about, the more likely they are to want to come back for more, he said.

If the members have similar ideas about the book or the topic, they might even be more likely to return to join in. 4.

Make it fun for everyone, not just the members If you’ve created a book of ideas and are just getting started, you may want to limit how much of your own work you have to put in front of the members to make them feel comfortable with the content.

In that case, it may be better to create a shared project with other members, Wojniak said.

5.

Set aside space for the book, not the members It’s fine to let members use their own spaces and make their own contributions, but you should also set aside enough space for everyone to read their book, Woshniak suggested.

Woznik said if you do have a shared space, the members should be allowed to use it only when it’s appropriate for the topic and the content is good.

If there’s too much space, they should be encouraged to use other spaces.

6.

Have a space for questions and answers You don’t have to set up a book group to do a book review or ask a question, but Woznic said a good book review should be done in a private space and not in the book group.

This can be tricky because you might have questions that the other members might not have time to answer, Wosniak explained.

7.

Make time to listen to the book You can set up book club meetings or check-ins for up to a week before and after your book review, Womack said.

Womacks suggested that the book review itself should be a little bit more relaxed.

It should also be a reflection of the book in the group, and it shouldn’t be a one-hour session.

You should be able to do that during regular business meetings, Wochnik said.

8.

Be prepared to share your thoughts The book or topic should be discussed openly, with people who know you well.

You can also talk about the project, Woback suggested.

If it’s a short project, you can set it up in a book and share the story of how you created it in the comments.

9.

Don’t be afraid to be yourself If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed with information or wanting to be different, Wodniak recommends finding something you enjoy that’s not too formal, such as an art project or a conversation.

You could even do an art installation or sculpture project.

And don’t forget to take your time to tell people what you think.

“If you’ve done your research, it should be something that you’re excited to share,” Wodnik said, “not something that’s just for you.”

10.

Consider all the books you’re reading before you start The book club is a great place to find new authors and new concepts.

It’s also a great way to connect with the community, Watsnick suggested.

Book clubs also make great gift boxes.