With the dramatic changes occurring in the publishing industry, especially the explosion of self-publishing and hybrid publishing, I thought it would be interesting to survey members of a book club to understand their reading and meeting preferences. I had the opportunity to do this when a local book club group chose my book, Freedom for Me: A Chinese Yankee, as their recent selection and invited me to attend their next meeting to discuss it.

What I discovered was that the market—at least as represented by these book club members—is open to different ways of engaging with our books.

When I asked where they purchased my book, this was the result:

--Traditional bookstore: 40 percent

--Amazon.com: 60 percent

Interestingly, their book format preferences were split:

--Hard cover or paperbook:  40 percent

--eBook (Kindle): 40 percent

--Audiobook: 10 percent

I found the answers to these questions to be connected. Those members who preferred hard copy or paperback books went to a physical bookstore to purchase my book. Even when the book was not available, they proceeded to order it from the store. Those who preferred eBooks went directly to Amazon for the immediate download to their Kindle devices. My book wasn’t available as an audiobook at the time (it will be available on Audible and iTunes in November 2018) so the member who preferred that format proceeded to purchase a paperback. 

All the members surveyed were women between the ages of 35 and 50. They meet regularly and rotate the book choice among the members. They don’t limit their book selections based on genre. In fact, when they selected my book, they chose an upper middle grade/young adult book about a Chinese Civil War soldier. On the surface, my book is one for teens, with historical, wartime content, and featuring a male protagonist. It is not necessarily the first book one would expect this group to choose. However, when one of their members connected with me on LinkedIn and saw a social media post about my book, they were excited about the opportunity to read it and invited me to their next meeting. It was the personal, local connection that led to my book’s selection. Authors should note that, in specific circumstances, promoting their authorship of a book may be even more impactful than the book alone, especially to local audiences. 

The book club members were also aware of how to help an author. One member asked their local library to stock it. Forty percent of the members posted reviews of my book on Amazon after the meeting. One of the members posted a photo of us on multiple social media channels. The members also expressed a willingness to sign up for my newsletter and join my all-important email list.

Next time I attend a book club meeting, I will also ask the following questions: 1) when you choose a book, are you aware of the book’s publisher? 2) Do you prefer books by established authors? I am a traditionally published author, but by a small independent press. I am eager to know how impactful being published by the big six impacts book choices, and if readers are aware of the difference between traditionally published and hybrid- or self-published titles.

I found attending the book club meeting to be one of the highlights of my publishing journey. There's nothing better than being surrounded by a group of people who appreciate the work you've created. Attending the club meeting also presented me with a unique opporutnity to learn more about other readers consume books. Not only is that valuable information to learn and share; it also presented me with yet another opporutnity to share that information to others.