Book Clubs

You can read all the online book reviews in the world, but nothing beats real-world conversations between readers and authors.

In an ongoing effort to build community among readers, writers, and publishing types in real life, we are hosting our next Mediabistro Book Club on May 16, 2012 from 6:30 until 8:30 pm at Stone Creek Bar & Lounge in Manhattan.

Follow this link to RSVP for the free party. Our featured authors include:

Susie DeFord, Dogs of Brooklyn
Jane Hodges, Rent Vs. Own: A Real Estate Reality Check for Navigating Booms, Busts, and Bad Advice
Jillian Medoff, I Couldn’t Love You More

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

You can read all the online book reviews in the world, but nothing beats real-world conversations between readers, and authors. You can share your work at the third West Coast edition of the Mediabistro Book Club on July 18th in Los Angeles.

If you are an author or publicist looking to participate, you can follow this link to apply. The deadline is May 18, 2012 at 11:59 PM (PT). If you are a reader, mark your calendar–the next installment of our free book club will feature four authors from different genres, tons of book giveaways and plenty of practical conversation. The location will be announced soon.

Check it out: “Mediabistro.com is proud to announce the July mediabistro book club, where authors can highlight their latest work to mediabistro party attendees. At the event, four authors will mingle and share drinks with mediabistro.com’s influential audience and read a five minute selection from their work. To be considered, submit your application by May 18. You will be notified of your acceptance one month prior to the party.”

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Actress and web video producer Felicia Day has launched a nerdy YouTube channel called Geek & Sundry. The new channel will include a video version of the Sword & Laser book club and Written by a Kid–a storytelling show narrated by children and illustrated by adults.

Check it out: “Popular book club podcast, Sword & Laser, comes to life with an irreverent show hosted by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt. The show features interviews with top authors, reviews of the hottest science fiction and fantasy books, discussion of the essential news of the week, and lots of participation from the vibrant Sword and Laser community.”

io9 has a great interview with Day, talking about her new venture. The book club will debut on April 13th and the kid’s storytelling show will be released this fall.

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We will host our next Mediabistro Book Club on May 16th in New York City. If you are an author or publicist hoping to share your book at the event, you can follow this link to apply.

The deadline is today (Friday, March 16, 2012). If you are a reader, mark your calendar–the next installment of our free book club will feature tons of book giveaways for attendees.

Authors of all genres are welcome to apply. We handpick our authors from a large applicant pool to include a range of subjects, genres, and publishing experience. It will be a night of practical and entertaining conversation.

You can read all the online book reviews in the world, but nothing beats real-world conversations between readers and authors.

In an ongoing effort to build community among readers, writers, and publishing types in real life, we are hosting our next Mediabistro Book Club tomorrow (February 15th) from 6:30 until 8:30 pm at Bar 13 on
35 E 13th Street in New York City.

Follow this link to RSVP for the free party–we will have huge stack of giveaway books and lots of great literary conversation. If you live too far away, check out our Authors Who Visit Book Clubs directory and set up your own literary party. Our readers include:

• Susan Schneider, The Wedding Writer
• Kio Stark, Follow Me Down
• Francis Tapon, The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us

In a new Kensington Publishing contest, your book club could receive a Skype visit from four authors who focused on World War II in their books.

The following authors have agreed to participate in the online chat: Kristina McMorris (Bridge of Scarlet Leaves), Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray), Jenna Blum (Those Who Save Us) and Sarah McCoy (The Baker’s Daughter). The party package includes up to 25 copies of each of the authors’ novels (depends on how many members there are in the winners’ group) and several WWII-era items.

Follow this link to enter the contest. Simply submit your full name as well as the name of your book club, a cell phone number and an email address. A winner will be randomly selected on February 28th. All four authors have agreed to join a book club on March 10th.

The Huffington Post unveiled the HuffPost Book Club this week. Starting on January 3rd, the club will feature 10 books next year. The online group will use Twitter, Facebook, Instagr.am, YouTube and Flickr to share reading experiences.

On the Morning Media Menu today, we interviewed Huffington Post Books editor Andrew Losowsky about the new venture, finding out how writers, publishers and readers can get involved.

He explained how writers and publishers can submit: “There are a panel of people internally who are choosing the books. But I would urge anyone to get in touch. Obviously, we’re going to be leaning towards books that have a nation-wide distribution, something that would be available in library systems in different states and people would be able to order. People can email us at HPBookClub [at] huffingtonpost [dot] com. That will go to our team, and we will take a look at everything we get.”

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Popular culture has taught us that book clubs should be divided by gender. HarperPerennial and Plume hope to encourage co-ed book clubs with the “Ultra Violet Reading Challenge.”

To support Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman and The Violets of March by Sarah Jio, the publishers are encouraging co-ed book clubs to host violet-themed book parties. Follow this link to sign up on Facebook–co-ed clubs can win prizes and interact with the authors online.

Jio gave this statement in the release: “I know very few women who read books with the men in their lives, and zero women who go to co-ed book clubs. I found that Domestic Violets and The Violets of March share themes that men and women can all relate to: loss, the complexities of marriage, trust, forgiveness, finding our way, and so much more. We both write about the male and female experience from two different perspectives.”

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You can read all the online book reviews in the world, but nothing beats real-world conversations between readers, and authors. To help our community grow, we will host our second West Coast edition of the Mediabistro Book Club tonight (October 11th) in Los Angeles.

Follow this link to RSVP for the free party at the Viceroy Santa Monica Hotel. The book club will feature loads of free books, short readings by four authors, and the chance to meet editors from The Los Angeles Review of Books, Slake and GoodReads.

The slate of featured authors includes: Joseph Mattson with The Speed Chronicles, Grace Krilanovich with The Orange Eats Creeps, Richard Grossman with The Animals and Sanjiv Bhattacharya with Secrets & Wives: The Hidden World of Mormon Polygamy. Read more about the books below…

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Simon & Schuster has launched a book club site on Facebook called “Something to Read About.” The club will open on October 12th with a discussion on Jaycee Dugard‘s memoir, A Stolen Life. Readers can join in from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET.

Follow this link to browse the site. Here’s more: “This new page is designed to enhance readers experience with books and authors by featuring a variety of activities and events including a spotlight ‘Book-of-the-Month’ title, moderated conversations about favorite books, a listing of authors from all Simon & Schuster’s imprints who are available to call into reading groups, favorite book club selections, and daily updates. Fans of the page will also have direct access to videos, photos, a book-specific discussion forum, and excerpts as well as opportunities to interact with some authors and enter contests for free books.”

October’s book-of-the-month title will be Alice Hoffman‘s The Dovekeepers. Jodi Picoult‘s Sing You Home will follow in November and Kathleen Grissom‘s The Kitchen House in December. The site also has two book club samplers available with excerpts from popular authors including Phillipa Gregory, Chris Cleave and Samuel Park.  What do you think?