Deb Sarah Is Excited to Chat With Book Clubs!

I’ve only been a published author for a week, so what do I know? But I will say this: One of the great joys of writing a book is being able to share it with others. And, yesterday, I got my very first invitation to speak at a local book club. I felt very honored, and a little nervous.

It’s easy to feel a little jittery about the prospect of talking to readers. What if they didn’t like the book? What if they found a mistake, a flaw in the book? What if? What if?

But, I loved the advice I got from my writer friend Allie Larkin (author of the lovely book, Stay). She told me that the thing that helped her feel confident when speaking in front of groups–whether they were book clubs or customers in book stores—was to remember that she was the #1 expert on her book. Yes, people will have their opinions. People may even find “flaws.” But when it comes to my book, and my characters, I am the expert. I invented them for crying out loud! That little realization made me feel more at ease.

So, I’m excited about popping in to book clubs (or skyping in to national ones!) and discussing my novel.

Readers, I would love, love, love to hear from you about what you hope for/look for when an author visits your book club. Do you want to hear backstory on the writing process? What special touches make an author visit really fun at your book club?

xo, Sarah

6 Replies to “Deb Sarah Is Excited to Chat With Book Clubs!”

  1. Ssrah, congrats and good luck and you’ll do great – the nerves mean you’re alive! I’ve found that every group differs when I speak. Some have read the book, many have not (please buy it!) – some are autism families, some not, and so I tailor every presentation on the fly. You should SEE the seat of my pants! I don’t read much from my book – just a couple of pages, maybe 2 minutes to give the audience a sense of the writing style and tone. I figure our friends in the audience CAN read, and the event is not preschool – and reading a lot means they don’t get to communicate with YOU the author. If I were with you at an event I’d want to know how much of the story was personal, why the love of the previous era, what music do you listen to, was a family member in WWII, what were the biggest surprises in becoming published, and how’s the baby! You’ll have a blast – and SKYPE book clubs are lots of fun. KIM

  2. My favorite thing about the book clubs I’ve talked to is the unique questions I get. After you do a number of interviews, you get a lot of similar questions, but somehow book clubs always seem to pull out unique ones. I love it!

  3. I’m in two book clubs and we’ve had authors do call-ins several times. It has always worked very well. Most of the time, the author begins by telling a little bit about whatever they want – their writing process, what prompted them to write this particular book, their life, whatever. Then we always have questions. The group members come to the event with questions already prepared. I’m always amazed at some of the depth of the questions asked. Each author has seemed pleased and often compliments us on our savvyness (is that a word?). It’s an exciting thing for us as readers to be allowed to speak with the author. You guys are kind of like rock stars to us, especially if we’ve loved the book.

    I say to just remember that the group members will be as nervous as you will (or they ought to be). After all, you are the “star” who has thought up this wonderful story! LOL

    I’ve got my copy of your book ready to read. I’m taking it on vacation with me and we are leaving tomorrow afternoon. Perfect!

  4. I’ve been with the same book club for 10+ years, and we’ve had the pleasure of talking with A LOT of authors in that time. Absolutely without exception, we’ve all come away liking the book a whole lot more after talking to the author. I think just having some insights into the process behind the book and feeling like we “know” the author a bit goes a loooooong way toward making the book more multi-dimensional in our minds.

    Tawna

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