Nora St. Laurent is the CEO of The Book Club Network Incorporated and 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. Nora and her husband run The Book Club Network www.bookfun.org

Creativity and engaging the community are two ways to drive traffic to your bookstore. I recently talked to a bookstore owner who is moving his business into a 5000 square foot faculty. I talked to him about starting a book club there. He welcomed the idea, he will make room for book clubs in the store, and he will even donate door prizes each month. This owner was excited about the reading groups. He could see how they can create goodwill within the community, loyalty with customers, and generate an excitement in his store that could not happen otherwise. He caught the vision of the book club experience and how it engages the community.

For six and a half years I’ve been running two book clubs at the Christian bookstore I work at. I’ve helped with book signings and brought in authors to speak to the two book clubs.

I encourage bookstore owners to join The Book Club Network. It’s free and a great way for them to reach out to their local Christian communities and for shoppers to find a Christian bookstore nearby. Customers can learn about local book events, products, and sales, which encourages customers to shop at the bookstore rather than online.

Want to start a book club but don’t know where to begin? We make it easy at TBCN. All the resources you’ll need to start and run a book club are at www.bookfun.org.

Authors can use TBCN as a resource too. For example, Bethany House Publishers sponsored TBCN to promote Lisa Wingate’s new book Blue Moon. She entered her book events at TBCN, so I learned that she would be in Marietta, Georgia. The two book clubs I run wanted to meet Lisa, so we set up an event with her. A huge bonus to this event is that Denise Hildreth Jones, author of First Gardner, and Maggie Brendan, author of Deeply Devoted, were traveling with Lisa. We planned a field trip to meet these authors (you can get details at www.bookfun.org on the bottom of the front page). By posting author book events at The Book Club Network it helps book clubs and avid readers find authors and learn about their book signings, speaking engagements, and more.

TBCN is a resource for book clubs, libraries, publicists, authors, and bookstore owners. They can also post book events at TBCN so everyone can join them. TBCN can be a community like the Weight Watchers network. No matter where they are in

the country, whether on vacation or moving to a new location, members can go to the TBCN Website and find book club meetings, bookstore events, and author events. What a great way to make new friends across the United States!

In good times and bad, book clubs will always be available, because the book club experience is fun, powerful, and engaging. With more and more socializing taking place online, book clubs are successful because people with similar interests meet face-to-face and get involved in engaging book discussion.

The book club experience and The Book Club Network are here to stay. Want to join the fun? It’s free and easy. Go to www.bookfun.org and learn about your community events, book clubs, and the newest books releases. TBCN also gives away over twenty-five books each month. What are you waiting for? Come join the book fun today.

Until next time.

Nora St.Laurent
The Book Club Network
www.bookfun.org