I’m excited to share this practice with authors, editors, publishers, educators, librarians, book clubs, readers, students, and anyone who wants to encourage deeper engagement with a book. In this self-paced, online course, you will
*learn the value of book discussion guides to many different consumers of media
*understand research practices that support your knowledge and abilities to create discussion guides
*receive tools and a step-by-step plan
*have the option to share your guides with me/other students.
You will learn all of this in the following SECTIONS:
1.What is a book discussion guide?
2.Typical contents of a book discussion guide.
3.Discussion categories and how to create questions from your book.
4.How and why a book discussion guide will help you and your readers.
5.Downloads of worksheets, student progress journals, infographics, checklists, a resource list, a sample fiction book discussion guide, and a basic book discussion guide template.
You may or may not have a finished or published book at this point. It doesn’t matter because this formula for construction can be put into action at any stage of a book’s life. It can boost interest in a new book and lengthen the shelf life of an older title because of the way a good book discussion guide adds dimension and interest to a publication. Once you have the process in hand, anyone can go from “how do I extend the life and interest in this book?” to increasing sales and expanding engagement almost indefinitely. What do I mean by “expanding engagement?”
Expanding engagement with a book amounts to ways to keep a book “top of mind” for a reader. There is social media, of course, but a good book discussion guide has the potential to do so much more than posts or even paid online advertising. It works the same for any genre and any writing style because once a reader finishes the last page of your book, you want them to keep thinking about the content, wondering about you, the author, and having ways to delve deeper into the book’s meaning, purpose, construction, and more.
This course provides a step-by-step action plan about the why, how, when, and what of developing a knockout discussion guide to accompany your books. Even poetry! Every published work has a history, a construction period, and more that readers are eager to learn about. There are multiple printable worksheets, checklists, text lessons, videos, and progress journals throughout the course that will give you the tools to design, create, analyze, and share a discussion guide based on your book. Once you have the formula, it is repeatable for every book you publish.
Let’s get started! Click this link to access the course and start immediately. Only $197.00
Welcome, Susan, to Books By My Friends. What an intriguing personal story you have to share with us. Let’s begin!
JH: What’s the blurb for your book?
SC: HOLDING FAST: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss is Susan Cole’s story of leaving everything behind to follow her husband’s lifelong dream of sailing away. Susan’s journey took her from the glitzy world of Madison Avenue advertising to riding out Hurricane Mitch, the largest hurricane on record at the time, on a sailboat in Guatemala. She hadn’t wanted to go in the first place but ended up on a life-changing odyssey.
JH: What inspired you to write Holding Fast: A Memoir of Sailing, Love, and Loss?
SC: I wanted to share the terrifying, exhilarating experience of leaving everything behind to sail on a boat for three years with my husband and young daughter, and how it gave me a blueprint for life even after my husband was gone.
JH: What one thing do you love most about writing?
SC: I love entering another world and discovering the heart of my feelings about it.
JH: What’s next for you in the way of writing/publishing?
SC: I’m working on my next book, a memoir about my dad who died when I was young.
JH: How can readers contact you?
SC:
https://www.susan-cole.com/
Susan Cole
SC: I love entering another world and discovering the heart of my feelings about it.
BIO:
Susan Cole has lived on or around sailboats for more than thirty years. In between sails, she earned a B.A. at Barnard College, an M.A. at Columbia University, and for many years, ran a successful market research firm in New York. Her essays have appeared in literary journals and sailing magazines. Cole was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and has lived in New York, Connecticut, Florida, and Mexico. She moved to New Orleans six years ago and loves it.
JH: Thanks, Susan, for sharing this inspiring and moving story with BBMF. Best wishes for continued success with your books. Please visit again when the next book is ready to share.
Please feel free to leave a comment below for Susan.
All good things,
Joy
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Contest time, book friends! Please submit your entry to win this pocket journal and Writer Wellness swag that includes a bookmark and more! See contest entry form for important information. Drawing will be held Tuesday, February 21, 2023. Thanks and good luck!
What’s at the library for you? You’ll never know unless you visit. From books to framed art prints you can check out to temporarily decorate a room with, the library is a gold mine. You just have to ask.
The library is a great place, but not everyone knows what a treasure trove of wonder and wisdom resides there.
Honestly, go to the library and once you get past the humility of the massive collection of knowledge and ideas all in the same place, look around at everything available to everybody from the casual reader catching up on the daily news to the college professor checking on resources for a class he’s teaching next semester.
The point is that EVERYBODY belongs at the library. Everybody, that is, who respects the principle of freedom to access information. Lack of respect for the contents, the people, the equipment, the facilities, or the ideas will get you rightfully tossed out the front door by the gatekeeper known as the Librarian.
It’s a tough job monitoring knowledge, keeping it as safe as possible from abuse, staying on top of current information techniques, and exploding technology. But most librarians are fantastic people with a lot on their plates but always willing to help when asked a question. Granted, we’ve all run into the crusty book warden who is a bit ragged around the edges, but the librarian is a precious jewel and should be treated with appreciation. After all, she opens the doors every day and believes in the same thing writers and educators do: knowledge and ideas are only valuable when they are shared.
I have soooo many great librarian stories to share that one month isn’t enough. So here is a brief list of all the ways libraries and librarians have been a great help to my careers as teacher and writer.
#A librarian near my hometown helped me access a primary source that inspired my first romance novel. If it weren’t for this particular special collection and this wonderful woman who let me read “The Message to Garcia” by Elbert Hubbard (1899), my novel wouldn’t have the historical accuracies it does.
#When my children were young and learning to love reading and writing, a wonderful junior librarian named Brenda made a point to find out what interested them and ordered books year after year that kept them coming back until they moved away for college.
#My favorite aunt is a school librarian. She loved helping children find and enjoy books, including me. My love of reading and writing comes from Aunt Rosemary.
#Doug at the college library where I taught for 18 years never failed to amaze me at how quickly and efficiently he responded to my requests for materials no matter where on Earth they were located.
#My FAVORITE librarian is my youngest daughter!
Libraries need and take donations of money and materials. In recent months, I’ve donated a collection of classic novels to the local children’s library and over 200 articles, books, and awards representing my 40 years as a freelance author. I’m not done publishing. I didn’t have any more room in the house to collect it all. Now, The Joy E. Gunter Held Collection resides in the West Virginia Archives and History Library in Charleston, WV.
The idea for my book Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2020) and workshop came to me when some of my critique partners asked how they could be my clones. They wanted to shadow me for a week to see what I did that led to my prolific publishing (over 500 articles and counting,) life as a homeschooling mom, and part-time hatha yoga teacher. Up to that point, I hadn’t done any self-examination of my processes, but when they asked, I stepped back and watched myself for a month while documenting my doings and beings in a journal. This article is a peek into what I learned.
First, please take out a pen and paper (or your phone or computer) and list five things you’ve done in the last thirty days to promote/support your own writing.
Now list five challenges or obstacles that you believe are standing in the way of accomplishing your writing goals.
Next, list five writing wishes or desires you want to come true.
Following the Writer Wellness plan will help you to always have five things on those lists. It will also allow you to maintain a level of health and creativity that some writers are missing.
Are you happy with your writing in general?
Are you happy with your health?
Do you ever notice a direct relationship between the quality of your writing and the quality of your life?
A physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy individual is by far a more productive, creative, and pleasant person. This is evidenced by the fact that many corporations have implemented programs to keep employees happy and healthy. Programs range from daycare centers in the workplace to personal trainers for every ten employees. A healthy, happy employee is more productive and misses less work, which is good for the bottom line.
As a writer, you are the employer and the employee. Happiness, productivity, and health have a definite impact on the caliber of writing you produce. It is in your best interest to do everything you can to stay healthy to support being the best writer you can be.
The premise of Writer Wellness is that creativity and productivity are crucially dependent upon an overall quality of life. This includes physical, mental, emotional, communal, and spiritual aspects.
The five key concepts of Writer Wellness are:
JOURNALING
EXERCISE
MEDITATION
PROPER NUTRITION
CREATIVE PLAY
How did I decide these aspects were important? As I noted earlier, I took the time to observe my habits and journal about them. I discovered that I did almost all five things daily.
Where did they come from? I was raised in my mother’s dancing school. Before she retired after 52 years, she created all the choreography, kept the books, wrote the grants, typed the publicity announcements, directed rehearsals, and taught five ballet classes a week. Thanks to her example, the principles of physical fitness and eating right were pounded into me from an early age.
When I was fourteen, I began the Writer Wellness lifestyle, even though I hadn’t labeled it that yet. I got a “job” at the local newspaper writing a weekly column about my junior high school. I saw my name in print. I was hooked. From then on, I was a dancer and a writer.
I discovered yoga, meditation, and modern dance in college, and everything fell into place for me. Thirty years later, I journal almost daily (unless I’m working intensely on a writing project,) exercise five to six times a week, follow an eating plan and take supplements, meditate, and engage in creative noodling with art journaling, crafting, gardening, and scrapbooking. Now I teach other writers the five key concepts and encourage them to tweak the ideas until they find what works for them.
Review the lists of five things you made at the beginning of this article. If you had trouble coming up with five items, step back for a moment and assess why that may be. If you haven’t taken five actions to support your writing, is writing really that important to you? If you journal some, exercise regularly, relax or meditate a few minutes daily, eat right, and have some fun occasionally, the five key concepts of Writer Wellness easily represent five things to support your writing. The concepts work together to support your desires and keep you healthy enough to overcome the obstacles when they pop up. Five writing wishes are more easily achieved when you practice writer wellness because your perspective improves, and you gain a broader view of life.
The five things I’ve done for my writing in the last 30 days:
Journaled almost every day
Wrote a guest blog for another author
Attended a webinar on copyright law
Posted several new blogs on my website
Wrote and sent a newsletter to my subscribers
Five challenges to my writing are:
COVID-19 has negatively impacted my ability to do book signings
There haven’t been many writing conferences to attend in-person
Money isn’t coming in for workshops or editing like it used to
Publishers are having supply chain problems (paper, binding, shipping)
Agents are more difficult to acquire
My five writing wishes right now are:
Sell the current manuscript circulating in the query pool
Finish the research for the book I’m writing now
For COVID-19 to be less of a deterrent to going out in public
Get a few more clients for editing and book coaching
In 1951, Pulitzer prize-winning novelist John Steinbeck “warmed-up his writing arm” with a letter to his editor each day before working on the novel East of Eden. Those letters were later published in a book titled Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters. Crime novelist Sue Grafton (“A” is for Alibi) kept a journal for every book she wrote that included ideas, positive self-talk, and more to help her stay on track. Author Anne Lamott has written two memoirs that are formatted like journals, and Virginia Woolf’s diaries examined what it was like to be a female author in the world of writing and publishing during the 1930s and 40s. It’s refreshing and renewing to read the journals of published authors and recognize some of our own struggles in the pages of those who forged successful careers before us. We’ll look at the journals of the authors mentioned and explore what we can learn from them and how we can emulate some of their personal writing habits to support our own lives and work. Each lesson will include examples of journal entries narrative lesson on a particular aspect of journaling for writers an activity for you to try discussion questions for deep learning.
Tentative schedule LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS: THE JOURNALS OF PUBLISHED AUTHORS
Welcome, Schedule, and Student Introductions
Lesson 1-Learning from the Masters: John Steinbeck’s Journals
Lesson 2-Learning from the Masters: Sue Grafton
Lesson 3-Learning from the Masters: Virginia Woolf
Lesson 4-Learning from the Masters: Anne Lamott
Lesson 5-Found Journals
Wrap-up: The Answer to a Supposedly Empty Mind tools for inspiration beyond the blank page and a pen.
This is a FREE seven-day/one-week, self-paced online workshop taught in a private Groups.io forum.
In 1951, Pulitzer prize-winning novelist John Steinbeck “warmed-up his writing arm” with a letter to his editor each day before working on the novel East of Eden. Those letters were later published in a book titled Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters. Crime novelist Sue Grafton (“A” is for Alibi) kept a journal for every book she wrote that included ideas, positive self-talk, and more to help her stay on track. Author Anne Lamott has written two memoirs that are formatted like journals, and Virginia Woolf’s diaries examined what it was like to be a female author in the world of writing and publishing during the 1930s and 40s. It’s refreshing and renewing to read the journals of published authors and recognize some of our own struggles in the pages of those who forged successful careers before us. We’ll look at the journals of the authors mentioned and explore what we can learn from them and how we can emulate some of their personal writing habits to support our own lives and work. Each lesson will include examples of journal entries narrative lesson on a particular aspect of journaling for writers an activity for you to try discussion questions for deep learning.
Tentative schedule LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS: THE JOURNALS OF PUBLISHED AUTHORS
Welcome, Schedule, and Student Introductions
Lesson 1-Learning from the Masters: John Steinbeck’s Journals
Lesson 2-Learning from the Masters: Sue Grafton
Lesson 3-Learning from the Masters: Virginia Woolf
Lesson 4-Learning from the Masters: Anne Lamott
Lesson 5-Found Journals
Wrap-up: The Answer to a Supposedly Empty Mind tools for inspiration beyond the blank page and a pen.
This is a FREE seven-day/one-week, self-paced online workshop taught in a private Groups.io forum.
Readers are precious. They should be treated with appreciation and some fun ways to relate to your books! Writing the best book possible is a first step in cultivating a lasting relationship with readers, but what else can we do to encourage this special commodity to remain engaged with our books beyond the last word on the last page? Most authors don’t type “The End” when the story is over because they would like to remain connected to a reader beyond the satisfying conclusion of the plot.
Yes, marketing is important, but this is not book marketing.
Yes, publicity is important, but this is not book publicity.
Yes, promotions are important, but this is not book promotions.
These are ways to foster relationships (hopefully, happy, long-term ones) with readers and methods to share behind-the-scenes information, research, author details, and content that goes beyond a Facebook page or website. Having said what this is not, these ideas could easily improve your status as an author thereby becoming a sort of marketing, publicity, and promotions technique.
Absolutely go on social media to market, publicize, and promote the book, but including any of the following jewels of engagement for readers is sure to keep your book and persona top-of-mind when they are shopping, sharing, and posting book reviews.
Here are five great ways to extend reader engagement with your book. They will
increase the amount of time and effort a reader devotes to your work
encourage more thought on the topics you write about
expand their knowledge about you or other elements of the book
create a deeper bond between author and reader
This can lead to future sales, positive word-of-mouth recommendations, and better reviews. Win-win-win!
The book is written, edited, polished, published, and it’s in the reader’s hands! Mission accomplished, right? Mostly, but can you increase a reader’s enjoyment by giving them opportunities to go further with your story? Yes! Let’s look at five ways to extend reader engagement with your books.
The five ways to increase reader engagement include:
Internet scavenger hunt
Puzzles, games, and quizzes
Playlists
Members-only bonus content
Reading discussion guides
Internet Scavenger Hunt
Internet scavenger hunts are a fun way to involve readers in your book’s ideas and improve traffic to your website. The sky is the limit for how to create an internet scavenger hunt, but an important element is the payoff. Besides learning more about your book, there must be some sort of ‘prize’ at the conclusion of the hunt. The simplest process for this is to enter finalists (those who complete the hunt and submit their answers by the deadline) into a special drawing for a gift card or tangible incentive item like a custom-made t-shirt.
Start by having a page or blog on your author website and social media accounts devoted to the scavenger hunt with instructions, items to locate, and the submission deadline. You might want to create a Google form for this with instructions and places for players to submit their finds. If you wanted to get fancy, you could create a Facebook page (public or private is up to you) dedicated to the internet scavenger hunts associated with your publications and have seekers post their answers and adventures there. It doesn’t matter how many readers participate and answer all the clues because you’re having a drawing at the conclusion to determine the prize winner.
One idea for creating an internet scavenger hunt associated with your book is to walk readers through some of the websites you visited during the research portion of writing your story. Did you do an actual in-person visit of places in the book or were you inspired to write the book by someplace you visited? Online links to these websites help readers understand all the work an author puts into a book. They will appreciate your research and be better able to visualize scenes in the book after visiting the links. At each website, remember to have the reader collect and report something specific from the site as part of the hunt.
Also, the overachievers among us could design and provide a downloadable internet scavenger hunt worksheet with all the deets in a single, printable document. Teachers love assigning virtual information hunts to their students as a fun way to develop data collection and research skills. Visit LessonPlanet.com for examples of virtual scavenger hunts then adapt them to your book’s content.
Play is learning! You can increase your readers’ focus on your book by creating crossword or word search puzzles with names, topics, places, details, etc. from the book. There are websites where you can create interactive online puzzles or downloadable documents that readers can print out and complete. Extend the interest by encouraging players to post pictures of their completed puzzles on social media. This is another opportunity for a contest drawing for a small prize. A search online for free crossword/word search puzzles will net several easy-to-navigate sources. Super Teacher Worksheets is my go-to for creating customized puzzles.
Are there any games, activities, or hobbies mentioned in your book? Share with readers the research or Pinterest board you created about them. What is the history of it? Are you a fan yourself? Is there an interactive site online about the game? Could you design and create a game using the characters in your book? This content can also be fashioned into easy quizzes to share on your reader group/street team social media sites and in your newsletter. For an amazingly simple to use website for creating all this fun, engaging play visit Flippity. Bookmark it! You can thank me later😊
Curate a collection of songs and share the link with readers who will enjoy the mash-up of music that reminds them of the people, places, ideas, things, and more in your book. Did you personally listen to a particular type of music while “composing” your book? Share it. Does music play any part in your book? Share it. Does one of your characters have a crush on a particular music artist? Share it. Create a playlist of some of the popular songs from the year or time your novel is set. Nonfiction authors can do all this too. Amazon and Spotify make this super easy to do.
For many of my online courses such as “50+ Ways to Leave Your Muse: Creativity Hacks for Writers” I supply a link to a song that relates to the content of each lesson. At the end of the course, students listen to and analyze Paul Simon’s 1976 hit “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” It’s a fun way to make the learning stick.
Don’t throw away anything while writing a book! Everything is fair game for creating bonus content to share in a newsletter or private social media groups where your readers are eager to learn more. Recipes, a bibliography, photos you snapped on research trips, character interviews, outtakes from the manuscript, timelines, maps, journals, and more are fair game.
Remember to thank each player who participates in your bonus activities by posting on social media, and don’t forget to encourage them to sign up for your newsletter at the same time!
Reader’s Discussion Guides
Book clubs are HOT. They love finding a set of inspiring discussion questions at the back of a book to use as a springboard once they get together to talk about your book. Publishers recognize the value of reader’s discussion guides and provide them as free downloadable documents on their websites. Teachers ADORE discussion guides to help students with further research and to think deeply about a book. What kind of questions are included in a reading guide? Everything above can be there in some form, but it is generally a list of questions covering the topics, events, themes, etc. in the book.
I offer a self-paced online course to authors, educators, editors, and anyone tasked with putting together a discussion guide for a book. My course delivers seven modules that include worksheets, a progress journal, and an array of ideas for why and how to create an intellectually stimulating book discussion guide. Once an author understands the purpose of a reader’s discussion guide and has the template for it, it’s applicable to any book.
For $197, you can access the course here <insert course logo>
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Really? At Your Age? by Jacqueline Diamond
JH: Welcome to Books By My Friends, Jacqueline! So happy to learn about your new book Really? At Your Age?
JH: What’s the blurb for your book?
JD: Is it too late for her dream of motherhood to come true? Betrayed by her former husband, Dr. Cody Matchett has reached the age of 52 with a thriving medical career but no children. After a quake rattles her small town, she’s jolted into considering the fate of her half-dozen frozen embryos—and her long-simmering attraction to hospital attorney Ben Wright. But when Cody sets her sights on love and motherhood, she uncovers shocking secrets. Then there’s the challenge of choosing a surrogate… who might be Ben’s grown daughter! Unexpected twists, heart-tugging truths and moments of laughter fill USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond’s novels. Welcome to the first book in her Sisters, Lovers & Second Chances series, part of the Better Late Romance line.
JH: What inspired you to write Really? At Your Age?
JD: Although I’ve published a number of romances focusing on women having children and on medical settings, Really? At Your Age? was inspired when a small group of other authors–fellow critique group members–and I decided to write loosely related romances featuring couples over 50, set in a fictional California town. We call the collection Better Late Romances. My book has now given rise to my own series, Sisters, Lovers & Second Chances. Book Two is Don’t Be Silly! At My Age? The third novel, Going Home, At Your Age? comes out this summer.
JH: What one thing do you love most about writing?
JD: When the characters spring to life, say funny things, and tug at my heart.
JH: What’s next for you in the way of writing/publishing?
JD: Once the third book in the Sisters, Lovers & Second Chances series is published this summer, I’ll be writing the fourth book. My working title is The Secrets She Learned.
USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond has sold romantic comedies, medical romances, mysteries and Regency romances—more than one hundred titles! A former Associated Press reporter and TV columnist, Jackie is best known for her Safe Harbor Medical series, and has been honored with a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award. She currently writes the Sisters, Lovers & Second Chances series, part of the Better Late Romance line featuring older couples. Learn more and sign up for her free newsletter at jacquelinediamond.net.
JH: Thanks, Jacqueline, for visiting today. Please come back some time and tell us about the next book in what sounds like a great series!
All good things,
Joy
Note from JD: This is a “clean and wholesome” contemporary romance; no sex.
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The Potrero Complex by Amy L. Bernstein
Welcome to Books By My Friends, Amy! Thanks for dropping in for a chat about your new release The Potrero Complex.
JH: What’s the blurb for your book?
AB: A battle-scarred journalist confronts dark, authoritarian forces while racing to uncover the shocking truth behind a missing teen in a small town running short on hope.
JH: What inspired you to write The Potrero Complex?
AB: I began writing The Potrero Complex very early in the pandemic. I felt that we were living through a bit moment in history, and I wanted to capture something about it using an expansive, fictional lens.
JH: What one thing do you love most about writing?
AB: I love discovering connections and themes in a book I’m writing that I had not intended to create. The serendipity of creative surprise–it’s wonderful.
JH: What’s next for you in the way of writing/publishing?
AB: I’m in the difficult stages of mapping a complex novel full of intersecting stories. I don’t know why I’m torturing myself with this nearly impossible task. But anyway, I write across multiple genres, and I expect that will continue.
Amy L. Bernstein writes stories that let readers feel while making them think. Her novels include The Potrero Complex, The Nighthawkers, Dreams of Song Times, and Fran, The Second Time Around. Amy is an award-winning journalist, speechwriter, playwright, and certified nonfiction book coach. When not glued to a screen, she loves listening to jazz and classical music, drinking wine with friends, and exploring Baltimore’s glorious neighborhoods, which inspire her fiction.
JH: Thanks again, Amy. Please come back and let us know how the book mapping turns out and when that book will be available.
