WHY MEMBERS VOTE
Part of the path to creating a successful book club is ensuring that members have a sense of ownership when participating. To help organically facilitate this, we offer voting options to participants for each reading period. We find that voting between two books is the optimal model to follow because it reduces the number of runners-up and, subsequently, the number of members whose preferred books are not selected.
WHEN MEMBERS VOTE
Book club members will vote on a book about twelve weeks before a given reading period, such that voting for Reading Period 4 would take place near the end of Reading Period 2. Deciding on books this far in advance allows us, our partners, and, most importantly, our readers, to plan well in advance. We find that many readers rely on their local libraries to find copies of book club selections, so providing enough lead time to request holds on books is paramount.
PBC GURU’S VOTING OPTIONS
Before each voting cycle, your Book Club Operations Manager will reach out with PBC Guru’s current book recommendations. The recommendations are determined by the PBC Guru Book Club Team, reviewing topics of interest with mass appeal to members. In addition to using our recommendation criteria, PBC Guru also takes into consideration current events that might drive engagement, as well as finding books that vary in topic from previous reading periods. Just like with our First Book Recommendations, we like to take the guesswork out of finding books for your members, and the Book Club Team’s backgrounds in education, operations, publishing, and creative writing help steer our selections.
The Book Club Team also works to secure books whose authors will volunteer their time to speak with our book clubs. We have had a range of authors participate in our Author Talk series – including Brit Bennett, Matt Haig, and Simon Winchester, to name just a few – and we look forward to building our roster in the future. Book clubs begin receiving Author Talk options during their second reading period. PBC Guru does not pursue Author Talks for custom books and does not plan to for the foreseeable future. Should you or your office secure an Author Talk for a custom selection that your group is reading in the future, we are happy to promote that event in the book club forum and our communications to your book club members.
SEARCHING FOR A CUSTOM SELECTION?
If you are looking to request a custom book outside of PBC Guru’s recommendations, please reach out to your Manager 15 weeks before the reading period during which you would like to read your custom book. Because allowing members to vote on book options fosters a sense of community and encourages engagement in the forum, we believe that most reading periods should allow for voting and encourage you to limit custom requests to special events like:
• First Year Book
• All-Campus Read
• Special Lecture on Campus
• Prominent Alumni