Is It Cheesy to Start Your Own Book Club?

I read a Substack post about switching from (or ditching) Goodreads for The Storygraph and Fable. Articles such as this lean heavily into advocacy, and thus a person has to take them with a grain of salt. (I'm immediately suspicious of outlandish claims.)

But The Storygraph has turned out to be a boon, at least so far. My giveaway is going well, and 16 people have added Running From Herself to their to-read lists.  

 

So, what about Fable?

"Through their partnership with Draft2Digital, you can sell your work directly in their store. But the real gold is the book clubs. You can host a club, invite your fans, and watch them react to your book in real-time. They leave emojis inside the text. They highlight your best lines. Fable then hands that data back to you through D2D. You can see exactly which sentence made them cry or which plot twist made them angry. That isn’t just “feedback” – it’s your marketing copy for the next three years."

My initial opinion of that statement: What if I set up a book club and nobody joins?

I think that's a real possibility. Which would make me look like a loser and an embarrassment. I would label that "counterproductive marketing".

I tried to do some research regarding author-hosted Fable book clubs, but either nobody's tried it or they did, but are too mortified to post their results. Here's one Reddit comment I found:

"I have a bookclub for a year now and we only just hit 100 people because we are reading a popular series right now...however getting those people to actually post anything is like pulling teeth. They're mostly there to lurk I guess, but like with no one, but me posting it's pretty boring lol."

And this isn't even the host's own book.

"I've created a book club and so far one person has joined but it's mostly me talking to myself lol. And I'm making comments on every chapter like I have an audience lol"

Then there's the requirement to use the app to set up a club. Yes, my phone typing skills are "great".

Always positive AI states:  

Book clubs on Fable are very popular and highly active. The app features over 14,000 book clubs with a total of about 400,000 users. People love using the platform because it offers organized, chapter-specific discussions and a community lobby for chatting. 

I don't believe that. 

Google's AI continues: 

Why "Running From Herself" Fits Fable

• The "Two Worlds" Dynamic: The stark contrast between the comforting rhythm of Chance, Wyoming, and the suffocating cage of corporate Nashville gives you two distinct aesthetics to market. Readers on Fable love contrasting settings.
• High Empathy and Frustration Factors: Readers will naturally rally behind Leah. Watching a predatory industry strip away her boots, her acoustic soul, and her literal name will evoke strong emotional reactions. Emotional books get the most comments in Fable's chapter-by-chapter discussion tabs.
• The "Jared vs. Stardom" Debate: The fractured romance with Jared provides a fantastic subplot for community speculation. Readers in the app's community lobbies will constantly debate whether she can find her way back to him or if too much has changed.

What I really want is for AI to join my club. It loves my novel! Although it really focuses on the Jared storyline, which is only incidental--a catalyst to move the story forward. Nobody likes Jared! Jared's a jerk!

Overcoming the Discovery Challenge

Because Fable has thousands of clubs, you will need to seed the club with an initial audience to get it trending in the app's directory.

• Target the Music-Fiction Niche: Pitch this to readers who loved Daisy Jones & The Six or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as they frequently look for books about the dark side of fame.
• Use Multimedia: Since music is the heartbeat of your book, share a curated Spotify playlist in your Fable club lobby featuring the "raw, acoustic soul" Leah plays versus the "studio-engineered pop" she is forced to sing.

Okay, this all sounds great--and doable--but as I see it, the pros and cons are:

Pros

• Easy to set up (allegedly)
• Could garner some interest in my book 

Cons

• Nobody will join an unknown author's club
• Typing prompts, questions, and discussion topics on my phone*
• Will look like a fool as the only member of my club 
• Constant posting required, when I'd only be talking to myself (just like here!)
• Nowhere to publicize my club other than Substack

*Oh. I followed up with AI and it said I can use the website instead. 

The truth is, I'm just looking for something useful to do with this book. A Fable book club would be as productive as scrolling through lists of book bloggers, I fear. Or applying for "book of the day". 

I'm generally big on trying new things, as long as they don't cost me money. Number one, I'm the curious sort. Two, for any authors who read this blog, I can provide useful feedback. And three, skeptical optimism is my fallback position.

Therefore, I'm up in the air about this one. I wish I could find some real-world examples, but again, no indie author seems to have posted their experience.

I'll just leave this as "to be considered".