I facilitate a women’s book group. We are serious about reading and discussing the books we select through anonymous nominations and an anonymous weighted voting process. This has served us well for over 20 years of monthly meetings.
Most of us are now over the age of 60. There are only a handful who are still working. At age 66 I am on the younger side. We have a high turnover of younger women. They often join us as young mothers and then as the kids get older, availability to attend meetings becomes more difficult. Sometimes they return later. We are socially and politically liberal, mostly college educated, many retired teacher types. Religiously most align with Unitarian Universalism and are agnostic at best. Most of us live in the suburbs of Houston and are thirsty for points of view that help us have hope for the world or at least help us understand it and may empower us. All of us read a lot of books and are probably at least part your target demographic.
Again, we select books by an anonymous nomination and voting process, so the books are basically selected through our own individual research. (although the fact that one of us nominated it gives it some credibility)
I nominated Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and it was overwhelming voted for. Everyone is welcome to research the nominated books in any way they wish but most probably read an internet blurb and a few short reviews. The title certainly has influence. A recognized author or interesting bio adds points. Often literary awards or nominations (e.g.long listed Booker) or endorsements ( Oprah, Barack Obama, etc) peaks interest. Something that tells us that this will be a well written page turner you will learn from and will facilitate an interesting discussion. We also shy away from super long books. 500 pages generally a maximum. 300ish major thumbs up.
So why did a group of approximately 20 mostly retired, educated, well-read women select a book on gaming?
I nominated it to our voting ballot for these reasons:
1. I’m drawn to women authors and their points of view. I want to support them. Extra points if you are not a lot like me (white, privileged, financially stable, heterosexual, over 60, from the US ) but have similar values ( i.e. woke.. a term that needs to be viewed as proudly positive in my opinion). Actually that second caveat is almost a deal breaker. Zavin’s bio seemed to fit that bill and was a major influence for me.
2. My 30 something year old daughter is a long time gamer , something I’ve never understood about a well-educated, professional female whom I relate to on almost all other levels (i.e. not my stereotype of gamers) Perhaps this book would enlighten me? (fyi it did)
3. It had interesting and positive reviews. The Atlantic listed it as a top 2022 book so that lead me to research it.
4. Our group always appreciates the occasional lighter read as we generally select literature that challenges and informs, lends to deep discussions on relevant social issues. Often depressing and enlightening at the same time. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow might provide a slight reprieve but still meet basic criteria.
Why did others vote for it? Again the mean age of our group is over 60.
My best guess based on the subsequent club discussion, The Title. Most recognized this familiar Shakespearean line. That peeked the interest and most likely gave it a subconscious credibility. A book on gaming? Ick. But one with a potential literary twist that might inform us on the somewhat confusing big obsession of our children or grandchildren? That might be better than okay. Plus all or some of the above nominating reasons I listed.
The book was well enjoyed. As a treat, I convinced my daughter to read it and be a guest star at the meeting. She provided some great background on the history of gaming, the social benefits, and further informed on some of the more intellectual aspects of many games. We were all like Who Knew? It prompted a slight bump in our hopes for the future. Although no one could be convinced that gaming is a good substitute for valuable reading time we appreciated it better.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of The Dead was another book I nominated and was selected by the group. At that time, none of us had heard of Olga Tokarczuk. I found her doing a search on literary award winning women. This book? Intriguing title. Billed as a mystery so perhaps one of those lighter reprieves but with a protagonist who translates Blake? How could I resist? We never read mysteries. Once you know "who done it" what could we discuss for our typical 60- 90 minute analysis of themes, characters etc. Tokarczuk's bio is intriguing. Her liberal views and out spoken bravery in the face of the Polish government makes her a heroine we can get behind. The title may have made a few cringe but they voted for it anyway.
If you want to target this large market of fiction reading women who do more than drink wine and catch up when they meet, I think an interesting author bio, an intriguing title and a description that says I’m not only going to entertain you but enlighten, inform, and give you something to discuss in your quest to make sense of the world is the way to go. Something that directly or indirectly says that this will make for a good book club discussion.
Should our group select your book, would you be willing to zoom into our meeting? Although no guarantees, it would probably be another carrot for a few votes and I’d be happy to bill it that way.
In case you are interested in what books a group of female readers selects based on author bios, titles, and short reviews/blurbs, I will attempt to attach a word doc of our long history. Not all books were well received, but something peeked our interest enough to give them a try. Maybe you will find this helpful.
Thanks so much for your comment. 20 years is an impressive run for a book club. I'm always interested in hearing how different book clubs go about picking their books and establishing guidelines to make it both realistic and enjoyable for members. It's also interesting for me to hear what "hooks" readers because when I sat down to write the book, this was the furthest thing from my mind. (I think it had to be in order for me to write it.) If you do end up choosing my book, I'd love to zoom in for the meeting. I will share a preorder link in the newsletter soon but you can also find the book here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/acts-of-forgiveness-maura-cheeks/1143484276?ean=9780593598290
Thanks!! Pre-ordered it several weeks ago. Awesome you are up for zooming with us. I’ll encourage everyone to vote for your book after it comes out and keep you posted. Very excited for you.
I facilitate a women’s book group. We are serious about reading and discussing the books we select through anonymous nominations and an anonymous weighted voting process. This has served us well for over 20 years of monthly meetings.
Most of us are now over the age of 60. There are only a handful who are still working. At age 66 I am on the younger side. We have a high turnover of younger women. They often join us as young mothers and then as the kids get older, availability to attend meetings becomes more difficult. Sometimes they return later. We are socially and politically liberal, mostly college educated, many retired teacher types. Religiously most align with Unitarian Universalism and are agnostic at best. Most of us live in the suburbs of Houston and are thirsty for points of view that help us have hope for the world or at least help us understand it and may empower us. All of us read a lot of books and are probably at least part your target demographic.
Again, we select books by an anonymous nomination and voting process, so the books are basically selected through our own individual research. (although the fact that one of us nominated it gives it some credibility)
I nominated Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and it was overwhelming voted for. Everyone is welcome to research the nominated books in any way they wish but most probably read an internet blurb and a few short reviews. The title certainly has influence. A recognized author or interesting bio adds points. Often literary awards or nominations (e.g.long listed Booker) or endorsements ( Oprah, Barack Obama, etc) peaks interest. Something that tells us that this will be a well written page turner you will learn from and will facilitate an interesting discussion. We also shy away from super long books. 500 pages generally a maximum. 300ish major thumbs up.
So why did a group of approximately 20 mostly retired, educated, well-read women select a book on gaming?
I nominated it to our voting ballot for these reasons:
1. I’m drawn to women authors and their points of view. I want to support them. Extra points if you are not a lot like me (white, privileged, financially stable, heterosexual, over 60, from the US ) but have similar values ( i.e. woke.. a term that needs to be viewed as proudly positive in my opinion). Actually that second caveat is almost a deal breaker. Zavin’s bio seemed to fit that bill and was a major influence for me.
2. My 30 something year old daughter is a long time gamer , something I’ve never understood about a well-educated, professional female whom I relate to on almost all other levels (i.e. not my stereotype of gamers) Perhaps this book would enlighten me? (fyi it did)
3. It had interesting and positive reviews. The Atlantic listed it as a top 2022 book so that lead me to research it.
4. Our group always appreciates the occasional lighter read as we generally select literature that challenges and informs, lends to deep discussions on relevant social issues. Often depressing and enlightening at the same time. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow might provide a slight reprieve but still meet basic criteria.
Why did others vote for it? Again the mean age of our group is over 60.
My best guess based on the subsequent club discussion, The Title. Most recognized this familiar Shakespearean line. That peeked the interest and most likely gave it a subconscious credibility. A book on gaming? Ick. But one with a potential literary twist that might inform us on the somewhat confusing big obsession of our children or grandchildren? That might be better than okay. Plus all or some of the above nominating reasons I listed.
The book was well enjoyed. As a treat, I convinced my daughter to read it and be a guest star at the meeting. She provided some great background on the history of gaming, the social benefits, and further informed on some of the more intellectual aspects of many games. We were all like Who Knew? It prompted a slight bump in our hopes for the future. Although no one could be convinced that gaming is a good substitute for valuable reading time we appreciated it better.
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of The Dead was another book I nominated and was selected by the group. At that time, none of us had heard of Olga Tokarczuk. I found her doing a search on literary award winning women. This book? Intriguing title. Billed as a mystery so perhaps one of those lighter reprieves but with a protagonist who translates Blake? How could I resist? We never read mysteries. Once you know "who done it" what could we discuss for our typical 60- 90 minute analysis of themes, characters etc. Tokarczuk's bio is intriguing. Her liberal views and out spoken bravery in the face of the Polish government makes her a heroine we can get behind. The title may have made a few cringe but they voted for it anyway.
If you want to target this large market of fiction reading women who do more than drink wine and catch up when they meet, I think an interesting author bio, an intriguing title and a description that says I’m not only going to entertain you but enlighten, inform, and give you something to discuss in your quest to make sense of the world is the way to go. Something that directly or indirectly says that this will make for a good book club discussion.
Should our group select your book, would you be willing to zoom into our meeting? Although no guarantees, it would probably be another carrot for a few votes and I’d be happy to bill it that way.
In case you are interested in what books a group of female readers selects based on author bios, titles, and short reviews/blurbs, I will attempt to attach a word doc of our long history. Not all books were well received, but something peeked our interest enough to give them a try. Maybe you will find this helpful.
Shirley Locke
Shirley,
Thanks so much for your comment. 20 years is an impressive run for a book club. I'm always interested in hearing how different book clubs go about picking their books and establishing guidelines to make it both realistic and enjoyable for members. It's also interesting for me to hear what "hooks" readers because when I sat down to write the book, this was the furthest thing from my mind. (I think it had to be in order for me to write it.) If you do end up choosing my book, I'd love to zoom in for the meeting. I will share a preorder link in the newsletter soon but you can also find the book here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/acts-of-forgiveness-maura-cheeks/1143484276?ean=9780593598290
Thanks!! Pre-ordered it several weeks ago. Awesome you are up for zooming with us. I’ll encourage everyone to vote for your book after it comes out and keep you posted. Very excited for you.