Let's go Clubbing! (Is there a cover?)

by Sam Thomas

In recent weeks I’ve been discussing the question of book club appearances with my wife/manager, and she wondered why authors don’t charge (or don’t often charge) for book clubs.

This question seems especially relevant in light of recent posts hereon Book Pregnant and elsewhere, in which authors wrestle with the competing demands on their time: Between revising, various edits, book clubs, book fairs, social media in all its iterations, blogging, etc., authors can do a lot of work without doing any writing. So why book club?

The first answer, and the one I knew even before I started clubbing (so to speak), was that in a world of vanishingly small marketing budgets, it’s the author’s job to get out there, pound the pavement, sell books, and build a loyal audience.

What I did not realize was how many different kinds of book clubs there were, and how much fun they could be. In the six months since The Midwife’s Tale dropped, I’ve met with twenty or so book clubs, both in person and by video-chat. Thus far they have run the gamut from sedate (coffee in the afternoon) to raucous (beer, wine, and cocktails running late into the night).  Topics have ranged from the history behind my book, to the writing process, to who I would cast in the movie.

When I walk out of the book clubs, it is as if I’ve stuck my finger into a light socket. Talking to smart, engaged and curious readers energizes me like nothing else in the world. They – and the impending contract deadline – are what gets me through the copy editing process.

All of which brings me to a rather delicate question: Should an author (or when should an author) charge for book club appearances?

Obviously the answer is going to depend on another question: Can an author charge for book club appearances? For most debut authors, the answer is “no” simply because nobody is willing to pay. But as we move through our careers, the answer might change, so I’ve been thinking about when and what I might someday charge.

I don’t have an answer to the question, but I am extremely interested in hearing your thoughts on this.