All About Amazon Book Clubs
Have you heard about Amazon Book Clubs? Amazon Book Clubs is a brand new feature Amazon is offering and this post breaks down how it all works!
(A quick aside: Amazon Book Clubs is pretty similar to Fable, which is what I’ve been using this year for Everyday Reading Book Club and I love it! If you’d like to join the totally free Fable group, the link is here).
They’re both good options although Fable is more established and well-built out, but Amazon feels easier for some people because they’re already familiar with Amazon and have an account!
So, without further ado, here is the scoop on Amazon Book Clubs:
What is Amazon Book Clubs?
Amazon Book Clubs is an online platform for any type of book club. It’s a great way to have open discussions with members of your book club, coordinate a new book selection, send notifications and more! There are two types of book clubs available – public and private.
A public Amazon book club is a book club that has already been established by someone Amazon has chosen and allows anyone to join as long as you have an Amazon account. All you have to do is click ‘Join’ and you are a part of that book club! An example of a current public Amazon book club is “Rom-Com Readers Unite!“. There are over 70k members of that club!
A private Amazon book club is one you (or a fellow book club member) would set up and then invite others to join. I love this for selecting books because you can read the description right there! If you want to have a one stop location for all of your book club communications, this is a great resource! Currently, creating a private Amazon book club is in the early access stage and says it will conclude in a few months allowing anyone to create a private book club. Unfortunately I don’t have an inside scoop on the exact date when everyone will have access.
Who can join Amazon Book Clubs?
Anyone with an Amazon account can join! You don’t have to be an Amazon Prime member to be a part of this!
How much does it cost?
Amazon Book Clubs is absolutely free!
How do I create a club?
It’s very simple. From the Amazon Book Clubs landing page, click “Create a Club”. From there you can customize your book club details, invite members, add upcoming books, add books read in the past and set up the privacy for your club. Keep in mind this Club creation feature is still in the “early access” phase, which means it’s not available to all customers yet (you can check if it’s available to you – my account does let me do it!).
How do I suggest a book?
To suggest a book to your book club use the ‘Add a Book’ feature on your club’s page. After you find the book you would like to throw in the ring, click ‘Suggest’ under the book. If you see a book suggestion from another member and you also think it would be a good fit for your book club or something you would like to read, you can also select ‘Suggest’ and it will show that another member of the book club agrees with the suggestion.
How do I select a book we will actually be reading?
Only the administrators of the Amazon book club have the ability to do this. Selecting a book from the book club suggestions is very easy. Use the menu next to the suggested book and click ‘Set as the current book’ or ‘Add to upcoming books’. Everyone in the book club will then be able to see what book has been selected.
How do I start discussion in an Amazon book club?
Once you have joined and been approved to be a member, go to ‘Club Activity’ and click ‘Post’ and you are on your way!
Can I add books that our club has read in the past?
Yes! The book club administrator can easily do this. Simply go to ‘Add a Book’ on your club’s page and search for the desired book. Once you find the book you are looking for select ‘Add to books we’ve read.’ This should be next to the ‘Suggest’ button.
Any other questions about Amazon Book Clubs? I’m happy to help!
