The Sword and Laser discussion

Looking to start a local Scfi/Fantasy book club. Have been to several general book clubs but everyone looks at me like I have 3 heads when I suggest a scfi book. I'm not in a metropolitan area but live near a very large university so finding like minded readers should not be a problem just don't know how to get the ball rolling.

Find a local gaming store, or check for existing ones with local libraries.

You might want to start wherever sf/f readers get their fix. If it's the local B&N, from what I've seen in the past they might allow such a group to meet on site. Don't know if they still do, but B&N used to do a newsletter in which local groups could advertise.

Second possibility, advertise in that library you mentioned. See if they'd host such a group, and if so, then put up a flyer and see how much interest there is.

Also, you could try creating a Goodreads group for your club. From what I've seen, other folks have done this in order to attract a membership for a real-time book club.

Are you anywhere near an sf/f convention? Might find potential members there if it's close enough to your area.

Just throwing out a few ideas . . .

check out the treads in the "Local Group Meetups " section. Generally someone gives a shout out for a local area, the smaller the better. Pick a date & site and see what happens. Our group has 4 or more every month. And the discussions are all over the place but a blast. The book of the Month discussion last 10 or 15 minutes then it goes everywhere from films to Sims.

Many local fan/book communities I know founded theirs via social media especially Twitter or Facebook group. I founded my ASoIAF fanclub via Twitter, curated the account with news and stuff, then people started to follow, asking questions and so on. I also asked several established fan communities / book clubs (a local chapter of Goodreads included) to promote ours. Words got around.

After around six or seven months, we held our first meetup in a local mall (typical meetup place in my city) and now we have around a dozen active members who meet bimonthly. Participating in book/readers/socmed festival also helps to elevate your visibility.

Stephen wrote: "check out the treads in the "Local Group Meetups " section. Generally someone gives a shout out for a local area, the smaller the better. Pick a date & site and see what happens. Our group has 4 or..."

I second this.

Also try meetup.com maybe? I think even one of the local S&L groups uses that site to coordinate.

Join a general geek club and get them to include scifi book club in their activities. As you live near a large university, you might be able to hang out with the geek clubs there.

I've found that the most successful groups are the ones where one or two people take charge of organizing and running meetings. If you want to start a group, you need to be that person, at least at the start. Many people might think it's a good idea, but not have the drive to get a new group going.

Pick a book, date and venue, but be flexible if others have better ideas. Market it like you would anything else – online forums like S&L; post flyers in libraries, pubs, coffee shops, stores, etc. (always ask first!); reach out through social media; and harass your friends and family. Basically tell anyone who will listen. The first meeting might be you and one other dude, but so what. Keep meeting and the next one might have three or four. In a couple of months, you might have to turn people away at the door. You just don't know unless you try.

Also many groups are meeting virtually now via Skype and Google+ Hangouts. If you can't find people in your area to talk sci-fi, there is literally an entire world at your fingertips.