World, Writing, Wealth discussion

Greetings all,

Would love some feedback on an idea I have.

I'm considering running a 'Read a Book a Week' group for 2021 - read 52 books in a year. I'll make a group here and / or on Linkedin, run a poll to figure out what books people want to read (non-fiction focus: self-help, business, psychology, marketing, entrepreneurship, brain science etc), and then get started first week of Jan.

I'll run a webinar every week with a 20-30 min presentation + Q&A / time for discussion about the book as well.

The idea is to help people develop a reading habit and create a group learning experience. You wouldn't have to read every book - just the ones that interest you. I'll read them all to make the presentations to keep the flow going, but the rest can be as people please.

I've been thinking to call it 'The Billionaire's Book Club', as Buffet, Oprah, Gates etc are well-known for reading an hour a day and at least 50 books a year. I don't otherwise like the name all that much though - would be open to suggestions :)

I'm hoping to apply Seth Godin's 'Minimal Viable Audience' concept here and create for anyone who would like to read more and learn together with a group of likeminded people.

Your questions, comments, feedback, and objections are all welcome...thank you!

Hi Joel & welcome here,

The idea per se is not bad, however it's a bit like inventing the wheel again - the essence of Goodreads is group reading and it's implemented in thousands of variations. We are rather an exception on GR with this group though, as reading here is secondary to interaction on other themes.
Having said that, existence of many groups centered around reading proves that the concept is viable, so you'd just need to come up with something distinguishable, be it your personal charisma, the assortment of books that the group will read, the medium - LinkedIn should imply its biz orientation, etc...
Anyhow - best of luck with it and let us know how it goes! Plus, you are, of course, welcome to draw benefits from communicating here on running subjects :)

Nik wrote: "Hi Joel & welcome here,

The idea per se is not bad, however it's a bit like inventing the wheel again - the essence of Goodreads is group reading and it's implemented in thousands of variations. W..."

Thanks Nik - appreciate the feedback. I didn't mean to imply it was a new innovation, but more curious if there's interest in the pace and a more interactive discussion via webinar than comments in a group. Agree it would helpful to list out the books to be read. I can think of a few starting points, but from there I was hoping it might work via a feedback mechanism rather than laying out a 'curriculum' sort of approach.

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

I am interested I reading a book a week as I already do. As long as we can skip some weeks if we don’t like the subject. I would look forward to discussions about the books. It would be good for me to read other types of books as I tend to stick to historical fiction or women’s fiction (with some memoirs tossed in).

I read and review about 52 books a week, but I prefer to select my own. This will probably sound awful so I apologise, but I write in what is obviously a very small niche that not very many are interested in (science fiction where the science follows basic rules, i.e. just might actually work) and I am less interested in being required to read that which will never be anywhere near what I write. So if we select and discuss/review (and I try to review a resonbable number of indies) I could be interested, but not if it is the selected "book of the week".

Joel, I do a lot of reading, but I don't do well with deadlines. It starts to feel too much like work :-) This group isn't much into reading, more into discussing current events and venturing off into a wide range of topics presented by members, which I enjoy. I don't want to put a damper on your idea, but it might be better received in groups that focus more on reading, although many groups have a focus such as Southern Lit, Horror, etc. I enjoy popping into those to see what people are reading. It's a great idea.

Diane wrote: "I am interested I reading a book a week as I already do. As long as we can skip some weeks if we don’t like the subject. I would look forward to discussions about the books. It would be good for me..."

Thanks Diane :) I'll let you know if/when I get things going. I appreciate your feedback!

Ian wrote: "I read and review about 52 books a week, but I prefer to select my own. This will probably sound awful so I apologise, but I write in what is obviously a very small niche that not very many are int..."

Thanks Ian - I appreciate the feedback. No need to apologise either - this is one of those things that will not appeal to everyone. I think my core audience would generally be entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs, which isn't everyone. Thank you!

Scout wrote: "Joel, I do a lot of reading, but I don't do well with deadlines. It starts to feel too much like work :-) This group isn't much into reading, more into discussing current events and venturing off i..."

Hi Scout - thanks for your feedback. One of the things I was curious about is how people feel about the pace / deadline. I also feel that I should clarify that I posted it here to see what readers would think, and not to take over or shift direction from what people come here for. I've realized I should have been more specific about who I think the group would appeal to, which would be entrepreneurs / aspiring entrepreneurs; it's definitely more about determining specific learning goals than it is about reading for pleasure.

Really appreciate you and the others for giving me your feedback - thank you!

You're welcome! And focusing on entrepreneurship might attract more people here. I think there are many more non-fiction than fiction readers in this group.

To offer a suggestion, there are genre-specific groups that do monthly reads. It might be more worthwhile to create yours focused on a single genre or a group of similar genres so you collect a group of dedicated readers rather than a bunch of casual readers who skip frequently when books are outside their interests.

I’m not interested if the focus is for entrepreneurs or would be entrepreneurs, as I am a casual reader enjoying many genres and not interested in becoming an entrepreneur as my husband have retired from our business and not planning on another one. Thanks for the ask though. Good luck!

Actually, I introduced the entrepreneur idea. Not sure what your focus might be, Joel.