Grow your audience through a shared love of books
You can make your club open to the public on our Join A Book Club page by completing this form. The JBC page receives over 35,000 views each month by readers specifically looking for a book club to join.
If your club is currently open to new members but you don’t want to make your book club open to everyone, check out our newest tech update! Now clubs on our Join a Book Club page can set up a custom questionnaire to screen prospective members. (Looking to grow your membership but not yet listed on our public Join a Book Club marketplace? List your club today by answering a few questions here)
Previously, if your public club was set to require admin approval of new members, prospective members were prompted to email you when requesting to join your club. After feedback from club admins who wanted to safeguard their email addresses and add more structure to their membership requests, we’ve added the ability to create custom questionnaires. Now all of your interaction with prospective members can happen through the Bookclubs website or app.
Set your custom questions based on your club's needs
There are many reasons club admins may want to approve membership requests. That’s why we now enable you to ask up to three custom questions when someone requests to join your club.
Here are a few common reasons club admins have told us they want to screen membership requests, and the types of questions that they ask:
- Confirm location. If you are an in-person book club, ensure the prospective member lives in your geographic catchment area by asking where they live, or what their zip code is.
- Level set expectations. You can display a short set of rules or guidelines for your book club, and ask people to acknowledge that they will abide by them if they join your club.
- Gauge interest and gather feedback. Ask potential members why they’re interested in joining your club or what they most hope to gain from joining it.
Getting set up
If your club is already on our JBC page, go to your Club Settings page and change the answer to “How would you like someone to join your club?” from “By clicking on our Bookclubs unique invitation link” (the default) to “By approval - members must request to join by answering questions”
If you are setting up a new club, you’ll get asked the same question during the JBC set-up process.
If you choose to have members request by answering questions, you’ll be prompted to enter at least one and up to 3 questions that you would like potential members of your book club to answer. You will be able to review responses to these questions on the Members tab prior to approving or denying a request to join your club.
You also now have the ability to require members to have their name filled out on their profile and/or have an avatar uploaded.
Approving membership requests
When a new prospective member requests to join your club you'll be notified by email and on the app and website. Head to your club's Members tab and click on "Membership requests." You'll see a list of Bookclubs users who have requested to join your club. Click on "View membership request" to review each person's answers to your questions and approve or deny their membership request.
After you approve the membership request, the member will get a notification that they're now a member of your club. If you deny the membership request, the member will be blocked from your club (they will appear on the members' tab, but blocked). You can add them to your club later by unblocking them in the members tab, or if you want them to request to join again, remove them from your club (also in the members tab).
Editing your club's custom questions
If you'd like to change the questions you ask, just head back to your Club Settings and click on "Edit membership request questions."
What prospective members will see
If the club you’re interested in joining screens members, you’ll click on a button that says “Request to join” instead of “Join.” At that point you’ll get a pop up that asks you to answer the questions that the club admin has specified.
Once the club admin has reviewed the answers to your questions and approved your membership, you’ll receive an email and notification on the app letting you know that you’re in the club!
If your club is not yet using Bookclubs to get organized, sign up for a free account today! You can list your club for free on our Join a Book Club marketplace by clicking here and answering a few questions to help prospective members figure out if your club is the right match for them. Thousands of readers visit the Join a Book Club page every week looking for a new book club community.