Insecure Writer's Support Group by Ronel Janse van Vuuren

The IWSG Goodreads Book Club #IWSG #IWSGBookClub

It’s the first Wednesday of the month and time for another posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

I’m co-hosting this month! My awesome co-hosts are: Jemima Pett, J Lenni Dorner, Cathrina Constantine, and Mary Aalgaard.

Learn more here.

You’ve probably seen in the monthly IWSG newsletter and on Goodreads that we’ve changed things up with the book club.

The original IWSG Book Club has shifted gears to focus on the creative talents of its members. The book club will be spotlighting books in various genres written by the IWSG community. This group will always serve as a place for writers to learn, discuss, and enjoy the art of crafting stories and publishing books. Whether it be through reading a craft book or indulging in examples of specific genres, this book club will highlight the talents of its members and show them support, because insecure writers are readers too.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Goodreads Book Club on Goodreads

How does this benefit you?

The IWSG book club was originally created by Chrys Fey in 2017 as a tool for writers under the Insecure Writer’s Support Group name. The club has since evolved and, beginning in the summer of 2021, is being led by Toi Thomas, along with her co-moderators Ronel Janse van Vuuren and Juneta Key. The book club now focuses on spotlighting the works of the IWSG members.

We will have two member selections each month for clubbers to choose from. Clubbers may choose to read both books, just one, or neither, but we hope they will at least help spread the word about the incredible talents of the IWSG members and participate in some of the book club activities.

Book Club Details

Books are added to our shelves based on IWSG member publications and moderator suggestions. The range of selections is limited to books that are currently listed on Goodreads.com. While we will try to select books available as both print and digital, we will not exclude a title with limited formats and distribution. That’s one reason we offer two selections each month.

About the books we read

Which means that you have to make sure you have your books on Goodreads, good people, or no matter where you are on the IWSG sign-up list, we’ll skip you and your books.

I wrote about BookBub, Goodreads and other places to give your books visibility here.

I wrote about why reviews are good for you here.

This was September’s selection. We’re planning on making every September IWSG anthology month. I share this image on Instagram at the start of the month, in my IWSG blog post, and again in the review blog post. You can see the review for this selection here. I also share my reviews on the store I bought the book from and BookBub (if it’s there).

For the social share, Juneta shares on Facebook and Toi shares on Twitter. And it’s included in the IWSG newsletter.

Loads of exposure for your book and author name, right? Look at this month’s selection:

How does it work?

We rotate through the IWSG sign-up list: 1-50, 51-100, 101-150 (or whatever the number is at the time). So in October we’re reading books from 1 and 2 on the list, in November we’re reading books from 51 and 52 on the list, in December we’re reading books from 100 and 101 on the list, in January we go back to the start of the list. As noted, we do the IWSG anthologies in September. And if your books aren’t on Goodreads, we skip you. If you are only published in anthologies not associated with the IWSG, we skip you. If you aren’t published, well, there’s nothing to read, is there?

There is also a space in the Goodreads group to make book recommendations.

Image credit.

Why should you participate?

Well, I can quote Stephen King…

if you don't have time to read you don't have the time or the tools to write simple as that stephen king

I can quote Savage Garden…

i believe in karma what you give is what you get returned savage garden

I can tell you it’s good for you (check out this post). Or I can just quote Dr Seuss…

the more that you read the more things you will know the more that you learn the more places you'll go dr seuss

In the end, it’s up to you. You can only lead a horse to the water and all that. As for me, though some of the genres are definitely not for me, I still buy, read, review, and share about these books. If you follow me on Instagram or read my newsletter, you’ll get the next quote:

i'm an author i've spent my whole life training for a pandemic

What do you think of book clubs? Are you going to join the IWSG Goodreads Book Club? Are your books featured on Goodreads? Be sure to check out our Pinterest board!

65 thoughts on “The IWSG Goodreads Book Club #IWSG #IWSGBookClub”

  1. Hi Ronel,
    Thanks for co-hosting the IWSG this month. I love the aesthetic of your blog post. How long does it take you to make those lovely images? I’ve tried using Canva but my patience wears thin.
    I love the idea of reading other IWSG members. The rules seemed a little complicated but I follow the IWSG on Instagram which means I will see the updates and participate on time. Hopefully. It isn’t always easy given the time difference.

    1. You’re welcome 🙂 I took a quotes social media template from Canva and just added my own pics from Pixabay and quotes from a quick Google search — 15 minutes tops. Using the search bars on Canva (on the home page, inside the menu bar once you’ve chosen your type of post, etc.) saves a lot of time.

      The rules are more like guidelines — when I end my day, Juneta and Toi usually start theirs. LOL. And the book club stuff on Instagram is on my account, but I do use #iwsg and #iwsgbookclub so you can just check out the hashtags or @miladyronel for updates 🙂

  3. I think this is a great update to the book club. I really must find more time somehow. I found myself calculating how much sleep I could miss. Maybe I just need to find a day job where I can sit around and read all day! (If only!)

  5. Cool to learn more about the book club. I look forward to participating. I’ve been putting off updating my Goodreads and Amazon author’s profile. This gave me the kick in the pants I needed. Thank you for co-hosting!

  9. Thanks for co-hosting! It’ll be great to discover other members’ books, particularly if they write in my genre of historical fiction.

    I have two Goodreads author pages, since I have two different pen names. The last I heard, we’re unfortunately still not allowed to link or combine our pages to show we’re the same person using different names.

  14. Honestly, I get overwhelmed with forums. When I try to follow what is going on, I just get frustrated and eventually give up. Although I want to participate, I can’t and avoid both Goodreads and Facebook for that reason.

    I know some love it. It seems straight forward to them and easy to sort out. True superheroes IMO.

    Anna from elements of emaginette

  15. I always thought the book club idea was a good one. Unfortunately I never had the time to participate, even though I liked some of the books that were covered.

    Thanks for co-hosting IWSG this month!

  16. I’m with the Goodreads book club. I enjoy reading the comments and sometimes read the books! A great way to promote authors and connect us as writers.
    Thanks for co-hosting IWSG this month!
    Mary at Play off the Page

  17. Good to know about the Goodreads club. You’ve offered compelling reasons to pay more attention 😉
    Thanks for co-hosting!

  18. Well, you’ve certainly got the Book Club covered! Well done 🙂

    As I’m now at 48, it’ll be a few years yet before you get to mine. I hope you enjoy them when you do!

    And thanks for co-hosting with me today. It’s been a great fun day for, me I hope you too. 🙂

  20. Hi, Ronel! Thanks for co-hosting today, and thanks for promoting the IWSG Book Club on Goodreads. I’ve been a member for quite a while, and I’ve read many of the books featured, even if I haven’t commented much. I appreciated the great job that Chrys did over the years. I am delighted that the Book Club is now featuring IWSG authors. I’ve been reading the books of IWSG members for a while now, and there are really good books! Thanks for your reviews, too. I’d like to do more reviews myself. Have a great October!

    1. Hope this is okay, but I just wanted to clarify that we don’t currently send out a newsletter on Goodreads, but the IWSG newsletter does feature book club content. If you are a member of the Goodreads book club and are not receiving our updates, please let us know. Reach out to either me, Ronel, or Juneta.
      Thanks.

    2. You’re following me on Instagram, so you should stay in the loop 🙂 We’ll sort out the Goodreads glitches as they come (the tech is always full of gremlins!). If you’re on the IWSG newsletter, you’ll get the scoop on which books we’re planning on reading each month. Thanks for your review link — I’ll add it to Pinterest.

      I hope things go better this month for you and yours.

  26. Thanks Ronel, I hadn’t caught up with the change in direction – a great idea and one I heartily agree with. Now that I’ve finished my Booker longlist read-a-thon, I’ll come & take a look. I mean, what harm could it do my already toppling TBR 😀

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  28. Thanks for co-hosting this month.
    I love this post. So much info about the book club.
    I also like the other articles you’ve written and your reviews.
    Still trying to get around to mine.

  29. Thank you for co-hosting. Your post now has me interested in the GoodReads book club so I will check it out, and all the great books listed by IWSG members. I think it’s a wonderful idea to support each other this way. I’m a day late in posting so I hope I don’t get deleted from the list. I took the October question in a bit of a different direction. dianeweidenbenner.com

  31. Thank you for co-hosting IWSG’s question for this month. Your blog is so beautiful! The last quote is the funniest!

    I didn’t know about the book club on Goodreads. I’ll need to check it out. This is a great group to belong to. Thanks for all you do to assist your fellow writer. Have a beautiful weekend!

  32. Thanks for co-hosting! And what a great idea spreading the word of IWSGers books with the book club. I have an author’s profile on goodreads.
    Love a good writing quote. Especially, that one from Stephen King.

    “It is perfectly okay to write garbage–as long as you edit brilliantly.”- C.J. Cherryh

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