PBC Information and Guidelines

Welcome to the Progressive Book Club 2014

If you are reading this post, chances are you’re a writer. You write.

And if you’re a writer, then most likely, you’re also an avid reader—perhaps even a voracious one.

Good. You read.

So why not discuss your Literary Flavor-of-the-Month with us?

If you’re at all like me, you love to talk about the book you’re reading, and on the third Wednesday of every month, you can do exactly that! Join in and discuss any book you’ve read over the previous thirty days and tell us why it appealed to you.

Or, if you’d prefer, warn us about that less-appealing selection so we don’t waste our money.

It’s The Progressive Book Club

A unique blog hop that’s an online book club! Here’s how it works:

Read a book. Yeah, it’s that simple (or difficult, if you’re stressed for free time). You can choose anything: fiction, non-fiction, how-to, memoir, anthology, poetry, cookbook—run the gamut!

Write your article and schedule it to publish by 8:00 a.m. EST on the third Wednesday of the month. Do this before you sign up, and use your article’s permalink as the url. Please DO NOT USE your home page’s url (e.g., http://www.mlswift.me). Using the permalink will allow people to go directly to your post, even if they want to read it weeks or months later, rather than making them search through your archives.

Go to the current InLinkz Monthly Sign-up List. It is located in the drop box under the Progressive Book Club tab in the menu up top, or you can click on this link to get there. Again, please use your article’s permalink when you sign up. Click the InLinkz Frog for the current month and hop through the step-by-step instructions. It’s so easy, a non-writer could do it.

You have until 8:00 a.m. EST the morning of the discussion date to join. Each month’s InLinkz list will close at 8:00 a.m. on the the morning of the discussion, so make sure to have your posts written and included by that time. The new list will open the Thursday after our discussion date, and will remain open through the third Wednesday of the following month, 8:00 a.m. EST (or Daylight Savings Time, once begun).

Each month will have its own InLinkz List. The current month will be posted at the top, the previous months will fall below. WordPress does not allow for third party script, so the InLinkz button will take you to a new page to view or sign up.

Using the link list, progress from one site to the next, enjoying the others’ posts concerning their respective books. Mix, mingle, comment! I ask that you please try to visit at least five other blogs.

Display the PBC badge in your post, and link it to this page. Encourage others to join. The more the merrier!

When starting this club, I found a wonderful reference site called LitLovers that helps you discuss literature, if you’re unsure how to proceed. They’ve composed a short checklist to follow when reading, reviewing, and commenting that I found helpful and wanted to post for your information:

How to participate in a discussion

1. Watch your language! Try to avoid words like “awful” or “idiotic”— even “like” and “dislike.” They don’t help move discussions forward and can put others on the defensive. Instead, talk about your experience — how you felt as you read the book.

2. Don’t be dismissive. If you disagree with someone else, don’t refer to them as an ignoramus. Just say, “I’m not sure I see it that way. Here’s what I think.” Much, much nicer.

3. Support your views. Use specific passages from the book as evidence for your ideas. This is a literary analysis technique called “close reading.”

4. Read with a pencil. Takes notes or mark passages that strike you — as signficant or funny or insightful. Talk about why you marked the passages you did.

5. Use LitLovers for help. Check out Litlovers Resources. They’ll help you get more out of what your read and help you talk about books with greater ease.

Those are the basic guidelines for The Progressive Book Club. Interested?

Hope to see you soon!

Peace,

ML Swift