As I said last week, I have a love-loathe relationships with large multi-author Facebook groups like Inspy Romance or Avid Readers of Christian Fiction.
I love them because I get so many great recommendations (contemporary Christian romance from Inspy Romance, and all genres of Christian fiction from Avid Readers). I love the fact that you can ask for what feels like an obscure kind of book yet still get dozens of recommendations.
My wallet and my overburdened Kindle love them less, as I already have too many unread books on my Kindle (and on my bookshelf). Exhibit A: yesterday, I reviewed a book that’s been sitting on my Kindle since 2016. And that’s not the oldest unread book …
I have one other love/loathe to share:
I like Facebook groups that truly feel like a community. For example, Canadian Romantic Suspense author Darlene L Turner has built a group of readers she truly cares for, and who care for her and for each other. She will often share news or post prayer requests from group members, which I find inspiring. I always enjoy reading posts from her group.
I dislike Facebook reader groups that are all about the author: pre-order my book! Buy my book! Read my book! Review my book! The constant sell-sell-sell feels selfish in comparison to the groups which are more community-minded.
I agree. I am in Sharlene McClaren’s group and its really is like a family. We have prayer requests and games and its like a real community. Where as others are purely a buy my book group which I tend to not stay at.
I also only join a group if the settings are private partly cos I forget the group is public and can share more than I intend and thats not safe when anyone could read the post even non members.
That’s a good point about private groups. I kind of assume all groups are private … but they’re not.