First half hour
The read
We talk about the book the way you would with a friend who finished it last night — what worked, what did not, the part you had to reread. Pollyanna keeps it moving and flags spoilers before they land.
Read the book.Meet the author.Help them sell it.
A virtual club that reads together three to four times a month, puts the author on the call, and spends the last half hour on what actually moves copies.
3–4 sessions a month on Zoom. Free to join.
Ninety minutes, in three movements
Most clubs stop when the discussion does. Ours has a second half that is closer to a workshop, because the authors who come to us are usually doing their own selling.
Why we added the second half
I kept noticing the same thing on author calls. The writing questions got good answers. The selling questions got a shrug, or a story about something that worked once and nobody could explain.
Meanwhile the authors I knew were spending money on ads before they had fixed their categories, and launching books in four days that needed twelve weeks. Not for lack of effort. For lack of anyone telling them the order.
So we built a club with a desk attached. You get the book conversation you came for, and the author gets an hour with a room of readers who will tell them the truth about their blurb. Both halves make the other one better.
Sam A.Founder
A book club is the cheapest focus group an author will ever sit in, and the only one that reads the whole thing first.
- Where
- Zoom, link by email
- How often
- 3–4 sessions a month
- Hosted by
- Pollyanna O., Host
- Cost
- Free, with nothing to upgrade to
Authors
We are booking our first season
If you have a book out, or one landing in the next six months, this is the easiest room you will ever pitch. You read with us, you take questions, and we spend the back half of the call on your metadata, your list, and your launch runway.
Put your book forwardThe Margin
What we work through at the selling desk, written down so it outlives the call.
September 10, 2026 · 7 min
Metadata before marketing
Keywords, categories and comp titles decide whether a reader ever sees your cover. Most authors start spending money one step too late.
ReadSeptember 3, 2026 · 8 min
The twelve-week runway
Launch week is the wrong place to start. Here is what the three months before publication look like when they are working.
ReadAugust 27, 2026 · 6 min
Your first hundred subscribers
Email is the one audience you own. Getting to a hundred is a different problem from getting to a thousand, and most advice only addresses the second.
ReadThe conversation keeps going between sessions
Post a question, put a book forward, or work through something you are stuck on. Members react so the good threads rise.
Join the club
Session links go out by email the day before. Nothing to install beyond Zoom.
Prefer email? Write to officialsammrc@gmail.com