The Extraordinary Business Book Club Facebook group just hit 500 members (in fact it’s at 503 as I write). So far there’s no sign of Mark Zuckerberg bringing me champagne and flowers, but I’m sure he’s on his way.
I founded the group last year as World-Changing Writers, ahead of the online summit of the same name, and changed it to its current name in March this year.
Why? Well, here’s the open letter I posted in the group at the time. Six months on, I’m doing a little dance as I read it and realise how well it’s fulfilling the dream.
“…Today I’m excited to announce a name change: the group will now be known as The Extraordinary Business Book Club, and I hope that this will soon feel like a comfortable home and a place you can confidently invite your friends.
Why the change? Three reasons:
1. The emphasis of the group is squarely on business books – both writing and reading them. I’ve found that ‘World-Changing Writers’ didn’t communicate that clearly enough. There are lots of groups for more general fiction and non-fiction writers; making this one explicitly about business allows us to focus on the specific issues associated with business books and content strategy.
2. As I always tell my clients, it’s important to optimize your titles for online search! I hope that this new title will allow more people searching for help with their business book to find this great supportive community and information resource.
3. And finally, I’m launching a new podcast – the Extraordinary Business Book Club show – on 4 April (though you can sneak a peak already here). Week by week I’ll be interviewing a wide range of high-profile authors, gurus, futurists, publishers and business and writing experts, looking under the hood to see what works and why, trying out their ideas as I attempt to write my own extraordinary business book ‘live’ and encouraging others to do the same.
So what’s so extraordinary about the Extraordinary Business Book Club?
• It’s aimed at leaders of extraordinary businesses, those with something distinctive and significant to say.
• It showcases extraordinary books, those that make a particular impact in their field or demonstrate an innovative approach in how they work alongside the business.
• The books featured are from both male and female writers, aiming for – extraordinarily – a 50/50 balance between the two.
• It’s an extraordinary book club, because it’s aimed at writers who are also readers rather than just readers; we go ‘under the hood’ to unpick the process of writing the book and its relationship to the business .
• It recognises that the book is not a thing apart: it’s embedded in a much broader content ecosystem, an essential part of doing business today.
I do hope you’ll join me on the journey and spread the word – underpinning it all is that same commitment to changing the world through our businesses and our writing. Onwards and upwards!”
Much done, much still to do. Onwards and upwards indeed.