One of the great challenges in any form of content creation is helping people remember and discover your older content. The hot new product or the latest episode is easier to share, but the 5-year-old content has the potential to add just as much value to anyone as the 5-day-old content.
A few months ago, the creators of the long-running sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia started recording a weekly podcast in which they rewatch an episode in chronological order and discuss it (among other topics). In doing so, they encourage old and new fans alike to watch the same episode.
This reminded me of something similar that author Simon Sinek did with his classic book, Start With Why, at the beginning of the pandemic. One by one, he revisited a chapter of the book on YouTube Live using current examples, inviting people to reread the chapter and join the discussion.
I love this concept, and I’m going to give it a try. My book, A Crowdfunder’s Strategy Guide: Build a Better Business by Building Community, was released in 2015. While I think most of the principles in the book are still relevant today, the exact methods and examples may be a bit outdated. So each session of the book club will focus on a different chapter, how it applies today, modern examples, and your questions/comments as related to that chapter.
You can participate in the book club whether or not you’ve actually read the book. Currently I’m planning to host it on the Stonemaier Games Facebook Page on either Thursday or Friday afternoons, and I’ll also upload it afterwards to YouTube (those platforms are subject to change, so please sign up below).
Just so you have some advance notice when there’s an upcoming book club session, I’ll contact everyone who signs up on this form a few days in advance. Each session will probably be 30-45 minutes, and there are 11 chapters. You can buy the book here.
I look forward to giving this a try! What are some ways that you’ve seen content creators nudge you to experience their older content? If you’ve participated in an author-hosted book club like this, do you have any feedback about elements you liked/disliked?
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5 Comments on “It’s Always Sunny in Crowdfunding: A Book Club Invitation”
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Thank you for doing this, Jamey. I enjoyed your book and look forward to learning more from discussion.
To answer your question, I’ve attended many book-discussion meetings though never one that was author-led. They usually feel most worthwhile if I come away from the meeting with specific ideas about particular actions that I am capable and ready to take in the next few weeks. That means the discussion often centers on translating the content of the book into action by identifying and grappling with challenges that impede this translation. The discussion leader can facilitate this by coming to the discussion with questions or topics related to those challenges, as a way of focusing the discussion rather than letting it rabbit-trail into each participant’s personal journey (which can be interesting and sometimes helpful but usually not generalizable).
For example, Chapter 1 mentions starting a blog. A big challenge is that many people might not know of something that they are knowledgeable about (or capable of learning as they go), that other people would want to read, and that would be broad enough to sustain a long life. It took me months to think of a topic for mine. A book club discussion might have stimulated ideas for me and saved weeks of brainstorming on my own in the wilderness. Other people might have other challenges, such as carving out time to read others’ blogs, carving out time to write, gaining the skills to write, and getting people now to start reading their blog once it exists.
Thanks again for doing this. It’s a thoughtful way to help other people. I hope it translates into a higher uptake of your book.
Thanks for this input, Chris! I like the idea of focusing on actionable next steps.
Awesome! I’ve been working through this in my way to a September Kickstarter. Timing could not be better!
Great idea! This book is currently on my “bookcase of opportunity” to be read, so this is the perfect excuse to crack it open!
“The hot new product or the latest episode is easier to share, but the 5-year-old content has the potential to add just as much value to anyone as the 5-day-old content.” This is so true! I think the book club is a great idea!