BN.com Starts New Online Club

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 1/8/2008 7:29:00 AM

BN.com announced a new addition to its online book clubs today. Starting this month, bestselling writers Luanne Rice, Dennis Lehane, Jim Cramer and Deanna Raybourn will participate in online discussions as part of the company’s new Center Stage Book Club. The forum, at www.bn.com/bookclubs, features week-long visits from a range of writers. The online discussions are free and open to all readers 24 hours a day. The first discussion, with Bantam author Luanne Rice, whose book Light of the Moon pubs Jan. 29, began yesterday.

Center Stage is the latest in a growing number of book clubs B&N hosts on its site. Among the others are the First Look Book Club, which allows readers to read free advance reading copies of upcoming books and access free private discussions with the authors; as well as discussions of the Harry Potter series, paranormal fiction, romance novels and crime fiction.

Authors in the Center Stage series visit the online discussion forum daily to answer questions about their writing, their books and other topics posed by readers. Participants can post questions in advance and return later to see the authors’ responses and comments. Other featured authors include Dennis Lehane (week of Jan. 14), Jim Cramer (week of Jan. 21) and Deanna Raybourn (week of Jan. 28).