Discussion Guide Builder

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Make your book more book club friendly by giving readers thoughtful questions that keep readers engaged.

Help readers lead a lively discussion, using questions that fit your book. 

A book club can turn one reader into five, which only happens when someone feels confident leading the conversation. Discussion questions often stall because they feel generic, they feel academic, or they miss what readers actually cared about in the chapter. Discussion Guide Builder solves that problem when you upload your manuscript and set a discussion focus, so you can give readers a clear path to a great conversation. 

When you upload your manuscript and enter your discussion focus, the tool generates:

• Chapter by chapter or section based questions that stay easy to discuss out loud 
• A whole book discussion section that pulls themes together and lands key takeaways 
• Simple facilitator guidance that helps the leader keep the group moving 
• Optional activities that add energy when the conversation needs a spark 

You will walk away with a discussion guide you can post on your website, share with book clubs, and include as a reader resource that makes your book easier to recommend. 

Use It To

• Add a ready to use discussion guide to your author website so readers can start a book club around your book 
• Support fiction discussions that focus on characters, choices, and themes, while you keep the tone fun
• Support nonfiction discussions that focus on takeaways, application, and reflection, while you avoid dry classroom vibes
• Save time when you need discussion questions for launches, church groups, classrooms, or library events 

Why It Works

Book clubs are more likely to pick books with a discussion guide provided by the author. Groups talk more when the first questions feel safe and specific, because participants find an easy on ramp into the conversation. The guide keeps momentum by varying question types, which prevents the same answer pattern from repeating. You reduce prep time for the leader, which increases the odds that a reader actually hosts a discussion instead of postponing it forever. 

Related Tools

Explore more Patron Toolbox tools that pair well with this one:

• Lesson Planner - Create a lesson plan for teachers to teach your book. 
• Classroom Activity Planner - Create fun and educational classroom activities. 
• Quiz Maker - Create a multiple choice quiz for your book. 
• Character Compendium - Generate a dossier of character bios from your book. 
• Glossary Builder - Create a glossary of key terms from your book. 

FAQ

• What is the Discussion Guide Builder? It is a Patron Toolbox tool that turns your manuscript into a structured set of discussion questions for groups. 
• Who should use this tool? Authors who want to help readers discuss their book in a book club, classroom, church group, or informal friend group should use it. 
• What does it create or check for? It creates section based discussion questions plus a whole book discussion set, which you can share with facilitators and readers. 
• How does it help authors? It increases the odds that readers will talk about your book with other readers, which supports word of mouth and repeat discovery. 
• What happens with my data or file? Use it for the purpose of generating your discussion guide, and avoid uploading anything you do not have the rights to share.
• How much does it cost? The tool is available to Novel Marketing patrons at the Patron Toolbox level and higher, which currently shows as $10 or more on the tool access pages.