My B&N is your own personal space at Barnes & Noble.com -- a place where you can show the world what you're reading, list your favorite books, movies, and music, and showcase your customer reviews. You can also track your local store events and create public or private Wish Lists that are easier thanever to share.
My B&N is built around your profile page, which is accessible from the "My B&N" button in our top navigation, and from the My B&N area on your Account page. You can find other people's My B&N pages by clicking on their pen names or avatars anywhere on the site.
The first thing you'll want to do at My B&N is choose a pen name and avatar to represent you. Avatars can be changed at any time, but pen names are permanent, so choose carefully. While you're at the top of the page, take note of your privacy setting, which determines whether other people can see your profile. By default, your profile is private, but we think "public" is better.
If you're ever in doubt about what other people can see, just click the link that says "View My Profile as Others See It."
Elsewhere on the profile page, you can describe yourself in the "About Me" section, complete your personal Library, identify your favorite products, artists, and genres, and identify other B&N profiles you like. You'll also see links to all of your customer reviews, your EssentiaLists, and your favorite features from B&N Studio and the B&N Review.
My Library
The most prominent feature of your page is probably your Library, so let's take a closer look:
The Library is intended to represent "your life in books, music, and movies." It can be music you own, books you've read, or movies that have influenced you -- basically anything you want. You can also add a "Reading Now" banner to books you're, well, reading now.
Periodically, you'll be asked whether you want to add your recent purchases to your Library. Doing so is entirely optional, and your Account history is always private.
Note that you can see all of the items in your Library by clicking the See All button -- and that you can adjust the display by using the controls on the top and the side of the Library page.
EssentiaLists
My B&N gives you the opportunity to create multiple EssentiaLists that are linked from your profile and distributed across the site. EssentiaLists can be anything you want, and can have names and descriptions of your choosing. You can update your lists at any time, and you can create a new one -- or add a product to an old one -- by clicking the "Add to List" menu next to just about any product on our site.
Note that you can choose to associate EssentiaLists with your pen name, or to make them anonymous. If they're anonymous, they'll show up on your view of your profile but won't appear on the public view.
Wish Lists
We've also expanded our Wish Lists, allowing you to create custom lists that can be shared with others.
As you create Wish Lists, you should note that by default, all Wish Lists are private: You can find them on your My B&N page and your Account page, but other people won't see them.
Because a lot of people actually want to share their Wish Lists, we've made it easy to do so. Simply change the privacy setting on the individual list you want to share and then click email or share at the top of the page. Please note that unlike other lists and content, "shared" Wish Lists will display the first and last names on your account -- not your pen name.
Customer Reviews and Ratings
Elsewhere on the site, you'll notice that we've made some changes to Customer Reviews. First,you'll notice that the simple one-to-five-star rating has been enhanced with a deeper rating system that allows you to better define the value of a product.
Like EssentiaLists, you can associate your reviews with your pen name and group them under your profile. This means that people who like your reviews will be able to find the other reviews you've written -- and you'll be able to do the same for people who have influenced you.
Note that you can still write reviews anonymously, but we think the most valuable reviews will be associated with a profile.
Sharing Your Content
With My B&N, we've made it easier to share your content with your friends and associates. Just click on the email or share links near any of your content -- or content that someone else created -- to send it to someone else or post alink to it from another website. The same thing works on your My B&N profile, so it'll be easy to tell other people how to find you here.
Discovering Lists and Recommendations
Likewise, we've made it easier to find recommendations from other readers.
Check out the expandable menu bar on the right-hand side of any product page to find people who are "fans" of a particular book or item, and EssentiaLists that include the book or item.
We think these additions are a great way to discover new books, music, and DVDs -- and to find readers with similar tastes.
Evaluating Reviews and Lists
If you come across a review or list that helped you make a decision or that informed or entertained you in some way, take a moment to answer the "Was This Helpful?" option near the top of the item. This will help us to sort the reviews and lists based on the evaluation of readers, and will make it easier for everyone to find the most influential content -- and contributors.
Likewise, if you find content on the site that is inappropriate, hit the Flag button near that content, and it'll be reviewed by one of our moderators.
A Note About Privacy
As we stated previously, you get to decide whether your profile is public or private, and whether your lists and reviews are associated with your pen name or anonymous.
We think public is better, but leave the choice to you. Just remember that B&N.com is a widely visible and indexed site -- please don't post any information you don't want others to see.
Thanks for taking some time to learn about the new features. We're looking forward to seeing you at My B&N.
Melissa_W
Hi sande,
The BNBC is all done online - just click on the name of a club (like Epics, Book Explorers, Romantic Reads, etc.) and look through the threads to see if anything interests you. Some groups read one book per month, some feature multiple titles, some read one book over several months, and some groups provide free-wheeling discussion without a monthly read.
If you are looking for a face-to-face group, too, check out your local bookstore to see what's offered.
(BTW - I moderate the Literature by Women group; welcome to BNBC! 
)
sande wrote:
Hi,
I love to read and write. My friends suggested I join a book club. How does a book club work and is this the trational, let meet and discuss the book type club? I'm lost and new at this. I would greatly appreciate some insight.
Thanks
One good way to find other profiles of people with similar taste is to look at the product pages of books you like. Not only will some people have reviewed them (and you can sometimes click on the profile of a reviewer, if they didn't do it anonymously) but you can expand the menus on the left hand side of the page to see who has put that book on their "favorites" list - by clicking on Other Fans of This Book - or who has put it or similar titles on an EssentiaList - by clicking on Related EssentiaLists.
But as Kathy says, the best way to meet other people on the site is to get into some discussions here at the Book Clubs. So take a look around and join in!
On the home page of the board (which lists the threads), in the upper left corner there is a "New Message" option. Click on that, insert your subject and message, and submit. You've just started a new thread.
booklovergirl12 wrote:
I'm not so new with B&N but something I've wondered for a while: How do you start a thread? It seems like everyone knows how but me. Thanks for the help.
