[helsinkiandrew]

> The catch, as you’ll doubtless have guessed, is that the author has to pay a fee for their appearance, variously described as a “spot fee” or a “spotlight fee” or a “spot-securing fee” or a “participation fee”.

Am I being too naive to assume that legitimate book clubs shouldn't be doing this anyway - or is all online activity just a way of generating income now?

[mkl]

That's the very next sentence: "Needless to say, real book clubs don’t charge fees to their guests".