World Book Night takes place on 23 April and this year there are two ways to take part. World Book Night Edition Book Givers will receive 18 copies of one of the 20 titles on the 2014 list to give away to people who don't regularly read for pleasure. World Book Night Community Book Givers will pick a book they already own or buy one new or second hand from a bookshop to give away. But if you've signed up to be a Community Book Giver how do you know which book to choose? Genevieve Clarke, our adult literacy specialist, offers some advice.

Thousands of applicants

There are clearly plenty of people out there who are passionate about reading. We are in no doubt about this having read thousands of applications from people across the UK and Ireland wanting to enthuse others through the gift of one of this year's World Book Night titles. Sadly we haven't been able to give them all the books they have asked for, simply because we don't have enough to do so. All the top publishers are keen to support World Book Night but there's a limit to how many books they can create for free - and 250,000 is not to be sneezed at in the current climate!

That's why I'm glad that this year, for the first time, everyone can take part in World Book Night as Community Book Givers. Much more than a book swap, this is about picking the right book to give to someone who would never have thought of reading it or any other book. And you can make it part of World Book Night by getting a special bookplate and sticker from your local library or bookshop. These images show how the process works.

It's not about you

So how do you choose which book to give? Clearly it's important that you can enthuse about it yourself. But turning someone on to reading is not about you, it's about them. It's about nudging them towards the realisation that there will always be something of relevance to their own lives that they can enjoy - whether it's a short biography of their sporting hero, a story about where they live or a picture book to share with their children.

As I told the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, so many people exclude themselves from the world of reading because they've been given the idea that being a 'reader' is all about long and difficult novels. They hated it at school because it became a struggle and a chore, they don't feel they have the skills to try it or they've never found the way in. Impact research for our ever-growing Six Book Challenge programme tells us that an engagement in reading for pleasure, at whatever level, motivates people to want to read more and enables them to improve their literacy skills at the same time.

Tips on selecting a book

So my advice on how to find the right book to give is:

1) Find your ideal recipient first
2) Think about what might spark their interest (you'll need to ask them if you're not sure)
3) Then look for the book that they won't be able to resist

Good luck with finding the right one! Let's make sure that this year's World Book Night enables thousands more people to call themselves 'readers'.

Get involved

Register to become a Community Book Giver on the World Book Night website. Registration is open until 23 April but everyone who registers by 31 March will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three pairs of tickets to the Letters Live on World Book Night event taking place at the Southbank Centre. Read our prize draw terms and conditions.

Already signed up to be a World Book Night Community Book Giver? Tell us via twitter or facebook which book you're planning on giving away and to whom.