I was going to have a different post today, but my colleague and Summer Scares committee member, Kelly Jensen had a fascinating essay on Book Riot today entitled "Why Don't Books Have a Credits Page?"
Like me, Jensen has done Readers' Advisory and Collection Development as a librarian and she has written a few books. She has a 360 degree view on the book world, which I always appreciate in her writing and as I work with her on Summer Scares.
"Before falling into the world of books, first as a librarian, then as a writer and editor, I didn’t think too much about the pieces of a book or how it came together. I mostly perused acknowledgments to see if there were any familiar names or, when I began to understand what it was I loved in a book, to discover if books I really enjoyed were edited or agented by the same people. There’s a lot of reader service in finding common themes an editor likes in their books, for example, or seeing the types of books an agent represents.
But then, I published a book and I realized the true value in all of these elements of a book, both as a writer and as a reader."
Click here to read more.
Jensen brings up a variety of ways a credits page would help you as you help readers. One of her points deals with something I have written about too-- using the same editor as a readalike.
But she has so much more to say about why books should have a "Credits" page [like a movie] and how it is helpful to readers and library workers.
I am a huge proponent of thinking outside the box as we help readers. Not only does it help us to identify new resources as we employ a slightly different perspective to our day-to-day work, but it is also extremely energizing. And don't we all need that these days.
I mean, I got so excited I cancelled the pre-scheduled post for today. That is saying a lot coming from me.
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