What happens in a book does not matter as much as how the story is told. People don't read for what happens as much as they read for how the story makes them feel. As I like to put it (and how you can see in my Greatest Hits archive), why someone likes the book, not what happens is what we need to focus on as we match books with readers.
But hand in hand with appeal we now also have themes. While appeal describes the feel of a book and is specific to that book, themes are common story elements that pop up in many books and can be applied across genres. Or, to simplify it-- “appeal” is why you like the book you are holding, while “theme,” is about the things in that book that enhance the reading experience and make you want to seek them out in other books.
NoveList has done a great job of fleshing out this idea and developing themes-- story elements that can be applied to books across genres. An example of a theme would be "times slip" or "vengeance is mine" or "fake relationship" or "dark academia."
If you have a NoveList subscription, you can go to the "Browse By" drop down menu at the top of every page and choose "Themes" to learn more and see them applied to titles.
Themes can be a huge appeal factor for many readers, it can be the things they care about more than anything. For example, if someone loves "dark academia" stories, they might not care if the book is character centered or plot centered, methodical or fast paced. For this reader, the "dark academia" theme is what they want, at all costs.
Also, because they can cross genres easily, it helps us to have a resource that allows us to help readers navigate all of fiction, not just the genres and authors they already know about. I had a reader like this. She loved stories with a "Tudor" frame. She craved them so much she read fiction, nonfiction, all ages levels, any genre that was set in that time period,including speculative fiction and graphic novel formats. For her theme was the top consideration.
But NoveList is not the only place where themes are discussed; it is just the easiest to search in one centralized location.
Here is another example. Book Riot recently had this post entitled, "9 Classic Types of Sci-fi Plots." I cross referenced this with the themes list for SF on NoveList [you need a subscription to see it] and there is a lot in common here. This Book Riot list is an excellent starter pack not only to understand common themes in SF but also to see how you can use them in tour RA interactions-- both to make matches and have deeper conversations about why the reader in front of you enjoys a specific type of book.
Yes, this article is organized and presented within the frame of only one genre, but reading this list will allow you to think about the applications to other books as well. Understanding why these plot types are common and the different ways they are applied, begins to ope up your mind to using this knowledge across the entire book landscape.
Check out the SF article here. But there is also one for Horror, Crime Fiction, Mystery. And for Romance, you can use the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Bookbinder to search by dozens of themes.
What I am trying to show you with this post is that appeal is great; it is our old standby, solid and true. We can quickly get to the heart of why someone likes a specific book and even what kind of book they want to read next by focusing our conversations on the feel of that book through discussing it's storyline, tone, pacing, characters, frame, language, etc... But we can also make connections across books when we add in a consideration of theme as well. This takes a little more time and practice, though.
Take some time to peruse the resources I have mentioned in the post. Orient yourself with the concept of themes. Then actively apply what you have learned to your RA conversations. Start with a trusted patron. Be totally open and honest. Say that you are trying to incorporate "themes" into your tool box of resources you use to help readers. Engage that patron in the conversation and see what you learn.
I think you will find that by considering and discussing theme you will enrich the experience for both you and the reader you are helping.
And if you learn something from this experience that you want to share with all of my readers, contact me so we an talk about a guest post.
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