Author Blurbs As a Go-To Resource With an Assist From Author Alma Katsu

Former Summer Scares author and Spokesperson Alma Katsu's most recent newsletter did a deep dive on Author Blurbs from the author who gives them perspective. You can read her newsletter and signup to get it yourself here, but here is some of the language from that newsletter: 

 I thought that this month I would talk about blurbs. If this is something you have absolutely no interest in, please feel free to skip ahead.

I bring this up because at any given time I might have 6-10 books on the nightstand waiting for a blurb. Yes, even a decidedly not A-list author like me gets asked a lot to blurb. (A blurb, in case you're not sure, is the little one- or two-sentence tag that appears on the cover or back and is designed to make you want to read the book. Or, more truthfully, to make you want to buy the book.)

There's disagreement in the book biz as to whether blurbs drive sales. Most people would say no. Have you ever bought a book solely due to a blurb? But blurbs have other purposes, particularly in the early stages when publishers are sending advance readers copies (ARCS) to booksellers, librarians, and other industry professionals, trying to entice them to read the book and maybe stock it in their store, or acquire it for their library system.

After reading this I reached out to Alma. As she says above, she is not sure how blurbs can be helpful other than driving sales.  So, I sent her one of the posts where I talk about how Author Blurbs are one of my 5 resources you cannot live without. Alma had never thought of this use. 

I thought today would be a good day to show the author side of the blurb process-- please click through and read more because it was fascinating-- and pair it with how we use them in RA Service as a reminder. 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2023

Resource Alert: Author Recs of Other Authors With a Twist

One of my 5 Resources You Cannot Live Without from my 10 Rules of Basic RA Services page is:

Authors recs of other authors: There isn't a single place you can go per se, but do not forget that many patrons will love trying an author or book that one of their favorite authors recommends. Try searching for a patron's favorite author on Twitter [don't need an account to view] and then see what authors they are promoting there. Most established authors do this. Also the back of a book a patron liked-- does it have blurbs by other authors? Those can be readalike author options. And Fantastic Fiction tries to catalog as many of an author's blurbs or recs that they can. Search an author in the site and scroll to bottom of record for examples. Then use Novelist or Goodreads to find out more about any titles or authors you find.The point here is you are using resources and need to know nothing about any of the authors involved, just that the patron in front of you likes them. [8/19/20 addendum: Same editor as a similar readalike option.]

I love using author recommendations of other authors as a resource so much, I even found a way to include it in Chapter 15: Staying in Horrific Shape:

Author Recommendations of Other Authors: The  least “professional” of my general RA resources, is also one of the most effective, pointing a patron to the authors and titles that their own favorite authors love. Patrons find great joy reading these books, even those in a genre outside their normal comfort zone. Stephen King is the perfect example of this phenomenon. King, the best known horror novelist in the world, is famous for turning previously unknown books into bestsellers just by mentioning his affection for said book. But where do you find this information? A few places, including,  the author’s Twitter feed, front or back covers of a book, or Fantastic Fiction where at the bottom of each author record there is a section which gathers an author’s “recommendations.” As horror authors get more popular themselves, they are well known for paying it forward to others, so you can regularly find today’s most popular horror authors-Victor LaValle, Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, and Stephen Graham Jones- suggesting the next generation of great writers to their legions of fans. Why not listen to the authors your patrons already love and pass on their favorites with a comment on how you found the suggestion? When it works, and it does more often than it does not, you look like a genius. Often, the book is better received by the patron than those carefully crafted suggestions you agonized over.

Today though, I wanted to remind you that this works with any public figure who the reader in front of you likes, especially actors in literary adaptations or literary adjacent media. I was reminded of this the other day when Emily Temple over at LitHub gathered the books and authors Pedro Pascal (Games of Thrones, The Last of  Us and the Mandalorian himself) has listed on his socials. So yes, Temple used my resource to help you help more readers.

Click here to see what she gathered for you.

But here's the thing, any of you can do this for any popular public figure and then turn the results into a social media post, make a list for your website, even make a quick display. And that is above and beyond the direct RA interaction I describe above.

There is no better way to stay relevant AND show your patrons that you are actively listening to them than to anticipate what they are looking for. Using popular authors, actors, or public figures and connecting what they are reading, listening to, and watching to the items you have ready for patrons to check out is the easiest way to do  this.

Readalike Authors Reviewing Each Other

Anyone who has read this blog for even a few days knows that the RA's bread and butter is trying to boil down the main appeal of an author for a specific reader and then try to match the "why" that specific reader likes a book with another book.  You cannot match subjects headings.  You need to match the feel of the book.  The reason that a specific patron likes that specific book or author needs to be matched with another specific book or author. [For more on appeal, click here for one of my early blog posts where I define appeal and how the RA uses it.]

This is not easy to do.  I basically spend the entire semester trying to reinforce this point to the graduate students.  By the end, 99% get it.  But it takes practice and work.  You not only have to read a lot of books, but you have to read a lot ABOUT books and why people like them (or don't like them).  Even after 10.5 years of being a readers' advisor, I can tell you there are days when I am not sure I am succeeding.  I make a suggestion to a patron and then wonder if I made the right suggestion.  It is not a science, but an art.  There is no right answer.

And then there are days like yesterday, when I felt like a rock star.  I subscribe to the Washington Post's RSS feed for their book coverage.  Upon reading through the posts yesterday I found this review of Kevin Brockmeier's Illumination by Keith Donohue.  In his review, Donohue also mentions that Brockmeier's work is reminiscent of Steven Millhauser.

I was giddy with joy.  I literally cheered out loud.  Why?  These are three authors I always link and often suggest as readalikes to my patrons.  Full disclosure though, they also happen to be three of my favorite authors, and not just because Donohue has commented on this blog before.  Brockmeier's The Brief History of the Dead, is one of my all-time favorite books.  I still find myself thinking about this book, 4 years later.  And you can see my long standing Millhauser love by clicking here.

Why I was particularly happy to see Donohue's review is that authors like Brockmeier, Donohue, and Millhauser, are very hard to suggest readalikes for.  It is because they do not write traditional genre fiction.  You could categorize them all as literary fiction, but that would not hit at their appeal.  They all have a level of fantasy in their work.  It is a bit more speculative than magical realism, but not really straight fantasy.  They also all use their speculative elements to raise thought provoking questions about our world and the choices we make.  If you laid out the plot summaries of they work side-by-side, however, you would not be able to see any similarity between their books.  Their similarity lies in the tone, mood, characterizations, and style of their work.  Things that are harder to assess.

I was happy to see Donohue reviewing one of his readlaikes author and mentioning Steven Millhauser.  It made me feel like my work was validated.  So, this leads me to share one of my secret weapons on finding readalikes.  When you are stumped, look for author blurbs.  As seen with the Donohue review of Brockmeier, authors often review or offer official sound bite blurbs to others who write similarly.  The point is to draw interest in their own work (in this case, Donohue wants to remind fans of Brockmeier that Donohue himself has a new book, Centuries of June, coming out in May), and to point their own readers to another good writer who they may also enjoy.

Using the author blurb as a readalike resource is not mainstream RA practice, but I have never claimed to be in the mainstream.  Over the years, I have found it to be a great option and have passed this opinion on to 13 semesters worth of library students and hundreds of librarians throughout the Midwest who have attended my training sessions.

But where can you find these author blurbs?  I have three main resources.

1. The books themselves:  When a reader really likes an author or a specific book, get the physical book in your hand and look at who gave blurbs to it on the back.  In this Internet driven age, even librarians often forget that there is a lot to be gained by holding a physical book in our hands.
2. Fantastic Fiction:  This is one of my favorite resources in general, but particularly, they catalog author blurbs at the end of an author's entry.  Click here for Michael Chabon's entry and scroll to "Michael Chabon Recommends" at the end.
3. Amazon:  Many Amazon fiction entries now come with reviews by other authors (for the same reasons I mentioned Donohue wrote the one above).  Also, many times you can read the blurbs from the back of the physical book on Amazon by clicking on "See all  Editorial Reviews.  Click here to see what I mean on the entry for The Passage by Justin Cronin, and click here for the blurbs.

So, go on out there and suggest a book based on an author blurb and let me know how it goes.

Author Blurbs Revisited and RA Training Opportunities

Last year, I posted here about how to use the blurbs one author gives to another author as a tool to help readers.  In fact, I use "blurbs" quite often at the desk when I am helping readers.

Again, read this post where I go into exact detail on how I use blurbs as an RA tool.  I don't want to repeat myself.

I am not the only one out there contemplating the place of the author blurb in today's literary landscape.  The New York Times is currently running a very interesting discussion entitled, "The Quandary of the Book Blurb."  The series includes essays by bestselling author Stephen King, author and editor Sophfronia Scott, journalist and novelist Bill Morris, and literary agent Sharon Bowers.  Together, the 4 essays cover every aspect of the blurb and how it can help or hinder authors and/or book sales. There is also a place for your comments as part of this discussion.

I feel that the author blurb is an important resource for helping readers, one which is often forgotten about.  Reading these essays from the author, reviewer, and agent side of the issue will help you to understand how and if you can use these blurbs to help your readers find their next good read.

I am all about using "outside the box resources," a category into which I place author blurbs.  As readers become more savvy about finding their own readalikes, especially with the popularity of sites like GoodReads (where readers are already having intelligent and useful conversations about their reading), librarians who help leisure readers need to make sure we are using the wealth of information and resources available to us as efficiently and effectively as we can. We need to make out training and expertise count.

We need to stand out as an invaluable resource to our patrons, not only because we have the books there for free checkout, but because our knowledge and assistance enhances their reading experience.

Which leads me to...well...me.  I can come out to your library or conference to help you to close the training gap with your staff.  I am currently booked through the summer but am beginning to schedule appearances starting in Fall 2012 (after August 21).  Click here for more information.

I will also be appearing at the PLA conference next week (more details in the coming days).  For a full list of all RA related programming at PLA, use the handy link from my friends at Reader's Advisor Online.

Resource Alert: Author Recs of Other Authors With a Twist

One of my 5 Resources You Cannot Live Without from my 10 Rules of Basic RA Services page is:

Authors recs of other authors: There isn't a single place you can go per se, but do not forget that many patrons will love trying an author or book that one of their favorite authors recommends. Try searching for a patron's favorite author on Twitter [don't need an account to view] and then see what authors they are promoting there. Most established authors do this. Also the back of a book a patron liked-- does it have blurbs by other authors? Those can be readalike author options. And Fantastic Fiction tries to catalog as many of an author's blurbs or recs that they can. Search an author in the site and scroll to bottom of record for examples. Then use Novelist or Goodreads to find out more about any titles or authors you find.The point here is you are using resources and need to know nothing about any of the authors involved, just that the patron in front of you likes them. [8/19/20 addendum: Same editor as a similar readalike option.]

I love using author recommendations of other authors as a resource so much, I even found a way to include it in Chapter 15: Staying in Horrific Shape:

Author Recommendations of Other Authors: The  least “professional” of my general RA resources, is also one of the most effective, pointing a patron to the authors and titles that their own favorite authors love. Patrons find great joy reading these books, even those in a genre outside their normal comfort zone. Stephen King is the perfect example of this phenomenon. King, the best known horror novelist in the world, is famous for turning previously unknown books into bestsellers just by mentioning his affection for said book. But where do you find this information? A few places, including,  the author’s Twitter feed, front or back covers of a book, or Fantastic Fiction where at the bottom of each author record there is a section which gathers an author’s “recommendations.” As horror authors get more popular themselves, they are well known for paying it forward to others, so you can regularly find today’s most popular horror authors-Victor LaValle, Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, and Stephen Graham Jones- suggesting the next generation of great writers to their legions of fans. Why not listen to the authors your patrons already love and pass on their favorites with a comment on how you found the suggestion? When it works, and it does more often than it does not, you look like a genius. Often, the book is better received by the patron than those carefully crafted suggestions you agonized over.

Today though, I wanted to remind you that this works with any public figure who the reader in front of you likes, especially actors in literary adaptations or literary adjacent media. I was reminded of this the other day when Emily Temple over at LitHub gathered the books and authors Pedro Pascal (Games of Thrones, The Last of  Us and the Mandalorian himself) has listed on his socials. So yes, Temple used my resource to help you help more readers.

Click here to see what she gathered for you.

But here's the thing, any of you can do this for any popular public figure and then turn the results into a social media post, make a list for your website, even make a quick display. And that is above and beyond the direct RA interaction I describe above.

There is no better way to stay relevant AND show your patrons that you are actively listening to them than to anticipate what they are looking for. Using popular authors, actors, or public figures and connecting what they are reading, listening to, and watching to the items you have ready for patrons to check out is the easiest way to do  this.

Guest Post: Lisa on Hosting an Adult Book Talk Program

A few weeks ago my colleague Lisa Meierkort mentioned to me that she started doing prepared book talks for adults and they were a huge hit. I asked her to share her experiences with all of you.

Thanks Lisa.

But before we get to her post, if you have something you do at your library to serve leisure readers, something you think others could learn from, contact me. Maybe you’ll be contributing the next guest post.

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I am so flattered that Becky asked me to write a guest post! I worked with Becky years ago for a few months when I covered a maternity leave at the Berwyn library. I must say, seeing all that Berwyn did with Readers’ Advisory inspired me to do more. RA has really become my niche in my current job at the Frankfort [IL] Public Library District.

In May 2016, I gave a short presentation during our staff in-service about RA and how staff at all levels could be involved. Using the talents of our on-staff graphic designer, we created a display using staff photos, descriptions of what they each like to read, and their favorite books. I leveraged this into a bi-monthly RA e-newsletter for our patrons, in which one staff member and their picks are highlighted.

I am grateful to work at a library that allows for plenty of professional development opportunities. I was able to attend Library Journal’s Day of Dialog when it was in Chicago in 2016 and really enjoyed it. The 2017 Day of Dialog took place in New York and the entire event was livestreamed. After a discussion with my department head, we decided to use the 2017 DoD as the basis for a booktalk presentation at the library.

At the Frankfort Public Library District, we have four in-house book discussions run by librarians, as well as around a dozen community book clubs that order their discussion books through us. We decided that gearing the booktalks for book club members would be a great outreach opportunity. We titled it Book Club Booktalks, and I had my work cut out for me.

I began by watching the livestream (and then the archive) of the Day of Dialog. Many of the books highlighted were not yet published and sounded like they would be great for group discussions. Part of what I love about the Day of Dialog is hearing the authors themselves discuss their own books. This event introduced me to the majority of the books I talked about.

As preparation continued, I attended two free Booklist-sponsored webinars that focused on titles appropriate for book clubs. One of the webinars focused more on slightly older and backlist titles, but they were both informative. Additionally, ALA Annual occurred during this time, so a colleague brought me booklets and printouts highlighting titles that publishers thought were good for discussion.

Using all of these resources, I narrowed down my list to 27 titles. Most were not yet published when my planning began, but many came out in the months surrounding my event. Once the selections were made, I began to work on my talk. I created a Google Slide presentation with basic information about each book and a picture of the cover. I edited publisher blurbs down to 2-3 sentences so that each book would have a description on its slide.

My suggestion is to write both the blurbs for the slides and for what you are actually going to say at the same time. I made the mistake of not doing this and found it more difficult to do later. Furthermore, I divided the books up by genre: non-fiction and memoir, historical fiction, speculative fiction (explaining what that term means), thrillers, and contemporary fiction. 

Once the books were chosen, I contacted publishers for ARCs and swag to give away. Most publisher representatives were very accommodating and helpful. I explained to each what I was doing, how many people were expected, and which of their titles I planned to highlight. Some sent multiple boxes and they all arrived in plenty of time. We actually had a concern regarding storage space in the library!

As part of the presentation, a handful of slides were added for other resources that book club members could use in the future. These included ALA’s Book Club Central, Library Reads, and Novelist, as well as some library-specific resources. In addition to our social media (Facebook and Instagram), we have a couple of resources on our website that people can use. We have a Get Recommendations page, on which patrons can choose a librarian and fill out an RA form that goes directly to that librarian for personalized suggestions.

Additionally, we have Staff Picks and New Materials pages on our website that I update monthly. Finally, I pointed them to the e-newsletter that I mentioned earlier. We do not segment our various newsletters; once patrons sign up, they get updates about upcoming events in all departments, as well as the RA newsletter that I curate.

As the event came closer, our Circulation staff placed holds on two copies of each title that had been published so far. This way, if free copies of a particular book were not available, attendees could still check it out from the library. However, there was a concern: if all of the highlighted titles were new or upcoming, book clubs would have a harder time getting a sufficient amount of copies in a timely manner for their discussions. Therefore, I decided to expand my suggestions and include read-alikes, grouped by matching the genre and theme. I included both recent and classic titles, depending on what felt appropriate. 

In the days before the event, I went through our stacks and pulled every read-alike that we had on shelf, ending up with approximately 50 books. While it seemed like a good idea, it was a lot of work for only a couple of books that were actually checked out, and I would not necessarily recommend doing this.

I practiced my presentation multiple times in our meeting rooms. While I did not have all 27 memorized, having my speech in bullet points and going through the presentation a few times with the microphone and slides helped me to get more comfortable.

The day of the event, I went shopping for refreshments and spent a few hours setting up. In addition to the refreshments, I set all of the books out - between ARCs and library copies, there were probably 400-500 books.

The event itself went very well. My colleague checked people in as they arrived, while I gave them a copy of the slides and a rundown of what to expect for the evening. (You’re welcome to look, but don’t take any books until the end!) We had 51 people in attendance! After my 40 minute presentation, I answered questions and raffled off some of the ARCs. Once everyone had one book in-hand, I thanked them for coming and asked them to help themselves to what remained.

Everyone seemed very pleased and they all went home with multiple books. A couple of weeks later, a board member who had attended told our Director that it was the best program she’s been to! Very high praise that I deeply appreciate. Also, we had multiple people who were not in attendance ask for copies of the presentation, so we printed them out until another colleague used the content of my slides to create an RA brochure.

Hopefully I’ve explained my process well enough that you can adapt it for your own use. I’m happy to answer any questions that may come up!

Lisa Moe Meierkort

Adult Services Librarian

Frankfort Public Library District

lmeierkort@frankfortlibrary.org

Author Recommendations As An Invaluable RA Tool

To end the week I wanted to remind you of one of my favorite tools for matching readers with a good book and it is so easy because you don't do any of the work, all you do is guide them to a resource they will love-- the books their favorite authors love.

I do this all of the time, yet I often forget to remind you about it here on the blog because it is so second nature to me. However, the other day I was reminded of how invaluable this resource is when one of my favorite authors [Sarah Gailey] was gushing the praises of another one of my favorite authors [Grady Hendrix] on Twitter.

You can click here to read the full thread as to why they love all of his books [and inhaled them all in a few days]. You do not need a Twitter log-in the see the thread.

As a reader who loves the work of both of these authors, it gave me great joy to see Gailey appreciating and enthusiastically recommending Hendrix. And, it reminded me that these recommendations often work. Gailey writes alternative history, SF and Hendrix horror, and yet while they could seem very different, I like both so why wouldn't others? The one thing that unites their work is that they use thought-provoking humor and original and interesting frames. But that is not something you can articulate easily, especially if you, the library worker, hasn't read both writers yourself.

No worries though, the authors will do the work for you.

If a reader has a favorite author and is looking for a new read, let that favorite author do the suggesting. I have found that just about every time, the patron likes the suggestion too, even if it seems a little bit of a stretch recommendation. Once, I even had a patron love a suggestion that I showed them that their favorite author had made of a title, a title that only a year before I had also suggested to the same patron, but at the time, that same patron turned their nose up at my suggestion. Yup, it happened.

That is also a good point. This strategy of letting a favorite author suggest titles to your patrons is an especially good tactic with the difficult to serve patrons because while they might hate everything you give them, they are hard pressed to hate what their favorite author told them to read. I have seen it work even with the most hard to please patrons.

But where do you find these recommendations? Well the easiest place is Fantastic Fiction, a resource that compiles these recs, blurbs, and statements at the end of every author's entry. Stephen King is one of the most prolific at this. Click here and scroll to the bottom of his entry to see.

What I love about King's recs is that one, they are all spontaneous and honest. He will not provide solicited blurbs. And two, he reads so widely that his recs introduce his fans to so many different types of books.

Other places you can go to find these recommendations is the author's webpage, their social media, or search for author interviews with Google [or sometimes they have them listed on their websites]. Often authors are asked to recommend their favorite books in interviews, and their answers change over time, so check multiple interviews.

Once our patrons have broadened their horizons by trying a book they never would have given a shot except that a favorite author liked it, our job gets much easier. These patrons are more willing to try something new because they have done it once and liked it. Also as I mentioned already, an author rec may send them further afield from their usual choices. And once they have tried something really different that opens a whole new line of possible suggestions.

My recommendation is try this with yourself first. Use my suggested resources and find a book that one of your favorite authors enjoyed, a title you wouldn't have tried on your own without that recommendation. Then see if you like it too.

Book Expo 2017: Adult Editor’s Buzz Panel- Or the Post Where Becky Shows You How to Make Publishing Previews Work for You RIGHT NOW!

BookExpo is coming next week. I will not be there [I will be training library staff in the Tampa area instead]. There will be a lot of content coming out of the conference that is EXTREMELY relevant to RA Service.

Today, I wanted to share ShelfAwareness’ preview of one of the best panels-- Adult Editor’s Book Buzz. I love this panel because unlike much of the conference content, it is not driven by the publishers alone. These titles are picked through a consensus by 3 committees and librarians are included. 

Now, one of the frustrating things about these “Buzz” panels is that the books don’t come out for a while, so while these are very helpful in terms of getting orders in early, they are not as useful in our work with patrons right now.

Or are they? With just a little rethinking of how you use these lists, you can easily turn this frustration into an opportunity-- one that will help you to help more reader now and in the future.

Here’s how:

1. Get excited about the upcoming books lists: Between Book Expo and ALA you will be inundated with titles that aren’t available yet. Find a way to organize the lists and hold them in one place to use now and refer to later. Don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed. You will feel overwhelmed, but find an organizational method that helps you control the chaos.
2. Look at the lists when you first encounter them and think about readalike authors. As you can see below, often, the blurbs on these buzz include readalikes. But, don’t just rely on those. Use the blurbs to brainstorm [yourself or as a staff] titles that the blurb reminds you of.  Think of patrons who may like the books being previewed. What else does that patron like to read? Could those titles also be readalikes? This can be an exercise to help you do step 3, but it is also a great training tool. You are practicing your RA skills, and if you get the entire staff to work together, you are creating a library-wide conversation about books and readers- which benefits all staff and all patrons.
3. Build displays or lists to promote these upcoming titles with readalike lists of the backlist titles you already have on your self.  “Coming Soon” displays at the library with reading options while you wait not only allows your patrons to share in the buzz excitement, but also showcases the great titles you already do have. You are building buzz for backlist books by association.
4. These displays will generate holds on the “coming soon” titles too. Looking at the data of which titles are getting the most holds also helps you see what you patrons are most interested in. This information will help you to make other purchasing decisions going forward.
5. Finally, in a few weeks, after you have gathered all of these lists of the big books of Fall and Winter, take a step back and survey the larger picture. What trends do you see? Are there similarities? Are there glaring holes between what you patrons want to read and what the publishers are pushing? Often this step is forgotten. We gather the lists, we order the books, we make the “while you wait” readalike lists, but we don’t look back on the whole picture. There is a lot to learn from comparing the buzziest books as a group. Please remember to do this. I will revisit the issue in a few months to remind you and we can do it together.

See, there are plenty of reasons how lists of books that haven’t come out yet can help you right now! Let’s get started...

Click here or see below for the titles and comments 

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BookExpo 2017: Adult Editors' Buzz Panel

With BookExpo 2017 beginning next week at the Javits Center in New York City, Shelf Awareness is taking a look at one of the show's signature events. Chosen by three committees of booksellers, librarians and publishing professionals, the annual Editors' Buzz panels provide a glimpse of eagerly anticipated books coming out in the second half of 2017 and early 2018. Today's list features the six titles selected for the Adult Editors' Buzz Panel, along with comments from editors and booksellers.

On August 22, Irish author Liz Nugent will make her American debut with the publication of Unraveling Oliver, originally released abroad in 2014. It is the story of Oliver Ryan, who writes and illustrates children's books with his wife, Alice. By all appearances, Oliver is a successful, charming man, and his and Alice's marriage is a happy, fulfilling and often enviable one. One night that facade abruptly shatters when Oliver hits Alice and beats her so savagely she falls into a coma. Those who thought they knew the couple are forced to try to make sense of how something so shocking and horrible could have happened, and the ensuing examination of Oliver's life, told from a variety of viewpoints and perspectives, exposes a truth darker and more sinister than they could have imagined.

Gallery Books senior editor Jackie Cantor said she was hooked on Unraveling Oliver the minute she read the first line, as Oliver dispassionately reflects that he "expected more of a reaction" the first time he hit his wife. Cantor likened the novel to Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley, for its "dark look at how a sociopath makes his way in the world," and Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin, about a mother's relationship with her "irredeemable" son, adding that her favorite thing about Unraveling Oliver was the way Nugent creates such a compassionate, human portrait of a truly terrible character. Said Cantor: "As soon as I finished it, I knew it was something I wanted to publish." The book appears August 22.

In Stay with Me, the debut novel from Nigerian writer Ayobami Adebayo, Yejide and Akin are a young married couple living in Nigeria in the 1980s. They met and fell in love at university, and though they both agreed that polygamy wasn't right for them, it's been four years since they got married and Yejide still hasn't been able to get pregnant. Facing mounting pressure from Akin's family, Yejide has gone to increasingly elaborate lengths to get pregnant, including visits to fertility doctors and the use of folk remedies. One day she is introduced to a woman whom she is told is her husband's new second wife. Consumed by anger and jealousy, desperate to save her marriage, Yejide resolves to get pregnant, whatever the cost.

Abby Fennewald, director of marketing and publicity at BookPeople in Austin, Tex., said that Yejide and Akin's struggles with love and identity make for a "beautiful and compelling story" that fully explores the many, complicated layers of family life and what happens when a person's wants collide with society's demands. "My heart was breaking over and over for Yejide, and the ending truly caught me by surprise," said Fennewald. "I can't wait to keep reading books by Ayobami Adebayo." Stay with Me will be published by Knopf on August 22.

Arriving from Riverhead on August 29, My Absolute Darlingmarks the debut of writer Gabriel Tallent and tells the story of 14-year-old Turtle Alveston, who finds refuge from her isolated home life and dangerous father by wandering the rugged landscape of the northern California coast. At school, she refuses to make a connection with anyone, until she meets a high school boy named Jacob. Through her friendship with Jacob, Turtle is exposed to a different way of life, one that is happy, safe and not shut away from the world at large. Gradually she realizes that in order to protect herself, she must escape from her father and create a new life.

"This is the most difficult and best book I've read in a very long time," said Anne Holman, co-owner of the King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah. "Everything about this story is lodged in my heart forever: the people, the action, the Mendocino countryside, and especially Turtle [and] her ability to survive the worst that life has to offer and still get up every morning and hope that something will be different."

Brendan Mathews's debut, The World of Tomorrow, opens in June of 1939, just months before World War II breaks out in Europe, as two brothers flee from Ireland to New York City after stealing a huge amount of money from the Irish Republican Army. Their names are Francis and Michael Dempsey, and they hope to hide out at the home of their brother Martin and his wife, Rosemary. Over the coming days, the Dempsey brothers explore prewar New York from Hell's Kitchen to Harlem, encountering mob bosses, artists, jazz musicians and more, all while an assassin hired by the IRA attempts to track them down. Though they hope for a better future, another war is imminent and there is danger at every turn.

Sarah Bagby, co-owner of Watermark Books & Cafe in Wichita, Kan., called The World of Tomorrow a "different kind of big, rich 'New York City' novel." She praised Mathews's playful language, the novel's multi-faceted and unpredictable story, and its flawed, compelling and "all-too-human" characters. The World of Tomorrow will be out September 5 from Little, Brown.

Coming January 9, 2018, from Putnam is Chloe Benjamin's second novel, The Immortalists. In 1969, an itinerant psychic arrives in Manhattan's Lower East Side claiming to be able to tell people the exact day they'll die. Four siblings, Simon, Klara, Daniel and Varya, sneak out together to see the psychic, and what they learn that night will influence them for the rest of their lives. The novel follows the four Gold children over the next 50 years as they branch out in adulthood and contend with the notions of free will and fate: one heads to San Francisco in the 1980s, another becomes a magician in Las Vegas, a third joins the army after 9/11, and the last pursues the dream of immortality through medical research.

According to Daniel Goldin, owner of Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee, Wis., readers will "likely fall in love with the Gold family and Chloe Benjamin's novel," and though each of the book's four sections has its own feel, they all come together into a seamless whole. He called The Immortalists a "whip-smart and unexpectedly philosophical story of fate, faith and family."

Rounding out today's list is A.J. Finn's debut thriller, The Woman in the Window, out January 23, 2018, from Morrow. Anna Fox is a recluse. She lives by herself in New York City, and though she hardly ever goes outside, she keeps a keen eye on the goings-on around her. After a married couple with a teenage son moves in across the street, Anna begins observing them too. One night while looking across the street, she sees something so shocking she can't believe it's real, and as she continues to spy on her neighbors, a Hitchcockian descent into paranoia and madness ensues.

"I have never had so much fun being submerged in a world of fear and suspense," said Luisa Smith, director of buying for Book Passage in Corte Madera, San Francisco and Sausalito, Calif. The book will appeal to "fans of both classic noirs and contemporary thrillers," and more than just a thrilling read, The Woman in the Window features writing that is "perfectly paced throughout, allowing the host of unforgettable characters space to draw us even deeper into this unrelenting mystery." --Alex Mutter

Resource Alert: The Same Editor as a "Readalike" Suggestion

On my Ten Rules of Basic RA Service page, one of my 5 Resources You Cannot Live Without is the following:

Authors recs of other authors: There isn't a single place you can go per se, but do not forget that many patrons will love trying an author or book that one of their favorite authors recommends. Try searching for a patron's favorite author on Twitter [don't need an account to view] and then see what authors they are promoting there. Most established authors do this. Also the back of a book a patron liked-- does it have blurbs by other authors? Those can be readalike author options. And Fantastic Fiction tries to catalog as many of an author's blurbs or recs that they can. Search an author in the site and scroll to bottom of record for examples. Then use Novelist or Goodreads to find out more about any titles or authors you find.The point here is you are using resources and need to know nothing about any of the authors involved, just that the patron in front of you likes them.

This is one of my tried and true tricks to use with patrons. Earlier this month, I wrote here about why author recs of other authors is a great RA resource [please read it for the nuance of "why"]; however, yesterday I saw this interesting post on Book Riot- "How to Find the Editor of a Book," and it got me thinking about using the same editor as a readalike, and I realized that it is a great option because I already do this with horror editors I know and trust- both for novels and stories.

Read the article for the great reasons why readers may like multiple authors with the same editor and learn how to identify and follow editors on social media. 

I will also catalog this post on my Ten Rules page so it can help more people going forward.

If you give this a try, let me know.

Remember, we want to use resources to showcase how important we, the human staff members, are in helping our patrons find their next great read. We do not want the process to look seamless; we want people to know a person did the work to find them a great story. We want to help them in ways they wouldn't think of or be able to do themselves so that when there are talks of cutting budgets, our staff are deemed invaluable.

Goodreads Asked Authors for Curated Reading Lists and Now You Have a Great Sure Bet Resource

Since April, Goodreads has been asking authors, from across the literary landscape, for curated reading lists. Click here to see them all. But, here is the page where they explained the project and an excerpt from that page:

Have more reading time these days, but don't know where to begin?

We're here to help! We've asked some of your favorite authors to suggest a list of books on a variety of topics to suit every mood. So whether you need a good laugh, a good cry, or an absorbing story to make you put down your phone, take a peek at their recommendations linked above each author's latest book.

We'll be updating this page occasionally, so don't forget to check back now and then for even more reading lists!

This type of resource is similar to what I describe in my 5 Resources You Cannot Live Without list on my 10 Rules of Basic RA page when I list the following as an essential resource:

Authors recs of other authors: There isn't a single place you can go per se, but do not forget that many patrons will love trying an author or book that one of their favorite authors recommends. Try searching for a patron's favorite author on Twitter [don't need an account to view] and then see what authors they are promoting there. Most established authors do this. Also the back of a book a patron liked-- does it have blurbs by other authors? Those can be readalike author options. And Fantastic Fiction tries to catalog as many of an author's blurbs or recs that they can. Search an author in the site and scroll to bottom of record for examples. Then use Novelist or Goodreads to find out more about any titles or authors you find.The point here is you are using resources and need to know nothing about any of the authors involved, just that the patron in front of you likes them.

If a patron has a book or an author they really love, handing them something that same author suggested or blurbed is usually a sure bet, even when the books do not share much in common.

Now, many of you are probably confused because I spend a lot of time writing and talking about how we have to match book's based on their appeal. But hear me out. 

For many readers enjoying a specific author and wanting more by them or, if that is not possible, more books that they also enjoyed, is an appeal. It is enough that this reader will be predisposed to enjoying the title suggested by a favorite author. 

I have seen it work hundreds of times especially with the more "picky" patrons. If you suggest an outside of the box title to them, they will refuse to read it or hate read it. But if  their favorite author suggest the same book, they almost always love it because they want to like it. Even if it  is  very different from said author.

This is an especially good way to find a suggestion you would never think of yourself. If the patron comes back and likes this very different book, you are in luck because now an entirely new lane of suggestions has just opened up right in front of you. 

You  can use the Goodreads list or my more general guidelines and let authors suggest the books to their fans through you. 

You Can Use The Words of Others to Booktalk

Starting tomorrow and a half dozen times over the next 45 days, I am going to be promoting the idea of booktalking-- all over the library-- to many different organizations across a few different states.

I love talking about booktalking as much as I love booktalking. My booktalking training is one of my favorite and most popular programs. You know why? Because every single person on staff at your library can booktalk. Everyone. From the maintenance crew to the Director.

In my program I share stories about specific libraries who have cultivated a culture of booktalking at their library. But the basic idea is, anyone on staff can and should talk about what they are reading, watching, and listening to with each other or with patrons-- out loud for others to hear. As long as the things you are talking about are something that can be checked out from the library. Even new movies are good to talk about at work because they will be available at some point and you can use them to start a conversation about other movies or books.

The point is that booktalking is not only about hand selling a title to a specific patron based on their likes and dislikes. Rather, booktalking is a way to start conversations at the library. When you talk about leisure items at the library freely, openly, and often, you are both demonstrating that you care about leisure items AND advertising that you are qualified to help patrons find some themselves.

This is a concept I spend a a good 30 minutes developing in this program, but today on the blog I want to point out something I have learned after presenting a version of this program for three years now. I have found that many library workers don’t want to talk about what they are reading or watching. There reasons are valid and fair for sure. Some cite privacy concerns, especially those whose job is not at a public desk; they don’t want to have to share what they do in their free time. Others rightly comment that they are reading, for example, erotic romance, and work at the Children's’ desk most of the day [this has come up enough that I think you might want to ask your youth staff if they have any suggestions here]. Still others say, I want to talk about the book I just read, but I am not comfortable finding the right words.

For all of these reasons, and just so you can share books you haven’t read, I have what I thought was common sense advice, but through training after training I am learning is quite a revolutionary idea--

Use the words of others when you booktalk!

I just assumed people knew that a “book talk” didn’t need to also be written by them. I was wrong to assume.

Yes, you heard me. You don’t have to write the words about the book you are talking about, heck you don’t even have to have read it. The point of the booktalk isn’t to prove you have a great way with words. The point is to talk about an item...period.

One of my 10 Rules of RA Service is “Use Resources.” We have trained patrons for over 100 years that librarians do not know the answers to every question, rather we know how to find the answers. We use resources. Guess what, we can use them for leisure reading too. As long as we are honest that the words are not ours, it’s fine. In fact, it is better than fine. It is what we are best at. Its what our patrons expect us to do.

That’s right. Many of you think your patrons will be disappointed in you if you “read” a booktalk. Why do you think that? You read them answers about reference questions. They don’t expect you to pull facts about North Korea out of thin air. Here’s the truth, we put this pressure on ourselves. Our patrons expect us to use resources. So stop giving yourself more stress and more work to do. Use resources!

So where can you find booktalk material? Reviews, professional or from Goodreads, blurbs from other authors [check Fantastic Fiction for those], other libraries’ websites, book lists, etc.... Heck, I ever pull books of the shelf and read the blurbs and summary off the back with the patron. You can read all of these to a patron and say, “Wow, this book looks so interesting. Here’s what someone who enjoyed it says.” This is a book talk! You are starting a conversation about books by using the words of others.

I often keep the conversation going with the patron here by adding, “Well I will put that on my mountain of a TBR pile. What about you? What are you reading?”

Using resources for your booktalking material means you can talk about ANY BOOK AT ANY TIME. You have no limits now.

This also goes hand in hand with yesterday’s post when I talked about owning up to us not doing everything we can to curate and promote diverse collections. Another excuse some library workers make as a reason for their failure in this is that they don’t have time to read all the diverse titles, and that is why they don’t promote them. While I think this excuse is BS, this concept of using reviews and book talks by others counters this excuse. Now you can freely talk about any title in the world. 

I hope my sharing this advice encourages all of you to get out there and talk about more books with patrons, especially those you haven’t read yourself.

RA for All Greatest Hits: Use the Words of Others

This post is part of my newly created RA for All "Greatest Hits Archive. You can click here to use the tag to pull up everything in the series or you can visit the newly created Greatest Hits page here. 

Today's post is a rerun of one of the MOST IMPORTANT things I teach when I teach RA Service-- you can and should use the words of others.

As we are assisting out patrons to find a good read, theys do not care if we read the book we are suggesting or not. What they do care about though is that someone has read the book and enjoyed it. 

So stop worrying so much about reading all the books and only using your experience to help readers and start using resources to book talk any title. More below, and honestly, anytime you hear me talking about RA Service to anyone anywhere.

TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2018

You Can Use The Words of Others to Booktalk

Starting tomorrow and a half dozen times over the next 45 days, I am going to be promoting the idea of booktalking-- all over the library-- to many different organizations across a few different states.

I love talking about booktalking as much as I love booktalking. My booktalking training is one of my favorite and most popular programs. You know why? Because every single person on staff at your library can booktalk. Everyone. From the maintenance crew to the Director.
In my program I share stories about specific libraries who have cultivated a culture of booktalking at their library. But the basic idea is, anyone on staff can and should talk about what they are reading, watching, and listening to with each other or with patrons-- out loud for others to hear. As long as the things you are talking about are something that can be checked out from the library. Even new movies are good to talk about at work because they will be available at some point and you can use them to start a conversation about other movies or books.
The point is that booktalking is not only about hand selling a title to a specific patron based on their likes and dislikes. Rather, booktalking is a way to start conversations at the library. When you talk about leisure items at the library freely, openly, and often, you are both demonstrating that you care about leisure items AND advertising that you are qualified to help patrons find some themselves.
This is a concept I spend a a good 30 minutes developing in this program, but today on the blog I want to point out something I have learned after presenting a version of this program for three years now. I have found that many library workers don’t want to talk about what they are reading or watching. There reasons are valid and fair for sure. Some cite privacy concerns, especially those whose job is not at a public desk; they don’t want to have to share what they do in their free time. Others rightly comment that they are reading, for example, erotic romance, and work at the Children's’ desk most of the day [this has come up enough that I think you might want to ask your youth staff if they have any suggestions here]. Still others say, I want to talk about the book I just read, but I am not comfortable finding the right words.
For all of these reasons, and just so you can share books you haven’t read, I have what I thought was common sense advice, but through training after training I am learning is quite a revolutionary idea--

I hope my sharing this advice encourages all of you to get out there and talk about more books with patrons, especially those you haven’t read yourself.

Use the words of others when you booktalk!

I just assumed people knew that a “book talk” didn’t need to also be written by them. I was wrong to assume.

Yes, you heard me. You don’t have to write the words about the book you are talking about, heck you don’t even have to have read it. The point of the booktalk isn’t to prove you have a great way with words. The point is to talk about an item...period.

One of my 10 Rules of RA Service is “Use Resources.” We have trained patrons for over 100 years that librarians do not know the answers to every question, rather we know how to find the answers. We use resources. Guess what, we can use them for leisure reading too. As long as we are honest that the words are not ours, it’s fine. In fact, it is better than fine. It is what we are best at. Its what our patrons expect us to do.

That’s right. Many of you think your patrons will be disappointed in you if you “read” a booktalk. Why do you think that? You read them answers about reference questions. They don’t expect you to pull facts about North Korea out of thin air. Here’s the truth, we put this pressure on ourselves. Our patrons expect us to use resources. So stop giving yourself more stress and more work to do. Use resources!

So where can you find booktalk material? Reviews, professional or from Goodreads, blurbs from other authors [check Fantastic Fiction for those], other libraries’ websites, book lists, etc.... Heck, I ever pull books of the shelf and read the blurbs and summary off the back with the patron. You can read all of these to a patron and say, “Wow, this book looks so interesting. Here’s what someone who enjoyed it says.” This is a book talk! You are starting a conversation about books by using the words of others.

I often keep the conversation going with the patron here by adding, “Well I will put that on my mountain of a TBR pile. What about you? What are you reading?”

Using resources for your booktalking material means you can talk about ANY BOOK AT ANY TIME. You have no limits now.

This also goes hand in hand with yesterday’s post when I talked about owning up to us not doing everything we can to curate and promote diverse collections. Another excuse some library workers make as a reason for their failure in this is that they don’t have time to read all the diverse titles, and that is why they don’t promote them. While I think this excuse is BS, this concept of using reviews and book talks by others counters this excuse. Now you can freely talk about any title in the world.