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Friday, May 27, 2022

Judge a Book By Its Cover and Make it Work For You

As I foreshadowed with Monday's post, this was a wonky work week for me. As I traveled  to pick up my daughter, help her move stuff to storage, and flew back I was also working. I had 2 work related meetings, one of which is an on-going and I am heartened [a word I used a lot in our meeting] that it will lead somewhere good for all of us library workers. Seriously, I haven't been this optimistic about the work Robin and I are doing, well....ever. More after/during ALA annual.

I am home again, but off to a half day System Board meeting today and then we begin some much needed family time. But before I disappear again until Tuesday, I thought today would be a good time to talk about covers. Why? Well, I have been thinking about covers a lot recently because Summer Reading is upon us, and displays are the best way to capture the attention of adults who are looking for a chance to read a book for fun over the Summer. And what makes a great display? It is NOT fancy decorations or props. It is the covers of the books themselves.

Nothing sells a book better than its cover. Publishers pay a lot for those covers. Their main job is to draw the right reader to it. Look, I know it doesn't always work out. Sometimes the cover is not a good representation of what is inside the book. But interesting covers will draw readers to the display, and once there, they will pick up the book, read the flap, and maybe look at others.

At StokerCon I was chatting with the wonderful human and talented artist Lynne Hansen. She was thanking me for calling out her gorgeous covers in some of my reviews. I told her she was welcome, but that honestly, a great cover can make a patron pick up a book and when a really good book gets a fantastic cover, I want every library worker to know about it so that they not only buy it, but they also put it on display.

Check out Lynne Hansen's website for examples of her excellent covers.

I have also written many posts about how to use covers as a resource for working with readers. Click here for every post I have tagged "covers." But if you want  the cliff notes version, I have this popular post, "Make Those Covers Work For You" which also links to my oldie but goodie post, "Judge a Book By Its Cover."

When we all return Tuesday, Summer Reading will be in full swing and multiple small and easy to stock displays are going to help you get through. Remember: covers that attract attention are your displays' best decoration and advertisement.

Make them work for you.

I am back Tuesday with a regular schedule, and June is a busy month of many presentations, 8 days at ALA, and my June Horror Review column drops in Library Journal. And it is a good one. Not to mention the July 1 odor Genre Preview which  is the LJ Cover Story that month. Looking at all of those upcoming events, I am glad I took some time off from blogging because there is a lot going on here all summer. I used to see a slow down in training over the Summer due to staff being swamped with Summer Reading, but now with just about every library embracing virtual, that is not the case any longer.

Speaking of, if you want me to train your staff in July or August, I have virtual only slots available, and honestly, my Fall in person is filling up. I am currently looking at the possibility of doing 3 separate state library association conferences this Fall and another regional RA conference event in a 4th state [that one is definite]. Many of these are not on my appearance calendar yet because contracts are not signed. If you want in person, it might be too late, but virtual, that I can fit in. Let's talk. Contact me to get scheduled. Pricing here.

Enjoy the long weekend.

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