[Publib] Marketing Nonfiction

[Bookbitch]

My answer is dump Dewey.  Short of that - displays.
 
Most of my displays have a mix of fiction and nonfiction books, and they all
get checked out.  I think if you focus solely on marketing nonfiction, you
are going to limit your readers to those who know they want to read
nonfiction.  People who perceive themselves to be fiction readers will walk
right on by your nonfiction display, although they may stop to admire the
go-go dancers.  But if you mix it up, people will look at all the books -
rather like the Jessica Seinfeld Deceptively Delicious idea.  Hide the
spinach in the brownies, if you will.  Because a lot of people think of
nonfiction as the "spinach" of the library.
 
For instance, I did a wildly popular display called Winter Chills & Thrills,
featuring thrillers and horror novels - but also true crime.  I included
Never Enough by Joe McGinniss, which I'm singling out here because two
different patrons commented that they loved it, and didn't realize it wasn't
fiction when they checked it out.  They also admitted that they wouldn't
have picked it up if they had known it was nonfiction.  There is a
preconceived notion among some fiction readers that nonfiction is dry,
boring, and basically unreadable, so by presenting it along side similar
type fiction, it immediately becomes of interest.  Think Shadow Divers by
Robert Kurson for Clive Cussler fans, or The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
for maybe Jodi Piccoult fans. And some writers do both fiction and
nonfiction, like Mark Salzman, Patricia Cornwell and John Grisham.  
 
In fact, George Clooney bought the screen rights to Grisham's The Innocent
Man (with an expected release date of 2009.)  That brings me to another
really popular display, featuring books that have been made into films with
catchy signs that said "Reel Books" and another time I used "Don't Judge a
Book by its Movie".  There are a lot of movies that are based on nonfiction
- two big recent releases include Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile and
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.  I also like mixing media in this display,
incorporating CD soundtracks and DVDs.
 
Another thing my library does is an adult book discussion series every year.
The facilitators are using a mix of fiction and nonfiction.  There doesn't
seem to be any drop off in attendees for the nonfiction, and in fact, I
think there may be more men for those discussions.  But it is opening up the
possibility of those people choosing to read nonfiction on their own as
well.
 
Finally, a comment about my pet peeve about libraries and nonfiction - Dewey
sucks at organizing nonfiction for pleasure readers.  So does LOC.  Think
bookstore!  Put the food memoirs together, the travel narratives, action
adventure, war stories - even just on display, mix in some fiction too and
watch your circulation rise.
 
Stacy Alesi
Library Name *Censored*
Boca Raton, Florida
& MLIS student at USF
 
I am the BookBitch 
 <http://www.bookbitch.com/> www.bookbitch.com 
Enter to win BLUE HEAVEN by CJ Box, THE CRAZY SCHOOL by Cornelia Read, IF
ANGELS FALL by Rick Mofina, 7 signed thrillers and lots more!
 

  _____  

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org]
On Behalf Of Kathryn Knight
Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 3:36 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Marketing Nonfiction


Hello Publibbers, 

I wondered: what have you found to be successful with regard to marketing
non-fiction to your patrons?  And, if your answer is "displays," what about
them is particularly alluring (clever graphics, book topics, free food, go
go dancers...)? 

I'm especially interested in what small libraries are doing (physically
small: my library is approx. 9,000 square feet and averages about 60-70,000
books circulated monthly)---that doesn't mean I don't care what the larger
libraries are doing to promote their nonfiction, but I am curious as to what
the seriously space-constrained are doing in terms of collection marketing. 

Looking forward to any and all suggestions, anecdotes, etc. 

Thank you all!

Katie Knight
Adult Services Librarian
Cary Public Library
310 S. Academy St.
Cary, NC 27511
919-460-3350
katie.knight at co.wake.nc.us

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/publib/attachments/20080105/51b85d45/attachment.htm